UCONN to new Big East

[lebronfan23]

Georgetown games will help us get Fudd

 

[noirwestern]

Anyone watching this?

Emergency Podcast: UConn to the Big East is Actually Happening

What does this move mean for each of UConn’s programs?

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[Plebe]

Dana O'Neil, formerly of ESPN and now with The Athletic, has a positive take (written from the perspective of men's basketball):

O’Neil: UConn is going home, and the Big East will be better for it

There is a delicious irony alive here today, a beautiful one if you’re a basketball fan. Throughout the mayhem of conference realignment, the sport got dragged around like an annoying sibling, left to float whichever way the fickle winds of football’s fate chose to blow. Remember when Kansas —...

theathletic.com

For UConn, this is the ultimate rescue operation, the offer saving the university from itself. Snookered by the lure of a Fiesta Bowl bid in 2011, the basketball-proud institution decided to become a football school — except not a very good one — and found itself standing on the fault line of the conference realignment tectonic plate. The highs of that bowl-bid season have slowly eroded into one low followed by another, the school tethered to a stadium that sits 25 miles from campus and nearly empty on most fall Saturdays. In the meantime, the basketball program, built on storied rivalries with Georgetown and Villanova, was pushed out of its natural fit and into forced marriages with the likes of Tulsa, Houston and Tulane. Not surprisingly, it hasn’t gone well.​

​

 

[DEpup]

Looking forward to this change! Living in DC and Delaware, this will allow me to see so many more games in person!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Is the BE conf really that much of an improvement to AAC in WBB? A little bit, maybe, but not a lot.

IMO, not really; it is a bit of an improvement in MBB, though. The only improvement, conference-wise, is for WBB to be in P5. The same goes for football. I don't see an overall benefit for you guys to move from the AAC to the NBE.

 

[j66kicker]

--Does everyone on the Boneyard get CBSSN? If not, how do the subscription prices compare with those for ESPN+

I get CBSSN as part of my cable package with Cox (Phoenix). I'm sure they're charging me something for it, buried in the package rate. I have a package that includes all kinds of sports channels (local & national PAC-12, FS1, FS AZ, NBA, MLB, NFL channels, etc). I'm sure it's nowhere near $5.00/mo just for CBSSN.

 

[Vowelguy]

Unless there is an unreported good landing spot for FB, this seems to be waving a white flag on P5 dreams.

 

[MSGRET]

I believe for the MBB it will allow for a lot more games to be televised on SNY and the WBB team will be able to get more Nationally televised games on both FOX and CBS. ESPN will be very upset with the loss of UConn, but they hurt themselves by first not pushing for UConn when the Big East originally broke up and then basically telling UConn the heck with you with this new TV deal. It should also help with both recruiting and travel.

 

[diggerfoot]

IMO, not really; it is a bit of an improvement in MBB, though. The only improvement, conference-wise, is for WBB to be in P5. The same goes for football. I don't see an overall benefit for you guys to move from the AAC to the NBE.

Did you skip over Plebe's comparison chart (easy to do once these threads get long). There is a huge difference between the two in WBB: Mean Massey for AAC = 143; Mean NBE = 71. Huge! And UConn would in turn being pulling up the NBE even higher, rather than its Herculean effort of pulling up the AAC.

On edit: I don't know if this would be much of a factor or not, we do fairly well with OOC scheduling already, but it's got to be more appealing to a good OOC school scheduling and losing to us with what our rating will be in the NBE over the AAC.

 

[Charliebball]

one positive.........................I'll certainly be there if and when UConn comes to play at Seton Hall in South Orange NJ.............although perhaps that game will be moved to a larger venue..............

 

[DefenseBB]

First and foremost any P5 Conference could care less if the Football team is any good. They care SOLELY about the television markets that the school plays in. Hence Rutgers (with as an atrocious FBB program there’s is) getting a bid from the Big10 to capture the NY media market.
Second, to field a competitive P5 football team, you need 40-50% of the talent in your backyard (the New England/NY State/Long Island and frankly THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN as youth football in our region and passion for youth football is horrendous. Programs cannot recruit 85 players nationally and it is cost prohibitive.
Third, the state budget will not tolerate more heavy losses by the Athletic Department whose loss leader is Football.
Fourth, WCBB is a minor consideration at best in this decision as Conference revenue is non-existent in WCBB. UConn’s best play is to keep the SNY contract to help with the budget (#3 above)
Fifth, schools like Villanova, Gonzaga, St.Mary’s do well focusing on basketball and UConn could do just as well especially considering our pedigree in hoops.
The reality is no New England school could ever draw enough or create enough revenue from sales to support a D1 football team. We have 3 pro teams alone that occupy our consciousness. Add in 3 pro basketball teams, 4 pro hockey teams and 3 pro baseball teams and our time is completely consumed. Don’t believe me, listen to any Boston or NY Sports show, then go down south and tune in. Huge difference in focus. So while I absolutely respect the passion @UConnNick shows and see his perspective on his logic, it blinds him to the reality that is New England regarding college football. Humbly submitted.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Not sure if this has been discussed here or before, but this article from the Courant earlier this year indicated that, in fact, football was not helping UConn and is not, in fact, a "revenue" sport. Or, at least, it's much more a deficit sport than a revenue sport, to the tune of an $8.7m deficit in 2018 alone. That's staggering. The second biggest loser? The other supposed "revenue" sport, men's basketball, at $5m. WBB came in third at a $3m deficit. (But at least they win championships!)

As it is, at most two of the AAC schools are in a bus-drive distance of UConn (Temple and Navy), so away games mean hauling every single athlete on an airplane, and presumably it also requires extra nights at hotels. So I wonder if assumptions about the importance of "revenue sports" are faulty, at least at UConn? My sense is that the costs associated with football are enormous for any school, given the number of players, the costs of travel, the maintenance of stadiums, and the very small number of home games (seriously, think about this: you need a very costly football stadium for 6-7 total games per year, and the best you can do with it the rest of the year is soccer, maybe). My views on this may be idiosyncratic for a hard-core college sports fan, but I also think football is a long-term loser, given CTE and the costs associated with staffing and supporting the sport.

This may hurt UConn in the short term, but I do think it's the long-term road to sustainability, because college athletics across the board are not sustainable as presently configured. Right now most of college sports are supported by a combination of huge university subsidies and bloated media rights package, neither of which will last for much longer. University subsidies will not be sustainable as costs in higher ed continue to rise and the appetite for $70k costs of attendance continues to wane and universities realize they need to do serious belt-tightening across the board. And media revenue is built on a decaying foundation of pre-cord-cutting bloated $100+ per month cable packages that generated insane revenues for ESPN and the other sports networks and that, in turn, led to huge media rights packages. Folks are cutting cords right and left, and millennials are not going to pay $100 per month just to stream sports. Trust me, I am one, and Sling at $30 per month is more than enough for me, thankyouverymuch. I am almost certain the next round of media deals will be smaller than the current ones, because they're just not sustainable.

 

[ocoandasoc]

UConn's best bet for football might be the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association).

 

[UConnNick]

I sure hope women's basketball wouldn't go this route. UConn would be left with ~9 nonconference games.

It likely will. Why would they do women's BB differently?

 

[Vowelguy]

UConn's best bet for football might be the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association).

No.
1AA loses more money than 1A.

 

[Vowelguy]

First and foremost any P5 Conference could care less if the Football team is any good. They care SOLELY about the television markets that the school plays in.

No.

Of course it is a range of factors. Otherwise, Pitt, Syracuse, & WVa never would've been invited.

 

[triaddukefan]

UConn's best bet for football might be the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association).

I said the same a few months ago.

They could join the CAA for football only..old Yankee conference foes like New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, plus nearby schools like Albany and Stonybrook.

Throw out the record books when the Huskies and the Wildcats, Rams, or Black Bears meet up in East Hartford in front of friends and family.

 

[UConnNick]

IMO, not really; it is a bit of an improvement in MBB, though. The only improvement, conference-wise, is for WBB to be in P5. The same goes for football. I don't see an overall benefit for you guys to move from the AAC to the NBE.

This past season the AAC was better than the NBE, and that gap will inevitably widen in future years. The AAC will have far more money than the NBE to continue improvement in BB. Houston, UCF, Cincinnati, and now Memphis are emerging as powers in BB, and Wichita State should be much improved.

IMHO, I think the UConn administration is pissed about the SNY deal getting axed in the new AAC media deal, but I also think they're running scared, believing the overall competition in football and men's BB in the AAC is too much to ever overcome on a restricted AD budget.

 

[oldude]

I’ve been advocating for this move for several years now. UConn, as well as the state of CT, cannot continue to absorb the red ink of trying to run a big time college football program in the long shot hope that some P5 conference will eventually accept them.

UConn WBB will be just fine, cutting their travel budget substantially, while renewing traditional rivalries. Villanova MBB has thrived in the BE. I expect the same for UConn WBB.

 

[Boreifs]

I think it's more than a little bit:

Massey:

43 UCF	16 Marquette
65 Cincinnati	23 DePaul
96 South Florida	56 Butler
117 Houston	57 Georgetown
145 Tulane	66 Villanova
157 Temple	72 Creighton
170 Tulsa	76 St. John's
179 East Carolina	85 Providence
196 SMU	102 Seton Hall
197 Wichita St	155 Xavier
206 Memphis
Mean: 143	Mean: 71

Lol. Love it when facts get in the way

 

[TheFarmFan]

I think the UConn administration is . . . running scared, believing the overall co[st]mpetition in football and men's BB in the AAC is too much to ever overcome on a restricted AD budget.

Fixed for you. This isn't about competition, this is about a state school hemorrhaging $40m per year on athletics in a state whose government is itself hemorrhaging money.

UConn got $8m from the AAC in 2016-17, the same as the deficit that was the result of its football team. You could literally can the football team and generate no revenue from the Big East and it'd be a wash.

 

[Boreifs]

IMO, not really; it is a bit of an improvement in MBB, though. The only improvement, conference-wise, is for WBB to be in P5. The same goes for football. I don't see an overall benefit for you guys to move from the AAC to the NBE.

I’m sorry, but there is a “huge” difference in the quality of women’s basketball. Just look at the Massey ratings.

 

[UConnNick]

ESPN running with it now...

Sources: UConn expected to rejoin Big East

UConn is expected to leave the American Athletic Conference and return to the Big East for basketball and other sports in 2020, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

I wonder if the plan is to just drop football (sounds like that's basically going to be the end result, regardless of the plan...)

That may be. So what does the state do with a 90 million dollar stadium the taxpayers bought?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A second Courant article focusing on reactions in social media.

UConn fans are thrilled about the move to the Big East, but there are questions about football

 

[Plebe]

It likely will. Why would they do women's BB differently?

Many conferences have their MBB conference season lasting one week (2 games) longer than the women's.

And AFAIK there is no WBB conference that plays more than 18 games.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I’m sorry, but there is a “huge” difference in the quality of women’s basketball. Just look at the Massey ratings.

Yes, but not as it relates to UConn.

The teams that can challenge UConn are not in the Big East any more than they are in the AAC. There was an idea that USF could, most seasons, be good enough to make playing them the toughest challenge in the AAC and that they might generally make the NCAA's. There was also the idea that one or 2 other teams were well enough coached that they could at least look like they were on the court when they played UConn.

It is not hugely different in the BE. You replace USF with DePaul. Marquette is undergoing coaching change and is problematical right now. The rest vary, but for those that were in the oBE I don't think they are any better really than they were then. And how many games did you lose in the oBE (not to teams that are not in the nBE)?

 

[UConnNick]

Many conferences have their MBB conference season lasting one week (2 games) longer than the women's.

And AFAIK there is no WBB conference that plays more than 18 games.

That's because the women's conference tournaments generally start a week before the men's. It doesn't necessarily mean they're playing more conference games than the women are. They're still playing the same number of schools in the conferences.

 

[LesMis89]

UConn isn't in the Association of American Universities - elite - research driven and big bucks. All B1G schools are members (only 60 US members) except Nebraska and they were members when they joined.

 

[UConnNick]

Yes, but not as it relates to UConn.

The teams that can challenge UConn are not in the Big East any more than they are in the AAC. There was an idea that USF could, most seasons, be good enough to make playing them the toughest challenge in the AAC and that they might generally make the NCAA's. There was also the idea that one or 2 other teams were well enough coached that they could at least look like they were on the court when they played UConn.

It is not hugely different in the BE. You replace USF with DePaul. Marquette is undergoing coaching change and is problematical right now. The rest vary, but for those that were in the oBE I don't think they are any better really than they were then. And how many games did you lose in the oBE (not to teams that are not in the nBE)?

That's correct. There will be zero competitive improvement. Lately we've been blasting DePaul by 40+ points, and they're one of the best teams in the NBE. The only real potential benefit will be if the NBE consistently manages a higher overall RPI. For NCAA seeding purposes, there may be years where a marginally slight RPI or SOS improvement could mean getting a slightly better seed, but it still won't do much good if we're being compared with P5 teams. Overall, it's a lateral move at best competition wise.

 

[Plebe]

That's because the women's conference tournaments generally start a week before the men's. It doesn't necessarily mean they're playing more conference games than the women are. They're still playing the same number of schools in the conferences.

In 2018-19, the following conferences played an 18-game men's season and a 16-game women's season:

• AAC
• ACC
• CUSA
• SEC

The Big Ten, meanwhile, played a 20-game MBB season and an 18-game WBB season:

In researching this I did discover that the Big Sky played a 20-game WBB season last year, apparently the only D-I conference to do so.