We can solve Problem #1, we can't solve Problem #2

[3rdbass]

How does that end the thread?

He is talking about how successful Mike Cronnin has been in keeping Cincy at the top of the conference year in and year out.

 

[Stainmaster]

He is talking about how successful Mike Cronnin has been in keeping Cincy at the top of the conference year in and year out.

Would you be satisfied with Mick Cronin's NCAA tournament performance and ability to send guys into the NBA?

 

[CL82]

Would you be satisfied with Mick Cronin's NCAA tournament performance and ability to send guys into the NBA?

Uh right now? Kind of. But that will pass in few hours.

 

[weyuo]

Something happened after Ollie's divorce. Things started going south. Blaney wasn't there to be a mentor any more. Ollie started hiring his homies for coaches instead of looking for the best big man coach out there, the best wing man and the best defensive coaches that can be found. Ollie is a good position coach but when your the head you need to be just as good a manager and that means hiring the best assistants you can. That's his down fall. He's a good motivator and probably a great point guard coach but as far as a manager....

 

[HuskyHawk]

A 25 win conference tourney champion and NCAA 2nd round exit against a 1 seed will never be accepted as a "bad season" by me so stop trying. 324 schools in the country would trade places with that season.

It wasn't a bad season. It was an underperformance given the talent on the team. It should have been an even better team. It should have won the league regular season title, not just the tournament.

As for OP, the Big East nonsense is so old and so off base. The biggest problem with this league is that UConn sucks. If we didn't suck, it would have 4 ranked teams going to the tournament,with others on the bubble. Which is where the Big Ten is.

 

[ASweet3781]

He is talking about how successful Mike Cronnin has been in keeping Cincy at the top of the conference year in and year out.

I said that in the original post. We could aim to be Cincinnati. Take the wins the league can give you and become relevant and competent. But when was the last time the Bearcats got out of the 2nd round? This is supposed to be their best team the Cronin era. We'll see next week what their ceiling is.

 

[DefCONNOne]

How does that end the thread?

Because he is able to win in a "southern based football league". The OP is clearly being obtuse when he claims UCONN can't win in that type of conference. Mick Cronin does and so can we.

 

[Stainmaster]

Uh right now? Kind of. But that will pass in few hours.

Exactly. Imagine a UConn where our ceiling is the 2nd round, and a Lance Stevenson-type is our best NBA alumnus. Being continuously ranked, or "at the top of the conference," or getting decent seeds in the tourney means nothing if there are still deficiencies in those areas.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Recruiting hasn’t been the problem. Keeping kids here and developing them has been

 

[CL82]

Exactly. Imagine a UConn where our ceiling is the 2nd round, and a Lance Stevenson-type is our best NBA alumnus. Being continuously ranked, or "at the top of the conference," or getting decent seeds in the tourney means nothing if there are still deficiencies in those areas.

Again right now, not so bad. Looking forward to hearing who the new guy is. The sooner he's named the sooner the healing begins.

 

[DefCONNOne]

Would you be satisfied with Mick Cronin's NCAA tournament performance and ability to send guys into the NBA?

At least he makes NCAA appearances. When was the last time UCONN made it? [Don't answer the question was rhetorical.]

 

[August_West]

He is talking about how successful Mike Cronnin has been in keeping Cincy at the top of the conference year in and year out.

1) Everybody except maybe 6-8 teams in the country would like to have a coach of the quality of Mick Cronin. Why doesnt every one have one?
Oh right. Because saying "Mick Cronin is successful" waves the magic wand and means the next guy in here will be as good as Mick Cronin.
It doesnt work that way. Wish it did. When you hire a new coach you take a calculated risk that the coach is better than the one you are replacing. It doesnt always work that way though.

2) You ever look at Cronins 1st 4 seasons at Cincinnati?

11–19
13–19
18–14
19–16

I cant wait to see what this board does when KO's replacement goes 4 years without a NCAA appearance. and is 7 games under 500 for that stretch.

Cinci was patient with him and it paid off.

 

[Stainmaster]

Again right now, not so bad. Looking forward to hearing who the new guy is. The sooner he's named the sooner the healing begins.

But the thing is, that's the permanent reality for Cincinnati. It's not going to get better for them. How do we feel if that's still the case 5 years into the new guy's tenure?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Yeah it’s awful in a Southern-based Football-first conference, which is why they’re struggling to put together good teams in the Big Twelve, SEC, ACC....


...oh wait, we’d kill to be playing like most teams from those conferences

We’ve had several elite recruits and plenty of good recruits come here to the AAC. UConn and its tradition transcends conference. Being the regional power we have been, and considering academics, we will always be a potentially great choice for at least the multitude of talent coming from the Northeast

 

[Banta55]

Recruiting hasn’t been the problem. Keeping kids here and developing them has been

Exactly, so sick of conference bs...UConn is problem not the conference

 

[UConnMike04]

It truly is a two-fold problem. 1 is Ollie, plain and simple and no need to beat that into the ground anymore than it has been. However, problem 2 is def the conference. I know “Look at Cincy, look at WSU, etc.”. Neither of those schools are competing as much as we are for top Northeast talent head to head with the Big East and ACC and to a lesser extent (Rutgers) he B1G. Imagine you’re a top area recruit and Nova, GTown, Cuse, St John’s, hell even BC and Rutgers are after you...as is UConn. You know you’re either going to be playing in a great basketball conference going up against Duke/Carolina, etc in the ACC or playing in MSG in front of family and friends and playing most likely for or against schools you’ve grown up watching closely. Then UConn walks in...great history (better than all of those schools), great facilities, but no top flight conf games, no MSG outside of maybe one game a year IF scheduled, and road trips to play in half empty arenas against Tulsa, Tulane, ECU, Temple, Houston, SMU, etc. I know I would eliminate UConn immediately and go with one of the BE or ACC schools. Conference does matter, and I never was a go back to BE if possible guy...but screw football and the dream of it, go back if you can. I can’t honestly accept the death of basketball for the HOPE of football being someone competent enough where the ACC or B1G sends an invite. I just can’t sit back and accept watching what brought us to the top of the world die for football. Was early 2000s, mid-late 90s when we were a small football program really that bad?

 

[Stainmaster]

At least he makes NCAA appearances. When was the last time UCONN made it? [Don't answer the question was rhetorical.]

Is just making the tourney enough?

 

[Banta55]

Yeah it’s awful in a Southern-based Football-first conference, which is why they’re struggling to put together good teams in the Big Twelve, SEC, ACC....


...oh wait

We’d kill to have most of those teams’ rosters

Texas Tech spent most of the year in the top 10...You can win anywhere with the right coaching

 

[3rdbass]

1) Everybody except maybe 6-8 teams in the country would like to have a coach of the quality of Mick Cronin. Why doesnt every one have one?
Oh right. Because saying "Mick Cronin is successful" waves the magic wand and means the next guy in here will be as good as Mick Cronin.
It doesnt work that way. Wish it did. When you hire a new coach you take a calculated risk that the coach is better than the one you are replacing. It doesnt always work that way though.

2) You ever look at Cronins 1st 4 seasons at Cincinnati?

11–19
13–19
18–14
19–16

I cant wait to see what this board does when KO's replacement goes 4 years without a NCAA appearance. and is 7 games under 500 for that stretch.

Cinci was patient with him and it paid off.

Yeah, but that was going against the big east and not the AAC. That is apples to oranges in comparison. Also, UCONN had a higher ceiling when they first entered the AAC and now it is bottom half of the conference.

 

[Lefty2one]

The program is effectively dead as a powerhouse as long as we're in the AAC. A new coach can make us respectable again but we'll be one of those schools that makes a Sweet 16 run once or twice a decade. Our ceiling is still higher than Cincy's but not by a ton: we'll produce a first-round pick once every 8-10 years by finding a diamond in the rough, we'll have nice regular seasons beating up on terrible AAC teams and then we'll lose on the first weekend of the tournament. That's our ceiling for as long as we reside in the AAC. I will bet any amount of money that we'll never sniff the Final Four in this conference. Hell, I'll be surprised if any program in this bastard of a conference ever makes it that far.

The other elephant in the room is that we were not a 'final destination' program anymore. If a young coach rebuilds the program they'll leave for the right ACC or Big Ten opening.

We sold our basketball soul in search of football glory and it's been a massive failure. Our two "money sport" programs are a laughing stock.

 

[3rdbass]

The program is effectively dead as a powerhouse as long as we're in the AAC. A new coach can make us respectable again but we'll be one of those schools that makes a Sweet 16 run once or twice a decade. Our ceiling is still higher than Cincy's but not by a ton: we'll produce a first-round pick once every 8-10 years by finding a diamond in the rough, we'll have nice regular seasons beating up on terrible AAC teams and then we'll lose on the first weekend of the tournament. That's our ceiling for as long as we reside in the AAC. I will bet any amount of money that we'll never sniff the Final Four in this conference. Hell, I'll be surprised if any program in this bastard of a conference ever makes it that far.

The other elephant in the room is that we were not a 'final destination' program anymore. If a young coach rebuilds the program they'll leave for the right ACC or Big Ten opening.

We sold our basketball soul in search of football glory and it's been a massive failure. Our two "money sport" programs are a laughing stock.

Yes, this has been known for awhile. I still will take an occasional sweet 16 team to what we have now.

 

[ASweet3781]

Texas Tech spent most of the year in the top 10...You can win anywhere with the right coaching

Do you think the Power 5 money might have something to do with Texas Tech's rise?

 

[CL82]

But the thing is, that's the permanent reality for Cincinnati. It's not going to get better for them. How do we feel if that's still the case 5 years into the new guy's tenure?

Don't really disagree Stair. I'm just frustrated today.

Keep in mind the reality of any new guy might be worse than that. KO has dug a pretty big hole for us. It will take a while to climb out.

 

[ASweet3781]

Exactly, so sick of conference bs...UConn is problem not the conference

So if we kept Enoch or Jackson we would have finished in 5th in the ACC? Higher? Ranked?

 

[August_West]

Don't really disagree Stair. I'm just frustrated today.

Keep in mind the reality of any new guy might be worse than that. KO has dug a pretty big hole for us. It will take a while to climb out.

Our quickest path to return to success is having KO get it right.

But that is as big a risk or even moreso than asking a new coach to immediately come in and be Mick Cronin.

We are in waters we haven't navigated since the early 80s