UCONN to new Big East

[triaddukefan]

Some of the Non Conference Games the SEC plays against over matched opponents, they (Bama, Auburn etc) pay these teams upwards of $500K. Don't know if any of the SEC teams would be willing to schedule UConn and of course its a home game for the SEC Teams.

Clemson scheduled UCONN to visit Death Valley in 2021. The huskies are getting paid over 1 million to get the fur singed off of their backs.

UConn To Get $1.2 Million For 2021 Football Game At Clemson

 

[willtalk]

I also would think that either the ACC or B1G would be perfect fit for UCONN. You are in a great market, close to NYC.
How did UCONN get passed over in the last wave of realignments? Was the school just the odd one out or were there other factors involved?

BC does not want Uconn in the ACC and their approval is necessary for Uconn to be included. It was they who blocked Uconn from the ACC.

 

[triaddukefan]

BC does not want Uconn in the ACC and their approval is necessary for Uconn to be included. It was they who blocked Uconn from the ACC.

It takes more than one vote to block expansion candidates. Boston College didnt want them in the ACC... but they weren't alone.

 

[Puppy Love]

Power 5 equals money, but it doesn’t equate to success. A lot of the discussion about football seems to conflate success and money. Great coaches are the way to be successful. Schools with a lot of money can (but don’t always chose to-here’s looking at you Lady Vols) buy proven coaches. Schools without a ton of money or reputation can get great coaches by hiring a young unknown with promise. When Geno was hired, both UConn and the Big East were a joke in women’s basketball. In those early days, the program was built on local recruits and big out of conference wins. The path to football respectability might be similar. Stop worrying about the conference, get a young coach who can convince regional kids to stay home and win some games. The conference problem will eventually solve itself.

 

[uconnfan68]

Based on what has been presented the move to the New Big East would be both a prudent business decision for UConn and for the other sports programs of the University. I graduated from UConn in 1964, and attended some football games. UConn was a perrenial loser in their old league, the Yankee Conference and they have been consistently a loser ever since. People tout the season when they went to the Fiesta Ball but they lost to Oklahoma by such a wide margin, that by the end of the game, Oklahoma was playing with the third string. Football is not going to happen at UConn and as one poster said the hope to get into a P5 conference is only a hope. UConn means basketball. Thanks to Jim Calhoun and Geno A., UConn is on the map as the basketball Capital of the USA. If the Governor, the people and the UConn Board of Directors accept this and support this 150 per cent, its future in competitive basketball will be assured.

Amazing how so many people use 1 game to define an entire program and university. You’d think Oklahoma never won before.

 

[cohenzone]

If women’s hoops wasnt affected by the AAC move, it’s doubtful a move to the BE will do anything. I don’t think anything happens to our WBB until GA retires and then it’s wait and see. The AAC feels like every game is out of conference anyway and women’s hoops has zero competition there. Maybe slightly more in the BE from a few teams.


Men’s hoops maybe a little better off, and slightly more interesting rivalries, but without Syracuse even that has a few old interesting rivals.

Football is the apparent victim unless some other shoe drops. Hey, the URI game was a thriller last year. Revive the Yancon

 

[tomcat]

The stadium was built because the Patriots were going to play there. A gazillion years ago, Bob Kraft was pissed at MA because they wouldn’t renovate or give him a new stadium (before they were the winners they are now). So CT lured them to Hartford. We used the NFL quality stadium to cement our plans to go FBS. But it seemed like a fiscally sound plan because Patriots.
Well, ground was already broken when MA decided to give Kraft what he wanted. He pulled out of the deal so fast it was shocking.
How anyone in that state is a Pats fan is beyond me.
They’re the reason we have that stadium in East Hartford and no additional leasees to support it.

I'm not sure this is correct. What you say about Kraft playing Connecticut like a fiddle to get the deal he wanted from Massachusetts is true. However, why would the Patriots ever move to a satadium that holds (I just looked this up) 41,000?) That makes no sense.

 

[huskymedic]

The stadium was built because the Patriots were going to play there. A gazillion years ago, Bob Kraft was pissed at MA because they wouldn’t renovate or give him a new stadium (before they were the winners they are now). So CT lured them to Hartford. We used the NFL quality stadium to cement our plans to go FBS. But it seemed like a fiscally sound plan because Patriots.
Well, ground was already broken when MA decided to give Kraft what he wanted. He pulled out of the deal so fast it was shocking.
How anyone in that state is a Pats fan is beyond me.
They’re the reason we have that stadium in East Hartford and no additional leasees to support it.

I'm not sure this is correct. What you say about Kraft playing Connecticut like a fiddle to get the deal he wanted from Massachusetts is true. However, why would the Patriots ever move to a satadium that holds (I just looked this up) 41,000?) That makes no sense.

BrownDog's recollection is fuzzy/not accurate...Long story short, the Stadium they were going to build to lure the Patriots was going to be in downtown Hartford ( Adriaen's Landing) and was to seat 68k and would also house UConn Football as the moved from D1AA to D1.

... when the Patriots pulled out of the deal, Rentschler Field across the river in East Hartford was born and was built to seat 40k

 

[UconnU]

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

It’s a significant improvement. It’s also obviously much easier to take teams from 75 to top 25 than it is from 150 to top 25. With us the Big East might be the premiere women’s conference in a decade.

 

[triaddukefan]

It’s a significant improvement. It’s also obviously much easier to take teams from 75 to top 25 than it is from 150 to top 25. With us the Big East might be the premiere women’s conference in a decade.

Hopefully someone will bump this thread on June 23, 2029 I'd be willing to wager that it wont be.

 

[BigBird]

Might as well turn over Rentschler Field over to the Pee Wee Football programs.

That occurred several years ago.

 

[huskyblooz]

For all you WBB haters. They are the only ones who get any positive press. I know they've lost 5 games in the last 3 years, but there is always a buzz regarding the program. ... But our baseball program will take a huge hit. The BE sucks and our RPI will make it extremely difficult to make the tournament as an at-large. ... I love Hurley. I trust Hurley and I think it will help MBB.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Figuring that the current Big East vs. AAC is kinda like "pick your poison," I always figured that I have no dog in this hunt at all. But forgive me for rambling as I lay out some thoughts.
1. AAC is the conference you love to hate. A dog's breakfast of teams, tossed together in hopes that together they would succeed. It's not working.
2. AAC WBB teams are slowly getting better, but not quickly enough to really matter. The team strength stat that someone previously showed, BiG East vs. AAC, was a huge surprise to me and very instructive.
3. While selfishly I do not want to lose my Florida UConn games (not to mention an excuse to go to New Orleans), it makes a lot more sense for UConn to play where the opponents are, more or less. A flight to Wichita or Tulsa just because you have to is not my idea of fun.
4. I don't follow much football, UConn or otherwise, but I know the basic facts of the situation. I was long gone from CT when they decided to build that stadium in East Hartford, but that never, ever made any sense to me. "Build it and they will come?" Nossir. Not even a little. Think about programs like Penn State. The university is located in Podunk, and so is the stadium. They fill it all the time. Isn't there a lesson there for someone?
5. Truth is, I don't much care what happens to the football program.
6. The stadium is not a reason to keep trying to make football a major sport. That is backwards logic propelled by those who thought that creating the stadium would bring UConn into the big leagues. Good try. No cigar.
7. Since the stadium is less of a draw than the UConn Dairy Bar, I propose that they give the stadium to the UConn Dairy Bar. Its location closer to the cities means there will be an immediate increase in customers.
8. Whatever damage has been done to UConn's reputation, recruiting-wise, probably has already been done by the AAC. I'm pretty sure opposing coaches won't have much more negative to say about the Big East than about the AAC. I figure this should not be an impediment to moving.
9. I don't know if the Big East would be cheaper to operate in, but it does seem logical that travel would be lessened.
10. I didn't think this would happen, but it's turning out that I'm talking myself into thinking a move to the Big East would be a good idea. This is especially true if several AAC teams are going to leave that conference for greener pastures. An AAC without USF and UCF is simply not worth being in.

Love #7

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Please no UCF. They bring nothing of a benefit to UCONN. UCONN doesn't have an obligation to please fans with "rivalry" games. They have an obligation first and foremost to the development of their team throughout a year and in future years.

UCF plays extremely physical basketball that puts the UCONN players at risk if not for injury but also to get "beat up." UCONN gets little benefit in terms of RPI or anything national if they win. They risk a loss, a player getting hurt or banged up and if they ever lose it hurts recruiting too. It is highly doubtful they lose but if UCONN is banged up leading into the game - and they have to play a dirty team like UCF - it wears down the starters.

In our conference, they play chippy/dirty basketball - fine. Maybe with their OOC they beat someone good or do well and get in NCAA's and make a huge surprise. We root for that. But once we leave - there is no reason to play a dirty team that knows us well. It's not worth it.

UCONN has an obligation to keep their eye on the ball and worry about improvement, health of the player and the program. Scheduling UCF after we leave provides none of this. UCF isn't that good to really need this type of game for the UCONN team. This game isn't much of a rivalry anyways.

Playing UCF helps you recruit in Florida, just like it helps other schools to play in NJ. South Carolina plays a neutral site game in Charlotte every 2 years because we recruit heavily in North Carolina. Florida is a benefit because there are a ton of division 1 players in that state every year, and some want to play in a different part of the country.

 

[DEpup]

Playing UCF helps you recruit in Florida, just like it helps other schools to play in NJ. South Carolina plays a neutral site game in Charlotte every 2 years because we recruit heavily in North Carolina. Florida is a benefit because there are a ton of division 1 players in that state every year, and some want to play in a different part of the country.

There are other schools in FL to schedule games with that don't play dirty like UCF. If coaches value their players' health, no one should schedule a game with them.

 

[UConnCat]

Playing UCF helps you recruit in Florida, just like it helps other schools to play in NJ. South Carolina plays a neutral site game in Charlotte every 2 years because we recruit heavily in North Carolina. Florida is a benefit because there are a ton of division 1 players in that state every year, and some want to play in a different part of the country.

No it doesn't.

 

[j66kicker]

Amazing how so many people use 1 game to define an entire program and university. You’d think Oklahoma never won before.

That just the way it works. If UConn had won that game you can bet it would have defined their entire program.

I think the point is there was zero chance of that happening. UConn won a conference championship in a depleted BE which was still recognized as a BCS conference. So they got to play in a 'real' bowl game and got exposed by a 'real' football program.

Full disclosure: I am an Oklahoma alum and huge OU football fan. From that perspective it appears to me that all the scheming and blaming and wishing and hoping on the football board and conference realignment board is just that - a bunch of scheming and blaming and wishing and hoping. Actually as a (past) 20-year CT resident and big UConn BB fan I would like to see it happen too. But it requires big $$ from big boosters. So all the T. Boone Pickens and Red McCombs types please step forward.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

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.

You did totally miss my point. it was simple - there was no one in the AAC that had any expectation of beating UConn. Had USF beat UConn it would have been a huge upset. Had anyone else - including the Tulane "almost" - it would have been mind-boggling.

The second part of my point was that the Big East isn't really any different. Losing to DePaul (especially with your recent history someone mentioned of beating them by 40) or Marquette (which has a new coach) would, again, be a huge upset. Anyone else, mind-boggling.

It is a much better WBB conference than the American. But UConn has a very, very high chance of going through the conference undefeated every year. Very few games are likely to be competitive, IMO.

Anyone beating Uconn would be an "upset". But the teams that have the best chance of doing it (however unlikely) are in the P5 conferences.

 

[hoophuskee]

You did totally miss my point. it was simple - there was no one in the AAC that had any expectation of beating UConn. Had USF beat UConn it would have been a huge upset. Had anyone else - including the Tulane "almost" - it would have been mind-boggling.

The second part of my point was that the Big East isn't really any different. Losing to DePaul (especially with your recent history someone mentioned of beating them by 40) or Marquette (which has a new coach) would, again, be a huge upset. Anyone else, mind-boggling.

It is a much better WBB conference than the American. But UConn has a very, very high chance of going through the conference undefeated every year. Very few games are likely to be competitive, IMO.

Anyone beating Uconn would be an "upset". But the teams that have the best chance of doing it (however unlikely) are in the P5 conferences.

I think you're missing my point which you brush over in bold. If the BE is better and UCONN almost got knocked off by crappy Tulane -- it will happen eventually in the BE. It has happened before. It has happened to UCONN before. ANd look at the ACC Miami and North Carolina, 21 and 50 respectively, knocks off ND. When you continually play teams for several years and they legit enough to be around 25 (this past year two BE teams Marq and DePaul) and you have many more teams that are like "Tulane" in BE than in the AAC- eventually UCONN will get picked off. This has been some of the weakest teams UCONN has had the past year - and still no one came that close to them.

Going to a much better conference as you say means UCONN has a much better chance getting picked off. In college sports fluke games happen. It's just that there has never been enough "quality" in the AAC to get that eventual win.

 

[hoophuskee]

Playing UCF helps you recruit in Florida, just like it helps other schools to play in NJ. South Carolina plays a neutral site game in Charlotte every 2 years because we recruit heavily in North Carolina. Florida is a benefit because there are a ton of division 1 players in that state every year, and some want to play in a different part of the country.

I was talking basketball. I misunderstood Triad who was talking football. I know little about football recruiting. But if you are talking WCBB - and you feel UCONN needs UCF - -- UCONN doesn't.

 

[triaddukefan]

For all you WBB haters. They are the only ones who get any positive press. I know they've lost 5 games in the last 3 years, but there is always a buzz regarding the program. ... But our baseball program will take a huge hit. The BE sucks and our RPI will make it extremely difficult to make the tournament as an at-large. ... I love Hurley. I trust Hurley and I think it will help MBB.

Going out on a limb but I think this was posted in the wrong forum

 

[ThetaZoo]

Figuring that the current Big East vs. AAC is kinda like "pick your poison," I always figured that I have no dog in this hunt at all. But forgive me for rambling as I lay out some thoughts.
1. AAC is the conference you love to hate. A dog's breakfast of teams, tossed together in hopes that together they would succeed. It's not working.
2. AAC WBB teams are slowly getting better, but not quickly enough to really matter. The team strength stat that someone previously showed, BiG East vs. AAC, was a huge surprise to me and very instructive.
3. While selfishly I do not want to lose my Florida UConn games (not to mention an excuse to go to New Orleans), it makes a lot more sense for UConn to play where the opponents are, more or less. A flight to Wichita or Tulsa just because you have to is not my idea of fun.
4. I don't follow much football, UConn or otherwise, but I know the basic facts of the situation. I was long gone from CT when they decided to build that stadium in East Hartford, but that never, ever made any sense to me. "Build it and they will come?" Nossir. Not even a little. Think about programs like Penn State. The university is located in Podunk, and so is the stadium. They fill it all the time. Isn't there a lesson there for someone?
5. Truth is, I don't much care what happens to the football program.
6. The stadium is not a reason to keep trying to make football a major sport. That is backwards logic propelled by those who thought that creating the stadium would bring UConn into the big leagues. Good try. No cigar.
7. Since the stadium is less of a draw than the UConn Dairy Bar, I propose that they give the stadium to the UConn Dairy Bar. Its location closer to the cities means there will be an immediate increase in customers.
8. Whatever damage has been done to UConn's reputation, recruiting-wise, probably has already been done by the AAC. I'm pretty sure opposing coaches won't have much more negative to say about the Big East than about the AAC. I figure this should not be an impediment to moving.
9. I don't know if the Big East would be cheaper to operate in, but it does seem logical that travel would be lessened.
10. I didn't think this would happen, but it's turning out that I'm talking myself into thinking a move to the Big East would be a good idea. This is especially true if several AAC teams are going to leave that conference for greener pastures. An AAC without USF and UCF is simply not worth being in.

It's clear that you don't follow football because your facts are wrong. UConn filled the Rent in the early years.

 

[mbr33ct]

For all you WBB haters. They are the only ones who get any positive press. I know they've lost 5 games in the last 3 years, but there is always a buzz regarding the program. ... But our baseball program will take a huge hit. The BE sucks and our RPI will make it extremely difficult to make the tournament as an at-large. ... I love Hurley. I trust Hurley and I think it will help MBB.

Amazing how so many people use 1 game to define an entire program and university. You’d think Oklahoma never won before.

I would have thought beating ND back in 2009 would have been the defining game for the UConn football program.

 

[oldude]

I would have thought beating ND back in 2009 would have been the defining game for the UConn football program.

Unfortunately for UConn, under Charlie Weis, everyone beat ND back in 2009. The Irish stumbled through that season at 6-6.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I will bite after just reading for a few days.

The largest problem with the AAC hasn't been the lack of competition but rather the lack of interest from the fan bases and media. UConn women have steamrolled through old BE competition before and the men won a few NCs playing top teams but their conference opponents were old rivals, rankings were at stake and had a sense of tradition about it. I am skeptical the AAC will ever have tradition regardless of how good some of the teams may become. Let's be honest, even if ECU and Uconn had outstanding football teams would there ever be a large following for the games? I'm skeptical.

The AAC is Conference USA redux with UConn added out of basically being forced to do something. Geography plays a factor and it's for the same reason I wondered why West Virginia would join a conference of midwest schools and be forced to pay for the non revenue sports to go halfway across the country several times per year. The travel alone will help UConn's bottom line and athletes and restoring old rivals with some opponents will spark more interest from the media and fans.

College sports is a dirty business and the upheaval was for football alone. In an ideal world UConn would join the ACC but unfortunately that doesn't appear to be an option for now.