"Where has it gotten you"

[husky8273]

Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com in this week's Sports Business Journal in answer to the question:
Are there college presidents willing to make basketball the premier program?

"The really good cautionary tale in all this - you can't forget who you are - is UConn. UConn went out and chased the football dollar; football didn't take off, and now basketball is going down the drain. You're in a league that makes no sense, you have no rivals and you chase football. Where has it gotten you?"

 

[pj]

What a genius. UConn needed to chase football earlier and harder. The university has supported its basketball programs very well throughout.

 

[Paesano]

What a genius. UConn needed to chase football earlier and harder. The university has supported its basketball programs very well throughout.

While the real problem is that our rivals chased football, it is somewhat true that we did too. I may be mis-remembering but couldn't we have stayed in the Big East for basketball and dropped back down for football or gone independent for football? If so, we did chase football and it hasn't worked out so well. Of course, our record would probably be even worse if we stayed in the Big East for basketball.

 

[uconNYC]

If HCPP was not our coach, we would have been invited by the ACC after Maryland left. He turned our over achieving football program into something toxic.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com in this week's Sports Business Journal in answer to the question:
Are there college presidents willing to make basketball the premier program?

"The really good cautionary tale in all this - you can't forget who you are - is UConn. UConn went out and chased the football dollar; football didn't take off, and now basketball is going down the drain. You're in a league that makes no sense, you have no rivals and you chase football. Where has it gotten you?"

Does she mention what role ESPN has played in all of this? Probably not

 

[djct1999]

Whether she is right , wrong, or there is some partial truth to this, what's concerning is the narrative about UConn hoops is quickly changing nationally.

 

[metsfan2323]

This is so nauseating. Hey Dana Dip , we are in the same league we have been in since 1979, unfortunately ESPN vandalized it for us.

What chasing? We were invited to join the league for football and we made the large investment and joined, then every other school "chased" the dollars ESPN and FOX offered them to leave.

God I hate that company with a passion.

We need to start winning big in football (and basketball) just to spite this evil company. Shove it right down their throat.

 

[Balker]

Whether she is right , wrong, or there is some partial truth to this, what's concerning is the narrative about UConn hoops is quickly changing nationally.

This has been Dana's UConn narrative as long as I can remember.

Here is your refresher: What's Dana O'Neil's problem?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It's based enough ESPN bankrolled our rivals and put us into this position but to take the stance it was our doing?

Here's a cautionary tale about Rutgers. They have a basketball program that has been irrevelant for a century, a football program that aside from one field vs Louisville over a decade ago has been irrelevant and look at then now? Chased the almighty dollar and they are in the NEC.

Oh wait, I mean Big 10.

Yes it's UConn's fault we want to have a fair shake and compete at the FBS level.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Whether she is right , wrong, or there is some partial truth to this, what's concerning is the narrative about UConn hoops is quickly changing nationally.

Whether you are right, wrong, or there is some partial truth to this, you are blazingly consistent in tone.
What motivates you?

 

[Ts5034]

It really is amazing how people who work/write for the big media outlets can know so little about certain things. With that said, when people hear UConn, they think basketball. Thats just always how its going to be.

 

[August_West]

I get why we hate hearing it even though she's right.

 

[CL82]

Whether she is right , wrong, or there is some partial truth to this, what's concerning is the narrative about UConn hoops is quickly changing nationally.

UCMBB has been pronounced dead so many times we should change our name to the fighting Lazarus'. We've had more natties in the twenty years than all but one program with the last coming three years ago. Let's see what KO can do next year before we bury the body.

 

[Fishy]

What is she right about? The reason UConn upgraded football is that Lew warned us for years that the split is coming and football will be dividing line. Schools without it are most assuredly dead in the long-term.

 

[QDOG5]

I think O'Neil's problem is she doesn't like the fact that football is the bell cow for college sports. But it is. She is a basketball writer and is biased towards it. UConn is a pretty easy target to dump on right now.

 

[August_West]

Lew was right too. Unfortunately it didn't work out for us.

Right now she is right . The fact is that our gambit to be ready for football for CR has hurt the hoops program. As things stand today. There is no debating that.
If you want to debate that we had to try, I can see that point.
But again as it stands today if we didn't try we are in a better place Today.

Maybe in the future that changes . Maybe not

What is she right about? The reason UConn upgraded football is that Lew warned us for years that the split is coming and football will be dividing line. Schools without it are most assuredly dead in the long-term.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Because BC, Pitt, Rutgers and Syracuse all became more relevant and better programs with their move?

 

[Fishy]

Right now she is right . The fact is that our gambit to be ready for football for CR has hurt the hoops program. As things stand today. There is no debating that.
If you want to debate that we had to try, I can see that point.
But again as it stands today if we didn't try we are in a better place Today.

How has football hurt the hoops program? Calhoun's retirement has hurt the basketball program. Some bad coaching has hurt the basketball program. The NCAA has hurt the basketball program.

Someone explain this to me.

 

[upstater]

I get why we hate hearing it even though she's right.

Evenutally she'll be right. Because she says it repeatedly prior to yet another championship.

But at the end of the day, it goes down into the annals with, "No one does less with so much talent than Jim Calhoun."

 

[August_West]

How has football hurt the hoops program? Calhoun's retirement has hurt the basketball program. Some bad coaching has hurt the basketball program. The NCAA has hurt the basketball program.

Someone explain this to me.

We can debate about the level of damage thus far but I think reasonable minds can agree that there are negative consequences to being in the AAC instead of the Big East. Including recruiting and possibly a factor in player retention.

I get that in the long haul big east teams are just as screwed. But in the current landscape the big east helps our program over AAC.

No football caviar dreams and there is no doubt we are in the big east.

 

[Fishy]

Are you sure?

The arc of the Big East is very, very different if UConn football is not available to backfill in 2003. Syracuse and Pitt likely get peeled off in very short order and then the next decade where the Big East became even more of a basketball monster never happen.

 

[SubbaBub]

How has football hurt the hoops program? Calhoun's retirement has hurt the basketball program. Some bad coaching has hurt the basketball program. The NCAA has hurt the basketball program.

Someone explain this to me.

The underlying claim here is that without FB we'd be in the C7 league which they see as a more viable BB league largely based on Nova's title run and the ACC's lack of NCAA accomplishments. Willfully ignoring 2014.

We are talking about a 5 year span at most. Way too short to be drawing conclusions. If the next AAC media deal is a lot higher than the BE deal then things will change. The BE still doesn't have a lot to sell in terms of eyeballs. The AAC is in a better position because of FB.

 

[UConnfan8]

If HCPP was not our coach, we would have been invited by the ACC after Maryland left. He turned our over achieving football program into something toxic.

 

[UConnfan8]

How has football hurt the hoops program? Calhoun's retirement has hurt the basketball program. Some bad coaching has hurt the basketball program. The NCAA has hurt the basketball program.

Someone explain this to me.

League. Need big east. Need chances to play top 25 teams 6-8 times in conference play. Not 2-3 times when we hope that Cincy and SMU are gonna be ranked.

 

[Fishy]

The underlying claim here is that without FB we'd be in the C7 league which they see as a more viable BB league largely based on Nova's title run and the ACC's lack of NCAA accomplishments. Willfully ignoring 2014.

We are talking about a 5 year span at most. Way too short to be drawing conclusions. If the next AAC media deal is a lot higher than the BE deal then things will change. The BE still doesn't have a lot to sell in terms of eyeballs. The AAC is in a better position because of FB.

Bingo.

 

[metsfan2323]

League. Need big east. Need chances to play top 25 teams 6-8 times in conference play. Not 2-3 times when we hope that Cincy and SMU are gonna be ranked.

Gonzaga says hello. Coaching is more important than the league. Hopefully Ollie can pull it back together. There is plenty of good competition in the AAC as our recent record shows.

 

[ivrytontusker]

It would be take 4-5 more bad seasons to say that basketball is "going down the drain." WTF is she talking about? We're talking about a program that is 3 years removed from a title.

 

[upstater]

Since O'Neil is talking about the past and not the future, realize that UConn in 1992 kept the conference together. The BE was readying for a split, but UConn (which by 1991 was already talking about joining BE football) wanted/needed to keep the 2 together.

It is likely the entire future of UConn would have been different were it not for joining/trying to join football.

Post 1992, there might have been no games against Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Louisville, West Virginia, etc.

UConn fans would have been trekking to games in Omaha to play Creighton, while watching longingly at Syracuse v. Pitt bball games.

 

[upstater]

It would be take 4-5 more bad seasons to say that basketball is "going down the drain." WTF is she talking about? We're talking about a program that is 3 years removed from a title.

She said the same thing 1 year after the 2011 title.

 

[Vuce]

Lew was right too. Unfortunately it didn't work out for us.

Right now she is right . The fact is that our gambit to be ready for football for CR has hurt the hoops program. As things stand today. There is no debating that.
If you want to debate that we had to try, I can see that point.
But again as it stands today if we didn't try we are in a better place Today.

Maybe in the future that changes . Maybe not

Disagree. Our hoops program has hurt our hoops program. I watch Gonzaga, Butler, Xavier, et al remain consistent Top 25 programs who have achieved much less than we have combined. KO needs to coach and recruit better.....period. Injuries sucked this year but there is no flippin way we should be finishing 5th and 6th place in this conference year after year. That is NOT due to "chasing football". That is due to coaches and players not being good enough. So our success was only because we were in the Big East? JC def used that to get us going yes. But 4 national championships later I say bull Spartacus. We have more resources, brand recognition and history than any school in the AAC and have failed to be the top dog. Kansas wins the B12 every year, Zags win their Conf every year, that should be us. Hoops needs to step it up period.