What Do You Like About Big East WCBB?

[visitingcock]

Go independent.

Play FCS football.

Both basketball teams would find it easy to book games against Big 10 and ACC schools plus SC and Tennessee as well as others. Get your own TV contracts with ESPN.

Baseball? Play SC early at Myrtle Beach in March. Play Coastal Carolina on the same trip. Then play your football FCS schools .

 

[oldude]

If you are talking about the Men’s side, I would buy into your thinking. But, an advanced level of play would lead to at least one other team in the BE being in the top 25 on the women’s side. Other than UCONN, I don’t see very much sophistication in anything. Sports has levels. UCONN is at a different level than the rest of the teams in the BE. The games are not competitive and the outcome is never in doubt. With Paige, Azzi, Aubrey, and CW out, we still win these games going away. That’s a sad commentary on the conference.

Not really. Clearly, outside of UConn, the talent level throughout the BE is not really close to any of the P5 conferences. As a result, BE coaches are forced to run more sophisticated offensive sets because they don’t have the size and athleticism to simply overpower opponents.

SC is a good example of a team that keeps things simple. They isolate their guards 1 on 1, get up a shot and crash the boards in waves. It’s not very pretty, but when you have the kind of talent the Gamecocks have it’s damned effective.

 

[oldude]

Go independent.

Play FCS football.

Both basketball teams would find it easy to book games against Big 10 and ACC schools plus SC and Tennessee as well as others. Get your own TV contracts with ESPN.

Baseball? Play SC early at Myrtle Beach in March. Play Coastal Carolina on the same trip. Then play your football FCS schools .

The FCS suggestion has been discussed at length on the BY. That may be the next step if UConn can’t make it as an FBS football independent which is the current status of the program. As for basketball teams going independent, that’s poses all kinds of problems, and it’s never been tried successfully by any school. Chief among the problems is that once every other school in the nation is deep into their conference schedule and conference tournament, who exactly are you going to play?

 

[Discograd]

Very little from a competitive standpoint. We need more competition week in and week out.

 

[sun]

If you are talking about the Men’s side, I would buy into your thinking. But, an advanced level of play would lead to at least one other team in the BE being in the top 25 on the women’s side. Other than UCONN, I don’t see very much sophistication in anything. Sports has levels. UCONN is at a different level than the rest of the teams in the BE. The games are not competitive and the outcome is never in doubt. With Paige, Azzi, Aubrey, and CW out, we still win these games going away. That’s a sad commentary on the conference.

To better understand how UConn athletics got to where it is today, a person needs to look at the entire history of the school and its athletics dept.
UConn didn't begin 1A independent football until 2000, and Big East football until 2004.
It's highly unlikely that UConn will ever win a national football championship.

History of UConn Athletics

History of UConn Athletics

uconnhuskies.com

The main reason for basketball conferences is to gain an automatic NCAA bid for the NC by winning a conference tourney.
While the schools in tougher conferences fill their schedules with easy OCC games, UConn schedules its OCC games with tough opponents from all over the country.
That seems to have worked well enough to help us consistently reach the FF.

Very little from a competitive standpoint. We need more competition week in and week out.

That's how injuries occur that can ruin a whole season and a chance for a NC.
College basketball is much like the military with new recruits enlisting for 4 years.
The players are always changing as they rotate out of the program with the new players needing to be trained.
The fans demand top notch entertainment yet the student athletes still need time to grow into their roles if they want to make it to the tourney.

All of the variables now including covid don't support it, and neither do the logistics after UConn was turned down by the ACC.
People have demands but there aren't easy solutions.
We can hope that the Big East improves in the short term by adding another team, or other options materialize in the long term.
The grass always looks greener on the other side but it's not that much different at all, and in some cases its worse.

 

[LoboDays]

While the schools in tougher conferences fill their schedules with easy OCC games, UConn schedules its OCC games with tough opponents from all over the country.

What? Take a look at the best teams in the P5 conferences SC, NC state, Louisville, MD, Stanford, etc. they all play each other with UCONN and more added in. And then they have to play in conference games against teams in the top 25 rankings.

I agree that there are no easy solutions. We also can’t make decisions about changing conferences just because one Team is not a good fit when many other teams in various sports may be very good fits.

 

[LETTERL]

Well said, well documented...

As one who has followed college sports off the basketball court, I'd add that the Big East makes so much more sense than other conferences for most (if not all) of the other UConn teams. I know those other athletes don't bring in the money and we're on a basketball thread, but that should to be a consideration for the hierarchy.

I also have a soft spot in my heart for those old Big East basketball competitions, both men's and women's. Wouldn't it be great if Marquette, DePaul et al could raise the level of their game just a bit.

Ha, as a Deacon fan, it'd be fun I suppose for Geno & Co. to be in the ACC, but why would I want another women's basketball team around that Wake can't beat. I have enough of those already.

I would trade Boston College for UCONN in a heartbeat. But noone at the ACC office asked my opinion once the era of conference expansion started.

 

[sun]

DePaul's NET ranking is very close to Duke, UCLA & Missouri which beat SC.

39	35	Duke	ACC	13-4	5-2	1-0	7-2	0-0
40	40	South Fla.	AAC	14-5	3-3	4-2	7-0	0-0
41	43	UCLA	Pac-12	9-4	1-1	1-3	7-0	0-0
42	41	South Dakota St.	Summit League	11-8	4-5	1-1	6-2	1-0
43	45	Missouri	SEC	15-5	4-4	1-0	10-1	0-0
44	42	Texas A&M	SEC	11-8	0-5	3-0	8-3	0-0
45	44	Arizona St.	Pac-12	9-6	1-2	1-2	7-2	0-0
46	46	DePaul	Big East	16-4	5-2	2-1	9-1	0-0
47	48	Boston College	ACC	14-5	4-3	0-0	10-2	0-0

DI Women's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA women's college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today/WBCA and NCAA committee.

www.ncaa.com

 

[BBallF]

I think the Men's league is so intense, with UCONN now renewing old regional rivalries and making new ones, that it actually makes the women's games more meaningful. It's a natural fit for UCONN, essentially a basketball school in essentially a basketball conference.

The league will get better. You have some very good coaches and it means something to play hoops in the Big East. The women get to play in the on campus facilities like Walsh in South Orange or Carnesecca in Queens and they have the feel of old time college basketball for any of us BYers that can remember. I would like to see us get to a point where 3 teams a year get into the Big Dance. You just need more better players in high school and more transfers.

I am amazed at how good the women are these days. For example, Correa from St. John's has a pure jump shot with a straight vertical lift. Put 2 more solid players on that team and you have an NCAA team. Same with some of these other teams. Seton Hall will get there too in a few years. I have no doubt. It's a great conference and Paige will be a draw for at least 2 more years, we hope.

 

[JSB60]

I like that we are back in the conference where we belong as a founding member.

 

[triaddukefan]

DePaul's NET ranking is very close to Duke, UCLA & Missouri which beat SC.

39	35	Duke	ACC	13-4	5-2	1-0	7-2	0-0
40	40	South Fla.	AAC	14-5	3-3	4-2	7-0	0-0
41	43	UCLA	Pac-12	9-4	1-1	1-3	7-0	0-0
42	41	South Dakota St.	Summit League	11-8	4-5	1-1	6-2	1-0
43	45	Missouri	SEC	15-5	4-4	1-0	10-1	0-0
44	42	Texas A&M	SEC	11-8	0-5	3-0	8-3	0-0
45	44	Arizona St.	Pac-12	9-6	1-2	1-2	7-2	0-0
46	46	DePaul	Big East	16-4	5-2	2-1	9-1	0-0
47	48	Boston College	ACC	14-5	4-3	0-0	10-2	0-0

DI Women's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA women's college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today/WBCA and NCAA committee.

www.ncaa.com

Yeah, and both UCONN and Tennessee are ranked lower in the NET than the team in Chapel HIll.... so I wouldn't put much stock in the NET.

 

[sun]

Yeah, and both UCONN and Tennessee are ranked lower in the NET than the team in Chapel HIll.... so I wouldn't put much stock in the NET.

We beat UCLA by 10 so we'll see if DePaul gives us a tougher game or not.

 

[Skeets]

The FCS suggestion has been discussed at length on the BY. That may be the next step if UConn can’t make it as an FBS football independent which is the current status of the program. As for basketball teams going independent, that’s poses all kinds of problems, and it’s never been tried successfully by any school. Chief among the problems is that once every other school in the nation is deep into their conference schedule and conference tournament, who exactly are you going to play?

Exactly correct.

 

[Urshurak]

Very little. Marginally better than the American. Does little to help UConn come tournament time.