UCONN to new Big East

[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.

 

[uconnell]

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.​

​

Not so much storied rivalries with Gt and Villanova as Cuse,Wv, Pitt etc.
20 games won’t leave us much room to play teams other than the Big East.

 

[j66kicker]

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

Accounting 101: Do not consider sunk costs when making an investment or project decision.

 

[uconnell]

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.

If even that.

 

[uconnfan68]

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

If they had built a dome they’d have no worries. Big enough for baseball, hockey, football, and basketball, and soccer and lacrosse too.

 

[uconnell]

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

I am not familiar with the NBE wbb as to whom they play ooc. I really think they don’t play the same teams (ND USC!Baylor etc. that is why their RPI is so high?

 

[Kurebeach5]

No.
1AA loses more money than 1A.

I find this hard to believe. With the reduced number of scholarships and reduced travel, how could it possibly be more expensive ?? Towards the end of their 1-AA days they were losing 800,000 a year, one-tenth of last year's total.

 

[Plebe]

I am not familiar with the NBE wbb as to whom they play ooc. I really think they don’t play the same teams (ND USC!Baylor etc. that is why their RPI is so high?

Are you saying that their RPI is higher because they play lesser OOC competition? It doesn't really work that way, but even if it did:

DePaul has played ND and UConn pretty much every year since the demise of the old BE. Marquette recently completed a home-and-away with ND as well, and also played Mississippi State last year.

 

[uconnell]

I find this hard to believe. With the reduced number of scholarships and reduced travel, how could it possibly be more expensive ?? Towards the end of their 1-AA days they were losing 800,000 a year, one-tenth of last year's total.

True but what was their tv contract like$$ wise?

 

[DefenseBB]

Accounting 101: Do not consider sunk costs when making an investment or project decision.

...unless you are a baseball GM who signed an overage player to huge contract and the player is batting .167 with an .537 in which you keep sending him out there...

 

[Boreifs]

I am not familiar with the NBE wbb as to whom they play ooc. I really think they don’t play the same teams (ND USC!Baylor etc. that is why their RPI is so high?

I said Massey, not RPI. Huge difference

 

[Carnac]

I just peeked in on the football board. They're going nuts over there. They're on the verge of going to DEF-CON 4. Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. The room is definitely divided. With the uncertainty right now of where/if the FB program will be playing in 2 years looming in the air, most of them are very concerned. Right now, today, they have no idea where UConn football will call home. Speculation is running rampant. The word "independent" came up a lot.

Several posters mentioned the basketball fans once or twice. We're not thought of very highly there. One poster intimated that it seemed as though if this goes through, it will be every man (team) for himself, and BB fans were only interested in how such a move would ultimately help or hurt their program.

Also that the BB fans didn't care that much about the football program, or how a move back to the NBE could leave them on the outside looking in without conference affiliation. One poster said right now UConn is attractive as UTEP and New Mexico St. Everyone from the university president and the board of regents to the ball boys were mentioned. Several of them expressed very little faith in the administration to do the right thing.

That we were only concerned about how that move would effect "us." I don't think too many of them took the time drop in to read some of the comments and concerns many posters here have expressed about the FB program, and that do genuinely care about the future of UConn football.

"The biggest remaining question surrounds what happens with UConn's football team. The Big East does not have football, and it's unlikely UConn would remain in the American with just football, sources told ESPN. Sources said the football program is expected to play in the American in 2019, but could go independent after that or join another conference." Lots of unanswered questions right now, and they're worried.

 

[Alydar]

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)?

Agree. Except for Notre Dame and Rutgers UConn dominated the OBE. But they lost far more games.

The difference for the men though is huge. It should help recruiting immensely.

 

[Plebe]

Not so much storied rivalries with Gt and Villanova as Cuse,Wv, Pitt etc.
20 games won’t leave us much room to play teams other than the Big East.

As I pointed out elsewhere, just because the men will play a 20-game schedule doesn't necessarily mean the women will. Several conferences have their women play fewer games than the men.

And whatever the number of conference games, this will remove both DePaul and Seton Hall from the nonconference docket.

 

[diggerfoot]

Several posters mentioned the basketball fans once or twice. We're not thought of very highly there. One poster intimated that it seemed as though if this goes through, it will be every man (team) for himself, and BB fans were only interested in how such a move would ultimately help or hurt their program.

Yeah, I peeked in on the football forum as well. I understand why they should think that way, but the reality is reversed. First, as far as WBB, teams play us better the more familiar they become, which is only natural. Yet we have NEVER lost an AAC game, with the closest being Tulane. Tulane would never, ever play us so close if we played them the first time in 5-10 years. Now that we only play BE teams occasionally they do not do well against us at all, but did better when in the same conference. DePaul played us closer. St. John's beat us. Villanova beat us. So I disagree that because we are so superior the BE amounts to a lateral move.

However, let's assume it is a lateral move competitively. UConn might as well be in one conference as the other. The fact is schools have proven they can do well in sports outside a P5, with the exception of football. With competition being equal, a smaller geographic footprint still means less expense, better lifestyle for the student athlete and better fan rivalries ... hence every other sport has an automatic benefit except football. So in reality it is the football folks that have a myopic view, because football matters so much they assume the same disadvantage must be true for all sports. It's not. Being in a more regional conference is better for all other sports. Yes, I'd prefer the ACC over the NBE, but staying in the AAC has an automatic disadvantage for every other sport except football.

 

[hoophuskee]

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)?

I don't understand the point you are trying to make. But if it's what I think- then imo you are wrong. If you are trying to suggest that USF was a challenge to UCONN in regards to winning the conference that imo is just so wrong. They never had a legit change of winning the division vs UCONN.

Sure they can on a given night might be able to win one game - that can happen in college sports. Heck Tulane almost took down number 1 UCONN.

So in the new Big East, you'd have either/or both Marquette and DePaul being just as good as USF year over year. And then you'd have about another 5-6 teams that might have that one super night for example that Nova or St Johns had a long time ago upsetting UCONN. In the AAC you had Tulane almost get UCCONN and about 2-3 others who were maybe not so bad that they might do it on one magical night. This new BE would have 5-6 (over-and-above Marq and DePaul) that could have that 1 magical night.

Thus this NBE - the competition UCONN would face is far superior. This past year according to the poster Plebe the Massey rating had NINE teams in the AAC ranked 96 or worse. While the NBE had only two ranked outside the top 100. **There is no way this new conference is not much better than the current one. IMO it is so clear that the competition in this NBE is far superior than the AAC. And then if we were to believe other teams get a boost from UCONN then the NBE is that much stronger even if they can't take down UCONN for the division.