Watching other College Basketball games

[Guapo]

I used to watch it religiously in highschool. Every Saturday morning I would be up and ready in time for the 12:00 games, watching sometimes until 10 or 11 pm at night nonstop. Sunday would be rinse and repeat but sometimes I would have some breaks as there were not always non stop games. I would watch the best matchups at both 7 and 9pm Monday and Tuesday, which tended to be the best nights but if there were any other nights, those too.

I remember I did a project in computer class to test my HTML and it was a website about college ball. I knew so much that year. I will try to find it though it might be hard.

These days I think college ball has lost a lot of Uconn fans because, well, we just are not that tuned in. If Uconn does better, there will be a noticeable influx of CT fans watching again IMHO.

I think this is what I was getting at with the tv ratings comment; if UConn was better we'd view the entire CBB landscape as more interesting.

 

[ASweet3781]

Obviously UConn being terrible for 2 years lessens our interest. But the destruction of the Big East has hurt college basketball. Sorry I could care less about midwest or southern based basketball which is all ESPN can show now. It's bad enough they dominate and own college football. When I was growing up in the late 80s early 90s you had UConn, UMass, Temple, BC, Providence all nationally relevant involved in huge games and deep tournament runs and major rivalries. Even URI made an Elite 8. College basketball was larger than life in the northeast. Not to mention Syracuse, St. John's, and Seton Hall. Or the truly interesting national renegade programs like UNLV/Michigan FAB 5/Georgetown under JT. Right now the only nationally relevant east coast team is Villanova and they are in a conference with Creighton and DePaul on a network most don't even think of checking out. None of the northeast schools matter right now or are in the same league anymore. The blue bloods pretty much own the sport now. Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, and the schools with good coaches (Michigan State, Gonzaga, Villanova) and whatever southern/midwest based Power 5 cash cow school turns their fortune into a pretty good season (South Carolina last year for example.)

It's a bore.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I only watch UConn men's basketball and nothing else. I used to watch lots of college sports, including football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and hockey, but I haven't watched a minute of any other team except UConn or any other sport except basketball since 2013.

 

[tjc1888]

Completely. I don't think I've watched an entire non-UConn game this season. And, to be honest, I haven't come close to watching every UConn game and I'm probably 50/50 as to whether I bother to tune in tomorrow morning. I'll probably watch until Nova's up 20-0, shut it off, and not think about it again. The fact that the NBA is ridiculously great now helps.

Honest question and not being condescending. What makes the NBA so great? You know who is going to be in the finals. There are really only 3 teams that can really win it all at most. I hear it all the time, how great the NBA is getting and how much popularity....but I guess I'm missing the boat.

 

[Guapo]

I only watch UConn men's basketball and nothing else. I used to watch lots of college sports, including football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and hockey, but I haven't watched a minute of any other team except UConn or any other sport except basketball since 2013.

Why have you stopped watching the other sports?

 

[mauconnfan]

OP spot on. I can watch about 10 minutes if some good match ups but no way can I watch full halves, with from games to game, in other words ALL college basketball. Hell my shows that I DVR rarely need it as usually watch them on time if awake. In the good old days a game like last nights match up of UAB-Western Kentucky was fun no matter how good they were. I didn't watch a second I thin mainly because I don't want to look at mediocre teams anymore and know they could either give our Huskies a game or beat us.

This does blow!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Why have you stopped watching the other sports?

It's hard to put into words.

I'm a Connecticut sports fan. Not New England, not New York, not Boston, or any other regional designation.

Connecticut.

And since my fan loyalties have been deliberately undercut, undersold, sold down the river, removed from the national stage...what have you, now by outside forces, and because of the way it happened, the whole business can go flock itself.

I've added a few names to my list of people whose graves I plan on pissing on. Kind of a bucket list thing for me.

 

[Guapo]

It's hard to put into words.

I'm a Connecticut sports fan. Not New England, not New York, not Boston, or any other regional designation.

Connecticut.

And since my fan loyalties have been deliberately undercut, undersold, sold down the river, removed from the national stage...what have you, now by outside forces, and because of the way it happened, the whole business can go flock itself.

I've added a few names to my list of people whose graves I plan on pissing on. Kind of a bucket list thing for me.

I get that, I really do.

But can I offer that, if you did once follow hockey and baseball, that those programs have not been removed from the national stage in their respective sports.

In fact, quite the opposite has happened.

Hockey East, which UConn is now a member of, is the premier college hockey conference in the nation.

The baseball program has been the one program that has benefited from conference realignment. The AAC is a significantly better baseball conference then the old Big East was, finishing second in RPI behind only the SEC the past couple years. Furthermore, the school is investing in the program and they'll have a beautiful new on campus stadium to call home in a couple years (a rendering of which I actually posted earlier in the thread).

So, take that for what it's worth. If what's happened to UConn has disillusioned you to the entirety of college sports, I totally get that.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Honest question and not being condescending. What makes the NBA so great? You know who is going to be in the finals. There are really only 3 teams that can really win it all at most. I hear it all the time, how great the NBA is getting and how much popularity....but I guess I'm missing the boat.

Honest question for you: do you watch the NBA?

I'd answer by saying a pretty staggering collection of talent playing a very exciting, viewer-friendly brand of basketball.

Neither the Lakers nor the Sixers are going anywhere this season but I found myself absolutely engrossed a few weeks ago watching them play because of all the exciting young talent on the floor.

As for the Finals being a foregone conclusion, it might very well end up being Cleveland and Golden State but as of right now it seems like there are a couple teams that are going to have something to say about that. I don't know who's not looking forward to a Houston / GSW series in the spring. And the NBA playoffs is just a mind-bogglingly high level brand of basketball.