Well I guess this is now the Big East Memorial Final Four

[UcMiami]

Great to have three big east teams in - so sad that this is the final run for the BE as we know it.

And Villanova and South Florida really let the conference down! And after Spokane was set up to be the cake walk regional especially for them to stun by being the first lower half seed to make the FF!

(SF actually had the best chance to knock of the eventual winner Cal. So props to them!)

 

[Icebear]

Men's and women's = 8 teams, 5 from the BEAST.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

It's the Big East until the end of the season, so don't listen to those commentators who say, "the former Big East." We're still us.

 

[meyers7]

It's the Big East until the end of the season, so don't listen to those commentators who say, "the former Big East." We're still us.

 

[jplotinus]

... and, at least as it relates to WCBB, I expect the America12 (or, as Kib has coined it, the NCC) to be surprisingly good in future tournaments. UCONN will likely dominate new conference, especially early on, but in so doing, UCONN will elevate the level of competition, prepping them for good runs come post season play. Same for men's bb. Football, soccer, swim, track? Opportunity knocks... But, I know, everyone prefers a bailout only because of more teevee money, and not because they think it's just naturally ordained that it's better to play Wake Forest than Houston. Maybe a preferred conference invite will soon come; and, maybe it won't.

Meanwhile kudos to the Big East and bring on whatevah comes next.

 

[winlots]

UC - you were the early bird here and beat me to initiating this thread. Woke up thinking about us having three of the four teams in the FF (and I see it noted above that something like 5 of the E8). Was also feeling good that NONE of those three are members of the dearly departed Catholic Seven, to whom I say: take the name and swallow it. You're already looking like the Big Nothin.
Am also hoping UCONN STAYS PUT with these schools that are joining our parade. How about our Univ PResident being a LEADER in saying "enough of this" crap....enough of this chasing the buck at every turn....we're stickin' with thosse who have joined us (the did so in GOOD FAITH, you know) and providing some leadership for it to grow just as the Big East did before it became the Big Nothin.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Three to see is now UConn, ND and Looville..

 

[EasyEd]

It makes me hate how football caused the demise of the Big East. When I was going to games they had a petition or something like that, that urged us to support the move to Division I football. I didn't sign it, because I saw the loss of focus on what they were already good at. Now look where we are, the Big East forced UConn, USF and Cincinatti out of the Big East because they were afraid we were going to bolt for a football conference anyway.

 

[Joe6cats]

I think of this Final Four as Fanfare for the Uncommon Conference, then RIP.

 

[jplotinus]

UC - you were the early bird here and beat me to initiating this thread. Woke up thinking about us having three of the four teams in the FF (and I see it noted above that something like 5 of the E8). Was also feeling good that NONE of those three are members of the dearly departed Catholic Seven, to whom I say: take the name and swallow it. You're already looking like the Big Nothin.
Am also hoping UCONN STAYS PUT with these schools that are joining our parade. How about our Univ PResident being a LEADER in saying "enough of this" crap....enough of this chasing the buck at every turn....we're stickin' with thosse who have joined us (the did so in GOOD FAITH, you know) and providing some leadership for it to grow just as the Big East did before it became the Big Nothin.

Yes!

Ps
Uc's op point was that 5 of 8 FF ( men&women) are from Big East. Not E8.

 

[EricLA]

UC - you were the early bird here and beat me to initiating this thread. Woke up thinking about us having three of the four teams in the FF (and I see it noted above that something like 5 of the E8). Was also feeling good that NONE of those three are members of the dearly departed Catholic Seven, to whom I say: take the name and swallow it. You're already looking like the Big Nothin.
Am also hoping UCONN STAYS PUT with these schools that are joining our parade. How about our Univ PResident being a LEADER in saying "enough of this" crap....enough of this chasing the buck at every turn....we're stickin' with thosse who have joined us (the did so in GOOD FAITH, you know) and providing some leadership for it to grow just as the Big East did before it became the Big Nothin.

I actually disagree with this. Well, the part about hoping that we stay in the new conference. As long as Geno is at the helm, UCONN will survive just fine. But the new conference is a dead end for elite teams, and frankly, UCONN is the only elite team in the entire conference.

Trying to grow the pigskin footprint in the new conference will never really happen. There might be some teams who have a good year, or even become good programs, but the reality is that the new conference sucks.

As for WCBB, Look at what happened to La Tech and ODU over the years. They are in crappy conferences and eventually their WCBB teams became irrelevant. As long as we have Geno that will never happen, and if he retires in 5 years, we will be just fine in the short term after that, but I'd not be surprised to see us go the way of La Tech and ODU 15-20 years down the road if we end up staying in the new crap conference.

Let's hope we end up in the ACC or elsewhere so this will never be put to the test...

 

[jplotinus]

I actually disagree with this. Well, the part about hoping that we stay in the new conference. As long as Geno is at the helm, UCONN will survive just fine. But the new conference is a dead end for elite teams, and frankly, UCONN is the only elite team in the entire conference.

Trying to grow the pigskin footprint in the new conference will never really happen. There might be some teams who have a good year, or even become good programs, but the reality is that the new conference sucks.

As for WCBB, Look at what happened to La Tech and ODU over the years. They are in crappy conferences and eventually their WCBB teams became irrelevant. As long as we have Geno that will never happen, and if he retires in 5 years, we will be just fine in the short term after that, but I'd not be surprised to see us go the way of La Tech and ODU 15-20 years down the road if we end up staying in the new crap conference.

Let's hope we end up in the ACC or elsewhere so this will never be put to the test...

It is known that I disagree with bad mouthing the new conference and with begging for ACC membership. But those are not points I want to emphasize here. Rather, it is appropriate to have some accurate information about the members of the new conference, their geography, demographics, academics and athletic tradition in order to place in proper perspective our likes and our dislikes.

It is accurate to say that if academic excellence is one factor in determining whether a conference sucks or not, then consider Tulane, Temple, among others.

If it is accurate to say that athletic excellence is exemplified by playing for national championships and winning Heisman and player of the year awards, then consider UCONN, Houston, Navy, UCF, Cincinnati, SMU, to name some but not all.

For more information about new conference see:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renamed_Big_East_Conference#section_2

 

[Icebear]

If the rumors coming out of the mid west are true UCONN will be out of the new conference by summer break. Rumblings are that the Big Ten is not done with raiding the ACC and could be adding as many as 4 more teams and going to a 9/9 East/West division split.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I actually disagree with this. Well, the part about hoping that we stay in the new conference. As long as Geno is at the helm, UCONN will survive just fine. But the new conference is a dead end for elite teams, and frankly, UCONN is the only elite team in the entire conference.

Trying to grow the pigskin footprint in the new conference will never really happen. There might be some teams who have a good year, or even become good programs, but the reality is that the new conference sucks.

As for WCBB, Look at what happened to La Tech and ODU over the years. They are in crappy conferences and eventually their WCBB teams became irrelevant. As long as we have Geno that will never happen, and if he retires in 5 years, we will be just fine in the short term after that, but I'd not be surprised to see us go the way of La Tech and ODU 15-20 years down the road if we end up staying in the new crap conference.

Let's hope we end up in the ACC or elsewhere so this will never be put to the test...

None of us really know how long the money will flow in the new conference setups or whether things will start to implode as markets throw off the cable shackles. Using two WCBB programs in your example is probably not optimal since football appears to be the key in all of the discussions. Gonzaga, UW-GB, and Marist are three WCBB programs that have done much better than the huge majority of the major conference teams even though they are in some of those crappy conferences. The Big East when it started out was one of those crappy conferences but worked it's way up to a position where it could take 5 of 8 FF spots while the ACC, B12, and SEC were getting nada. Things can change very quickly too, and at least the new league has a cornerstone of a few top teams and the room to really shine for the league's elite teams that will be hungry to make a name for the new kid on the block.

Getting into bed with the ACC may well be the next step after a few more teams run from that bordello, but it's still an option brings out the queasy reflux functions in the esophagus.

 

[RadyLady]

... and, at least as it relates to WCBB, I expect the America12 (or, as Kib has coined it, the NCC) to be surprisingly good in future tournaments. UCONN will likely dominate new conference, especially early on, but in so doing, UCONN will elevate the level of competition, prepping them for good runs come post season play. Same for men's bb. Football, soccer, swim, track? Opportunity knocks... But, I know, everyone prefers a bailout only because of more teevee money, and not because they think it's just naturally ordained that it's better to play Wake Forest than Houston. Maybe a preferred conference invite will soon come; and, maybe it won't.

Meanwhile kudos to the Big East and bring on whatevah comes next.

Here we go again. UConn will leave as soon as it gets the chance. It has to for as far as WCBB goes, nothing in the new conference will prep UCONN for the post season. Nothing.

 

[doggydaddy]

I actually disagree with this. Well, the part about hoping that we stay in the new conference. As long as Geno is at the helm, UCONN will survive just fine. But the new conference is a dead end for elite teams, and frankly, UCONN is the only elite team in the entire conference.

Trying to grow the pigskin footprint in the new conference will never really happen. There might be some teams who have a good year, or even become good programs, but the reality is that the new conference sucks.

As for WCBB, Look at what happened to La Tech and ODU over the years. They are in crappy conferences and eventually their WCBB teams became irrelevant. As long as we have Geno that will never happen, and if he retires in 5 years, we will be just fine in the short term after that, but I'd not be surprised to see us go the way of La Tech and ODU 15-20 years down the road if we end up staying in the new crap conference.

Let's hope we end up in the ACC or elsewhere so this will never be put to the test...

I don't think Uconn will end up in this new conference when all the conference moves are done. I have no inside info, but it's clear that there are more moves to happen. And UConn is at the top of the list.

I agree with you totally that with Geno there, UConn will be fine. Look at the 2014 class to date. Those kids know what conference UConn is moving to next year and possibly beyond. I think conference is about 10th on the list of what kids are looking for in a program.

If you look at La Tech, they were in the Sun Belt conference for years and years and as long as Barmore was there they were a top team.

 

[doggydaddy]

Here we go again. UConn will leave as soon as it gets the chance. It has to for as far as WCBB goes, nothing in the new conference will prep UCONN for the post season. Nothing.

Geno won't be there??

 

[RadyLady]

Here we go again. UConn will leave as soon as it gets the chance. It has to for as far as WCBB goes, nothing in the new conference will prep UCONN for the post season. Nothing.

Geno won't be there??

MAYYYBEEEE....maybe I should have written that none of the other teams in the new conference will prep UConn for the post season.....I just can't get away with anything when you are around, can I DD?

 

[jplotinus]

Here we go again. UConn will leave as soon as it gets the chance. It has to for as far as WCBB goes, nothing in the new conference will prep UCONN for the post season. Nothing.

It might be useful to locate members of new conference in the RPI listing in order to assess the comparative strength of its members.

Hint: Wake Forest is #163/345

http://www.rpiratings.com/womensrpi.php

As nearly as I can tell, at least 3 teams from new conference were in the NCAA tournament this year, with one progressing to the FF and thought to have a chance of winning it all, provided they play to win against ND. That would be UCONN.

Here's the list:

UCONN
USF
Navy

Don't know about wnit, but chances are new conference had some representation there as well.

Facts matter.

 

[doggydaddy]

MAYYYBEEEE....maybe I should have written that none of the other teams in the new conference will prep UConn for the post season.....I just can't get away with anything when you are around, can I DD?

Oh.......

I believe that there will be a few teams that will compete as much as everyone other than ND and Louisville. Other than that, no one prepared UConn for the tourney. And I'm generous about Louisville.

 

[RadyLady]

It might be useful to locate members of new conference in the RPI listing in order to assess the comparative strength of its members.

Hint: Wake Forest is #163/345

http://www.rpiratings.com/womensrpi.php

As nearly as I can tell, at least 3 teams from new conference were in the NCAA tournament this year, with one progressing to the FF and thought to have a chance of winning it all, provided they play to win against ND. That would be UCONN.

Here's the list:

UCONN
USF
Navy

Don't know about wnit, but chances are new conference had some representation there as well.

Facts matter.

and we are still going.....

 

[jplotinus]

and we are still going.....

...begging?

I hope not. Doing so is unseemly and a tad disrespectful to new conference, before the facts of competition and sport are even established. For all we know, new conference could be a great success. I think it will be.

Just because other schools are willing to contribute to chaos, destabilization and presumptions about what conferences are better and more potentially lucrative or whatever, doesn't mean UCONN has to fall for that bait.

 

[RadyLady]

nice. At this point, we must, as we have in the past, agree to disagree.

 

[rocky rococo]

Facts do matter. Working from the RPI listings in the site linked, here are teams in the RPI Top 50:

Existing BE: #2, 4, 22, 26, 28, 33, 39.

New conference: #4.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Here we go again. UConn will leave as soon as it gets the chance. It has to for as far as WCBB goes, nothing in the new conference will prep UCONN for the post season. Nothing.

Actually, UConn won a few NCs when the Big East had few good teams and was weak. USF is #30 in the Sagarin rankings this year, which is better than Gonzaga and the majority of teams in the major conferences, even LSU and OSU. But again you can't assume that the status of the teams in the WCBB right now is the same as they will be a few years from now, especially when they move to a higher profile conference. Some schools even sink out of sight after an "upward" movement, a la Boston College, which finished behind Boston University in the ratings. That's something that would have been a howler in Cathy Inglese's tenure.

I do believe UConn is likely to move elsewhere, but they can get along fine without having to slug it out every game in the BEast.