Would you do it all over again?

[Carl Spackler]

An on-campus stadium was almost a done deal in 1997, until state politics ended up killing it. The upgrade would have been complete by 2000.

I still maintain that the war was lost in the years after the NBE was formed (2005-2010). That we failed to recognize that all of the original Big East football schools (along with Louisville) were actively trying to get out was a colossal failure at all levels, and it's pretty clear that Hathaway, et al were working as hard as possible to advance the NBE while Pitt, Syracuse, RU, WVU and UL were plotting their escape. Perhaps I'm wrong and they knew then that there was no chance we'd be included and that our only chance at survival was the survival of the Big East?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

No.

 

[uconnyankee]

If I could go back in time I'd invest in Apple, Google, Amazon and I'd be retired. And wealthy.

I'd invest in Lougle

 

[Redding Husky]

I'd go back to 1950 and tell the administration what the future holds. I'd strongly recommend they pour millions into football immediately, as a long-term investment.

 

[Excalibur]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

No.

Good job picking up on he sarcasm. . .

 

[uconnbill]

I will admit that of Penn St came here this would all be mute now as the Big East would still be here even if the basketball schools left as the Catholic league or something similar.

 

[Adios]

The conference would have had to invite FSU, too.

I think the Big Ten could still have poached anyway.

 

[Nostical]

It was definitely not a mistake to move to Division 1 but we squandered our most prolific years due to Hathaway’s inability to capitalize on our athletic prowess in both basketball and football to advocate for growth. He also alienated coaches. Edsall s leaving was more a result of frustration with Hathaway than with a burning desire to grab another job. The lawsuit however was the bigger mistake. We were pursuing retribution from institutions and individuals for a move we would also have accepted had we been invited. There’s also no question that Blumenthal’s ego and ambition helped label the litigation as Connecticut’s lawsuit. When BC wanted to block us on petty territorial grounds, they used the lawsuit as fodder to rile up the needed support to keep us out. That lawsuit is still mentioned at ACC gatherings. But however you want to rate the impact of that lawsuit, it certainly didn’t help us.
Bottom line there’s no mystery to our future. We all know what has to happen. We must rebuild our MBB brand which I feel confident we will with Hurley. But in the end we’ll rise or fall based on how well Edsall rebuilds the football program and rekindles the interest of our fans. Then, if and when the music starts again, we must be ready with extended elbows to grab a seat before it stops.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

As soon as RE 1.0 ran away to the Twerps we needed to parlay a victory over ND and a Fiesta Bowl game into a GOOD HC. that was the launching point.

Hathaway utterly failed choosing PP.

 

[huskymedic]

Yup...

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Yup...

The Daily Campus headline the next day was classic.

"Jersey Blowout"

 

[UConn76]

With our football program a national laughing stock, I really have given up. Never thought I’d say that.. But see no reason to leave the American in b-ball. Just have to accept our reality.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It was definitely not a mistake to move to Division 1 but we squandered our most prolific years due to Hathaway’s inability to capitalize on our athletic prowess in both basketball and football to advocate for growth. He also alienated coaches. Edsall s leaving was more a result of frustration with Hathaway than with a burning desire to grab another job. The lawsuit however was the bigger mistake. We were pursuing retribution from institutions and individuals for a move we would also have accepted had we been invited. There’s also no question that Blumenthal’s ego and ambition helped label the litigation as Connecticut’s lawsuit. When BC wanted to block us on petty territorial grounds, they used the lawsuit as fodder to rile up the needed support to keep us out. That lawsuit is still mentioned at ACC gatherings. But however you want to rate the impact of that lawsuit, it certainly didn’t help us.
Bottom line there’s no mystery to our future. We all know what has to happen. We must rebuild our MBB brand which I feel confident we will with Hurley. But in the end we’ll rise or fall based on how well Edsall rebuilds the football program and rekindles the interest of our fans. Then, if and when the music starts again, we must be ready with extended elbows to grab a seat before it stops.

How many times do we have to have this same stupid lawsuit argument? Tell me your fantasy of what would have happened if UConn had not sued the ACC, and then I will tell you what really would have happened. Go.

 

[Nostical]

How many times do we have to have this same stupid lawsuit argument

If you don’t think the lawsuit—- foolishly “branded” as the Connecticut lawsuit—played a role in how we were treated later when it was time to vote, you’re naive. Whatever perceived weaknesses UConn had, coupled with BC’s mission to keep us out, were more easily accepted by an ACC that had been dragged through litigation. Boeheim was quoted as being very surprised at the amount of animus still festering years later against UConn because of the lawsuit when he attended his first ACC gathering. Time can heal wounds but it’s been an albatross around our necks for too long. Too many here have forgotten that the lawsuit was filed in Hartford and it was Blumenthal who grabbed the bullhorn and became the face of the effort. Here’s a refresher.

SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
June 7, 2003
The five football-playing schools of the Big East —Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Connecticut -- filed the suit in Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief, claiming Miami and Boston College "have abandoned their contractual and fiduciary obligations to their partner schools."
The lawsuit also alleges "a deliberate scheme," initiated by the ACC and the two schools, was carried out in a "subterranean manner" with the express purpose "to destroy the Big East and abscond with [its] collective value," despite repeated private and public commitments to stay in the conference.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal spearheaded the legal action based on the University of Connecticut's new $90 million football stadium financed by state money.
"This lawsuit reveals a backroom conspiracy, born in secret, founded on greed and carried out through calculated deceit," Blumenthal said. "This story is a sad chapter in the history of college football.
Blumenthal summarized the lawsuit filed Friday in Connecticut. "Fraud is not too strong a word to describe what has happened here," Blumenthal said.

NEW YORK TIMES
June 23, 2003
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said yesterday that he would seek a court hearing as early as today to expedite his lawsuit over expansion plans by the Atlantic Coast Conference. He said the expansion would gut the Big East Conference.
In a conference call with reporters, Blumenthal also threatened to seek an injunction blocking any attempt by the A.C.C. to add Miami, Boston College, Syracuse and perhaps Virginia Tech.
Blumenthal and five members of the Big East have sued the A.C.C., Miami and Boston College over the A.C.C.'s efforts to lure away Big East universities.
Blumenthal said yesterday that motions filed by the defendants seek to delay the lawsuit.
''These efforts to slow the case are entirely at odds with the A.C.C.'s relentless, aggressive tactics and breakneck speed in raiding the Big East and seeking to induce defections,'' he said in a letter sent to the defendants' lawyers on Friday.
Blumenthal said he wanted an immediate hearing -- as early as today -- in Superior Court in Rockville, Conn., to set the schedule for the defendants to produce documents and give depositions.
He said that Miami had raised objections about a deposition scheduled for July 1 with the university's president, Donna Shalala.
Blumenthal also said that the A.C.C. was trying to have the site of Shalala's deposition changed and that Boston College was seeking a delay in providing evidence.
''We are seeking our day in court to pursue the evidence we need in further support of the claims we have made that the A.C.C. is relentless as they seek to destroy the Big East,'' Blumenthal said.

''We are ready, willing and able to seek immediate steps such as the court order to halt the A.C.C.'s illegal action, to protect Big East interests.''

WASHINGTON POST
June 7, 2003
But there was little evidence that the five spurned Big East schools are treading gingerly on the legal front. They have hired the powerful New York-based law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP to represent them.
And their lawsuit promises to be politically charged. Connecticut President Philip E. Austin met with reporters alongside Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is serving as the university's counsel and did not mince words.

"The lawsuit reveals a backroom conspiracy, born in secret, founded on greed, and carried out through calculated fraud and deceit," Blumenthal said. "The story is a sad chapter in the history of college sports -- a shameful example for students and athletes, as well as academic institutions across the country."

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What would have happened if there was no lawsuit?

 

[billybud]

No lawsuit?

Well, UConn would have been on the ACC Christmas card list...but not in the conference.

The lawsuit was not the reason that the ACC looked elsewhere for expansion, but it is an easy all purpose peg to hang the failure to be invited on. JMHO

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No lawsuit?

Well, UConn would have been on the ACC Christmas card list...but not in the conference.

The lawsuit was not the reason that the ACC looked elsewhere for expansion, but it is an easy all purpose peg to hang the failure to be invited on. JMHO

Here is what would have happened if there was no lawsuit in 2003.

The Big East would have been knocked out of the BCS in 2004. Louisville, Cincinnati and USF would not have joined the league. In a total collapse scenario, 1 or 2 of Pitt, WVU, Syracuse and Rutgers may have begged their way into the ACC that season as a 1/2 member or something like that. The rest of them would have had to hope to get into CUSA.

The basketball schools would have left the Big East in 2004, effectively ending it as a major conference in basketball too.

Basketball recruiting would have collapsed, and Calhoun would have left or retired early. Take every top basketball recruit UConn got after 2004, and put them at another program. No 2009 Final Four, no 2011 or 2014 National Championship.

Football would have been a train wreck. UConn would have been lucky to get into CUSA, and what you see now on the field would have started in 2005 or 2006. There would not have been 6-7 years of competitive football that UConn had through 2011.

The lawsuit was the best move that UConn ever made in Conference Realignment. It gave UConn 10 years of top tier basketball and another 6-7 years of competitive football that we would not have otherwise gotten.

For those that have short memories, UConn was considered a lock for the ACC until Tom Jurich beat us at the 11th hour in November 2012. The lawsuit was irrelevant. Jurich wanted it more than Warde, and we got beat in the Board Room. Worse still, a mediocre coach like Charlie Strong was on his way to an 11-2 season, while Pasqualoni was stumbling his way to 5-7 despite having something like 6 future NFLers on defense.

If you want to point to ONE thing as the reason UConn lost to Louisville, look at the 2012 season. If Pasqualoni went 9-3, which he should have, and Strong finished a more modest 8-4 that season, the ACC vote goes the other way.

 

[Hoophound]

Hiring Pasqualoni was the dagger. If we had hired a “real coach”, meaning a guy respected in the south as a coach that would win games, we would have been far better off. We never set the tone correctly.

Look at what UL did when they needed to get serious, they hired the Florida DC and then replaced him with Bobby Petrino. That says, “we plan on being a football power”, even if it comes with some controversy. On the other hand, we hired a retread that was a northern guy through and through who most considered long past his use by date. When Randy left, we should have taken the opportunity to move forward and get better. More offense, more excitement and more showmanship. Instead, we somehow did the exact opposite.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Hiring Pasqualoni was the dagger. If we had hired a “real coach”, meaning a guy respected in the south as a coach that would win games, we would have been far better off. We never set the tone correctly.

Look at what UL did when they needed to get serious, they hired the Florida DC and then replaced him with Bobby Petrino. That says, “we plan on being a football power”, even if it comes with some controversy. On the other hand, we hired a retread that was a northern guy through and through who most considered long past his use by date. When Randy left, we should have taken the opportunity to move forward and get better. More offense, more excitement and more showmanship. Instead, we somehow did the exact opposite.

Pasqualoni was the dagger. UConn needed to be good in 2011 and 2012, and Edsall left some talent behind. Pasqualoni blew it.

 

[Adios]

UL once used to suck in football. And they do again.

Basketball only fans crept on here. Those imbeciles do not understand or have vision of the future of college athletics.

We'll have a seat at the table. Freaking relax and enjoy. Just going to be very hard to match what Yale has accomplished.

 

[billybud]

True...Louisville sucks this year...it is cyclical...

But they have had six straight seasons before this one of winning 8 or more games....in three of them, they won more than 8 games.

The question is, with teams that really suck this year (Louisville, FSU, Connecticut, etc)...will they come back on line and how long will it take?

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Yup...

Wow, Ranked 13th...I would love to see us ranked 70th next year...top 25?? That would be a dream now...