WE are a basketball School

[Gringo]

I will order New Haven Pizza and craft beer for everyone on the Boneyard.

Bold statement and in my opinion stupid. I think we will get into a P5 eventually, and you will owe a lot of beer and pizza.

 

[3rdbass]

Hey I realize it won't happen and I would never bring this up myself because of that but I understand the point Nelson is trying to make. Unfortunately we are stuck in purgatory. GO UCONN!!! I will always be a fan of the basketball team and the school in general as I'm also an alumni.

 

[Husky25]

LOL I love how you said this millennium since we did win it in 1999 without being a major football player. But they was convenient to leave out the '99 team with your comment. Also, Butler got close twice and should have beat Duke that one year.

1. Close is not winning.
2. 15 years is still a long time, and
3. The Big East sponsored Football in 1999, therefore UConn was the beneficiary of the football schools.

You have to go back to Villanova in 1985 before you find a Champion whose conference did not sponsor football.

 

[Jerry1714]

You want to give up football so we can play Villanova and Gtown once a year in basketball? Jesus this is stupid.

The NBE was a joke in the tournament last year, look for the same this year.

 

[Husky25]

I commented on this article on the CR Board/Non-Key Tweets early this morning. It absolute makes no sense to join the NBE at this time. Any posters that disagree are viewing the basketball program through a straw, without any consideration to the university as a whole including research, academics, financials, exposure, etc. As I've said past, if UConn is joining the NBE, all is lost, and it has thrown in the towel in its pursuit to be a leading, national university.

It's a lost cause. The basketball-onlies don't support the University. They root for the basketball team and the basketball team only.

 

[CL82]

Bold statement and in my opinion stupid. I think we will get into a P5 eventually, and you will owe a lot of beer and pizza.

Let's bookmark this thread. It should be quite a party.

 

[Husky25]

Let's bookmark this thread. It should be quite a party.

If you get Sally's, I'm out. Only Pepe (the Original) or Modern...

(See what I'm doing here? The only topic that's been beaten into the ground more than this is the pizza thread)

 

[FrostyNuggets]

The only thing that saves the basketball program, long term, is getting into a P5 conference.

 

[Gringo]

Let's bookmark this thread. It should be quite a party.

No chance I'm going to forget the free pizza / beer thread. I might have to make a special trip back to CT for the party.

*Edit: I bookmarked the page.

 

[Yankees32123]

A lot of you have convinced me. I want UConn to be in a P5. I just don't want the football program to bring down the basketball program and I'm afraid that that's what will happen if it takes 10+ years to get a P5 invite. It's a very sticky situation. Very sticky.

 

[itgoeslike]

It's a lost cause. The basketball-onlies don't support the University. They root for the basketball team and the basketball team only.

Their desire to move to the NBE is a short term fix. It might feel good for a couple of years, but when the buzz wears off and they wake up in a festering pile of increasing irrelevance with few options to climb out of regional university hell, there will be regret.

 

[3rdbass]

Their desire to move to the NBE is a short term fix. It might feel good for a couple of years, but when the buzz wears off and they wake up in a festering pile of increasing irrelevance with few options to climb out of regional university hell, there will be regret.

Well if we can get into the MAC conference I'm all for it. I'm definitely not in favor for us going independent like Nelson has mentioned. So I would only go to the NBE if the MAC was a viable option for us like the author of the article mentioned. I think being in the NBE/MAC is a better combo than just the AAC. I guess that train passes when our inept AD was just evaluating the situation.

 

[Husky25]

Unfortunately, the desire to move to the NBE is a short term fix. It might feel good for a couple of years, but when the buzz wears off and they wake up in a festering pile of increasing irrelevance with few options to climb out of regional university hell, there will be regret.

I hate saying it (or writing it as the case may be), but for me it is a no-term fix. I am not the only one who will change allegiances or stop watching college sports altogether. There is a reason that minor league venues seat less than 10,000 and, for the most part, are not on TV and. Irrelevance is not entertaining.

 

[pnow15]

It gets us in a conference were are basketball stays relevant and playing in Northeast big TV markets as opposed to playing against the worthless AAC opponents. I mean playing Villanova and Georgetown and St. John's is a lot better than playing SMU, Tulsa and Temple. Recruits would rather play against Big East competition than AAC.

Temple and Nova are in the same city, SMU in Dallas is packing its house.
Tulsa will have crazy Oklahoma following like all BB teams from that state and doesn't share its city.

 

[3rdbass]

Temple and Nova are in the same city, SMU in Dallas is packing its house.
Tulsa will have crazy Oklahoma following like all BB teams from that state and doesn't share its city.

These areas don't compare to the Northeast teams. Comparing Temple to Villanova as far as fan base? Please, I wouldn't go there. The only thing they share are the city.

 

[HooperScooper]

Someone needs to tell Robert Burton, Mark Shenkman and the state taxpayers that they gave millions so that UConn could play football in the MAC. I say they hire back Jeff Hathaway for that. I understand he's great at dealing with people who gave UConn money for athletics!

I know the AAC isn't ideal but having basketball in the BE and football in the MAC is basically a road to irrelevancy and potential fiscal wreck. Staying in the AAC and not giving up on joining a P5 conference keeps the dream alive. It's going to happen some time.

 

[Pudge]

Let's define terms here:

Are you ignoring the wave of academic and Capital moves that the University of Connecticut is making ... just to make this point that you yearn for our glory days playing Catholic schools?

I think this is all part of the overall plan. And, this was - the way Academia works - given as suggestions over the transom to President Herbst. We are a Land Grant University with great capacity to grow. I, like you, want to be GREAT in Hoop (BOTH ... I care about WBB too) forever. The Football - I have made my personal investment - will be fine. We are not going to struggle forever; our fan base demands good results (this is in Contrast to Rutgers - BTW - who were far more sheeplike when they were winning 1 and 2 games per annum).

We strive for Greatness. You do have to look at this as more expansive for the entire Institution. Joining Urban Catholic schools in Omaha has no relevance to the UConn of today; nor does PC or St. Johns. I don't like the current conference; but, it is a path to somewhere else. The NBE slides to irrelevance. In 20 years, some of those schools will be struggling giving trends in funding. I can pick a handful of AAC schools which will be doing far better. Including us.

 

[Greathusky]

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

Bring on New Hampshire!

 

[uconndennis]

We need to have much bigger aspirations than to be related in that league

I think the people arguing for UConn staying in the this wreck of a conference our the football fans. All true basketball fans know that saving the bball program is the most important thing and we also know it is a pipe dream we ever get into a P5 conference. Hey I understand it won't happen us leaving this conference for the NBE but you can't say you don't understand why so many people are unhappy we have to go down with the horrible football team. I'm always been a basketball fan and only care a little about the football team because I went to school there. It is like I how care about women's bball . I only care about them when they are playing in the post season.

Wrong...the people arguing for staying the course in the AAC are UConn fans. Fans and supporters of the university as a whole that understand there is a larger vision in place than yearning for the days of old...

Honestly, I seriously cant comprehend how you can be a basketball only fan at this point in time and not understand the importance of supporting the football program....literally blows my mind

 

[StingLykOllie]

The Big East is a pretty good bball conference right in 2015, but that probably won't stay that way forever. If I'm a fan of a NBE member institution, I sure as hell want UConn in the league to make it significantly more relevant. That is the basis of this article.

As a UConn fan in 2015, sure I would MUCH rather watch us play Gtown, St. Johns, Providence, Villanova, etc. We have deep history/rivalry with those teams. It's tough as a Huskies fan to get excited to play Tulsa, Temple, Tulane, USF, etc. because of that lack of history. But we are where we are, and if we are relegated to this league (I hope not for much longer) we might make some enemies, and add some excitement to these games. The Big East is the past, despite how great that past was, we are onto the future. That future begins with the AAC.

 

[ASweet3781]

There seem to be people in this thread who don't seem to realize we can't join a P5 league without an invitation.

I keep hearing how terrible the AAC is. Hopefully we can try to finish in the top 3 of it someday.

 

[Fishy]

There seem to be people in this thread who don't seem to realize we can't join a P5 league without an invitation.

I keep hearing how terrible the AAC is. Hopefully we can try to finish in the top 3 of it someday.

Like, you know, last year?

Good lord.

 

[Dooley]

There is no question that we are a basketball school. The question really is do we wish to be a Kentucky/Duke type of basketball school, with full access to the same revenue streams as other elite programs' schools OR do we wish to be a Seton Hall/St John's type of basketball school with no money and absolutely no shot at winning a national title ever again? Follow the money people. Joining the Big East is a lateral move, at best. And it locks in our mid-majordom forever.

No thanks. It's B1G/ACC or bust.

 

[ctchamps]

Most of us realize it won't happen and that we are stuck in the AAC but we want to voice our displeasure in the direction the school has taken at the expense of the men's basketball team. We realize the chance of a P5 bid are almost nothing. I mean if we didn't get it when we were in a better position in the Old Big East what will change in the future? Real question. I understand going to the NBE might mean doom and gloom down the road but at least we should have another 5-10 years of competing at the top of pile.

Last season the AAC was better than the BE even discounting Ville. This was expected to be a down year with UConn, Cinci, and Memphis losing a majority of their starters. No one expected Houston to lose their coach and their players to leave. The two teams expected to do well were Tulsa and SMU and they are doing fine.

You hang on to nostalgia. Does great for the Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians and Persians. I miss the rivalries as much as the next person. But when UConn first joined the BE I had as much apathy about the conference in the beginning as I do with this one.

The Catholic schools will not be able to support the athlete tuitions in the long run if ever. So they will be quickly losing their quality recruits. Don't want to be part of that conference when it happens. At least the AAC is composed of a majority of schools that will vote to keep up with the P5. Besides as BL put it the only school that wanted UConn to join the NBE was Georgetown, so this conversation is moot.

 

[August_West]

Bold statement and in my opinion stupid. I think we will get into a P5 eventually, and you will owe a lot of beer and pizza.

I will be more than happy to provide it.