WE are a basketball School

[Jaker]

we should always keep this in mind.

Good article.

http://www.bigeastcoastbias.com/2015/2/5/7974553/why-uconn-should-rejoin-the-big-east

 

[Yankees32123]

I don't understand how no one else seems to be on board with this. Great idea.

 

[uconndennis]

Awful idea. Just awful

 

[Yankees32123]

Awful idea. Just awful

Care to explain why?

 

[Gurleyman]

We're a basketball school, but not a private, urban Catholic school. They made an exception on the Catholic part with Butler, but they're still a private metro college, which fits their model.

A flagship state U with state school tuition and state school resources doesn't fit in their little club of like-minded schools. They'd be more apt to look towards other Catholics. I'd imagine St. Bonaventure (Catholic school in a major market) would be higher on their list than us if they wanted to expand. But St. Louis, Dayton and others would be in line first.

We share history with those schools, but not a future.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'll explain why, because: 1. The Big East is just barely better than the American at basketball. 2. The MAC won't accept UConn for football, and is kicking out UMass. 3. It prevents any chance of joining a P5 conference 4. Joining a P5 conference is the only hope to a sustainable big time athletic program 5. despite geography, UConn shares nothing in common with the Big East schools or the MAC schools.

That's just off the top of my head. It's an article based on faulty understandings of UConn (underrates our football team by a lot...it has more players in the NFL than many P5 schools and was in a New Years Day bowl just 5 years ago) and faulty understanding of the Big East's basketball capabilities and overall attractiveness. This idea has some merit if, and only if, we learn over the next five years ago that our chances of ever getting a P5 invite are zero and if, in that time, the American underperforms the Big East at basketball by a wide margin.

 

[pnow15]

The Big East has been regulated to CBS. ESPN has assigned Bobby Knight and a first rated play man to college basketball telecast for this league. ESPN has recognized the potential of this league. Only Houston and USF have dead gyms. The rest of the gyms in this league are jumping. SMU has the Dallas Cowboys and George Bush at its home games. There are huge future TV dollars at stake here.
Tulsa will be good in fooball and basketball. Navy has a national following. Would love to add BYU. But unless the B1G calls, we should sit pretty. We have a winning hand here.

 

[Palatine]

According to the Hartford Courant, we can't compete in the Big East and should consider dropping back into the Yankee Conference.

 

[CTBasketball]

We have a winning hand until recruiting starts to dip permanently, then the teams get worse and worse.

 

[3rdbass]

The author is discredited a little by saying Pitt and Syracuse had better football programs. Was the author stuck in the 70's-80's. Those programs have been horrible for years.

I would love to be in the Big East but unfortunately we are stuck in this horrible conference due to football.

 

[kobe]

I consider myself a big college basketball fan and have only seen two or three Big East games this year and they were all in November and December. Without ESPN, as unfair as it is, that league has faded away in my mind. I consider it like the old MWC when UNLV, New Mexico, SDSU and Colorado St were all good. They have a bunch of top 50 RPI teams but no one really knows how good any of them are, outside of Villanova.

 

[Yankees32123]

I refute that we don't fit the mold of Big East schools because we don't fit the mold of the AAC schools. We are the only team in the conference that represents a whole state. And frankly, who cares. The Big East is a better basketball conference than the AAC. Anyone who says otherwise is delusional.

 

[Yankees32123]

Screw football. Our program will not be good again for a long time. You can't just become better at football over a few seasons. It takes years and years to build a football program and we don't have years. Basketball will suffer too much while we wait for football and that's not worth it. Basketball recruiting will be better if we were in the Big East.

 

[lange10]

I'm not sure how many agree, but I really think the big east is far and away a better basketball conference than the AAC. Obviously we all want to join a P5 conference BUT if we can't because of our god awful football team, joining the big east wouldn't be such a terrible thing. Honestly, even if the big east fell off a little, it's still much more interesting playing St Johns on a wednesday night than ECU. But that's just me.

Kenpom ratings:
Villanova - 7
Butler - 18
Georgetown - 23
Xavier - 26
St Johns - 42
Providence - 43
Seton Hall - 49
Marquette - 106 (Wojo will have them as contenders by next year)
Creighton - 114
Depaul - 124

SMU - 28
Cincy - 29
Tulsa - 55
Temple - 59
UConn - 73
Memphis - 84
Tulane - 178
ECU - 224
Houston - 247
USF - 255
UCF - 259

 

[Yankees32123]

I'm not sure how many agree, but I really think the big east is far and away a better basketball conference than the AAC. Obviously we all want to join a P5 conference BUT if we can't because of our god awful football team, joining the big east wouldn't be such a terrible thing. Honestly, even if the big east fell off a little, it's still much more interesting playing St Johns on a wednesday night than ECU. But that's just me.

Kenpom ratings:
Villanova - 7
Butler - 18
Georgetown - 23
Xavier - 26
St Johns - 42
Providence - 43
Seton Hall - 49
Marquette - 106 (Wojo will have them as contenders by next year)
Creighton - 114
Depaul - 124

SMU - 28
Cincy - 29
Tulsa - 55
Temple - 59
UConn - 73
Memphis - 84
Tulane - 178
ECU - 224
Houston - 247
USF - 255
UCF - 259

This says it all.

 

[Husky25]

I'll explain why, because: 1. The Big East is just barely better than the American at basketball. 2. The MAC won't accept UConn for football, and is kicking out UMass. 3. It prevents any chance of joining a P5 conference 4. Joining a P5 conference is the only hope to a sustainable big time athletic program 5. despite geography, UConn shares nothing in common with the Big East schools or the MAC schools.

That's just off the top of my head. It's an article based on faulty understandings of UConn (underrates our football team by a lot...it has more players in the NFL than many P5 schools and was in a New Years Day bowl just 5 years ago) and faulty understanding of the Big East's basketball capabilities and overall attractiveness. This idea has some merit if, and only if, we learn over the next five years ago that our chances of ever getting a P5 invite are zero and if, in that time, the American underperforms the Big East at basketball by a wide margin.

You will never convince basketball only fans, which is a shame because basketball only fans should be for whatever is in the best interest of UConn, not just the basketball program. By and large however the basketball only fans lose the forest for the trees because they can't understand that if the Football team folds or goes to a lesser conference, it HURTS the basketball program.

The author is discredited a little by saying Pitt and Syracuse had better football programs. Was the author stuck in the 70's-80's. Those programs have been horrible for years.

I would love to be in the Big East but unfortunately we are stuck in this horrible conference due to football.

The author is discredited by a lot. It's an awful article filled with misinformation.

UConn is in this conference for more reasons than the football program.

 

[Palatine]

The Big East is no different than the A-10.

Either get in a P-5 conference or die. And football is the only way to do that. Period.

 

[Yonick]

That article was intended for the benefit of the Catholic schools presently in, what is now the Big East. At some point, the p-5 schools will eventually eliminate all other schools, including the BE, from top competition.
Without football UConn has no shot of getting into a P-5 conference. Our basketball history, coupled with an eventually competitive football team would be our ticket into a P-5 conference. Without football we are relegated to 2nd class status that will continue to get worse. The BE schools will soon learn this as many schools can't afford to enhance scholarship money like the P-5 schools, and UConn can. Recruiting will fall off sharply at BE schools.

 

[ARIDE]

We're a basketball school, but not a private, urban Catholic school. They made an exception on the Catholic part with Butler, but they're still a private metro college, which fits their model.

A flagship state U with state school tuition and state school resources doesn't fit in their little club of like-minded schools. They'd be more apt to look towards other Catholics. I'd imagine St. Bonaventure (Catholic school in a major market) would be higher on their list than us if they wanted to expand. But St. Louis, Dayton and others would be in line first.

We share history with those schools, but not a future.

You have to be kidding me. ESPN cant wait to get rid of Bob Knoight and Mike Patrick. I never heard such a terrible broadcast. Knight confused and slow to react during games and Patrick cant even get the players correct have the time. The American gets know respect and why should it!

 

[Yankees32123]

That article was intended for the benefit of the Catholic schools presently in, what is now the Big East. At some point, the p-5 schools will eventually eliminate all other schools, including the BE, from top competition.
Without football UConn has no shot of getting into a P-5 conference. Our basketball history, coupled with an eventually competitive football team would be our ticket into a P-5 conference. Without football we are relegated to 2nd class status that will continue to get worse. The BE schools will soon learn this as many schools can't afford to enhance scholarship money like the P-5 schools, and UConn can. Recruiting will fall off sharply at BE schools.

This is just not true. We will not get into a P5 school with our football team. It is not going to happen. Bball recruiting will be helped in the Big East. A lot.

 

[lange10]

This is just not true. We will not get into a P5 school with our football team. It is not going to happen. Bball recruiting will be helped in the Big East. A lot.

I'm not writing off the football program. I refuse to do that. Yea, they are god awful, but I'm optimistic.

 

[Stainmaster]

The Big East is no different than the A-10.

Either get in a P-5 conference or die. And football is the only way to do that. Period.

Astonishing how few people understand this.

Everyone's beloved basketball program will be playing in a glorified rec league if we don't take a chance on jumping to the P5. There will be no UCONN sports as we know it for you guys to root for. Sorry to slap some of you in the face, but for Pete's sake, wake up.

 

[Waquoit]

Shouldn't the ARE be in caps instead of the WE?

 

[lange10]

The Big East is no different than the A-10.

Either get in a P-5 conference or die. And football is the only way to do that. Period.

Bobby D gonna lead us to the promise land

 

[Yankees32123]

I'm not writing off the football program. I refuse to do that. Yea, they are god awful, but I'm optimistic.

I envy your optimism.