(06-22-2019 02:07 PM)B easy Wrote:  Sure there are some possible short term benefits and nostalgia incentives but this seems like a ludicrous move long term. They will get less money, less exposure, give up on the p5 dream all for a lateral move in basketball. They still have to travel to Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc. It's like they just got tired of having awful football and mediocre basketball and had this knee jerk reaction just to do something that really doesn't address the root cause or is in their longterm best interest. Just doesn't make sense to me. They're not joining their father's Big East conference.

Ever since I read the first article I have been baffled by this decision. Being a football fan first and foremost I cannot understand why the administration at a flagship, state school would destroy their football program. I know basketball is their marquee sport in both men's and women's, but I do not understand going to a lesser conference in all other sports will help. Less television exposure, and less recruiting ground exposure for all other sports besides basketball. For years Cincinnati was a basketball school first and foremost, but with the rise of our football program, there was also a rise in applications, and interest in the University. Maybe a true diehard UCONN fan can explain the benefits to me.

I know they don't care about football and this move makes that crystal clear (which is extremely short sighted to begin with) but if you thought UCONN football recruiting was poor already just wait and watch a program burn. Can you imagine what their current recruits and underclassman are thinking now? Any program can just come and tell a recruit, why play at a place that at best you won't be able to play for anything meaningful. No access bowl, no CFB playoff $, no conference championship, no one in the stands, nothing.

Football dwarf's basketball $ and they could of stayed and grown with the AAC. The trajectory of the 2 conferences are like night & day. The Big 12 is happy where they are and the Big East would take UCONN at any point in the future so that should have no bearing. If you don't think the Big 12 is stable then look at this article where Okla pres just stated that the Big 12 has entered a period of prosperity.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...prosperity

UCONN just made a critical mistake that gives them no chance of big money and exposure moving forward and as each year elapses that will become more and more patently apparent.

(06-22-2019 03:22 PM)True Bearcat Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 02:07 PM)B easy Wrote:  Sure there are some possible short term benefits and nostalgia incentives but this seems like a ludicrous move long term. They will get less money, less exposure, give up on the p5 dream all for a lateral move in basketball. They still have to travel to Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc. It's like they just got tired of having awful football and mediocre basketball and had this knee jerk reaction just to do something that really doesn't address the root cause or is in their longterm best interest. Just doesn't make sense to me. They're not joining their father's Big East conference.

Ever since I read the first article I have been baffled by this decision. Being a football fan first and foremost I cannot understand why the administration at a flagship, state school would destroy their football program. I know basketball is their marquee sport in both men's and women's, but I do not understand going to a lesser conference in all other sports will help. Less television exposure, and less recruiting ground exposure for all other sports besides basketball. For years Cincinnati was a basketball school first and foremost, but with the rise of our football program, there was also a rise in applications, and interest in the University. Maybe a true diehard UCONN fan can explain the benefits to me.

I just got done making a post on the Big East board asking if someone there can make a case in favor of UConn moving. I'd be interested to hear if there's something I'm missing. Like you, I don't see any benefit for UConn.

(06-22-2019 03:24 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  I know they don't care about football and this move makes that crystal clear (which is extremely short sighted to begin with) but if you thought UCONN football recruiting was poor already just wait and watch a program burn. Can you imagine what their current recruits and underclassman are thinking now? Any program can just come and tell a recruit, why play at a place that at best you won't be able to play for anything meaningful. No access bowl, no CFB playoff $, no conference championship, no one in the stands, nothing.

Football dwarf's basketball $ and they could of stayed and grown with the AAC. The trajectory of the 2 conferences are like night & day. The Big 12 is happy where they are and the Big East would take UCONN at any point in the future so that should have no bearing. If you don't think the Big 12 is stable then look at this article where Okla pres just stated that the Big 12 has entered a period of prosperity.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...prosperity

UCONN just made a critical mistake that gives them no chance of big money and exposure moving forward and as each year elapses that will become more and more patently apparent.

Football’s costs dwarf basketball too.

(06-22-2019 03:26 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:24 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  I know they don't care about football and this move makes that crystal clear (which is extremely short sighted to begin with) but if you thought UCONN football recruiting was poor already just wait and watch a program burn. Can you imagine what their current recruits and underclassman are thinking now? Any program can just come and tell a recruit, why play at a place that at best you won't be able to play for anything meaningful. No access bowl, no CFB playoff $, no conference championship, no one in the stands, nothing.

Football dwarf's basketball $ and they could of stayed and grown with the AAC. The trajectory of the 2 conferences are like night & day. The Big 12 is happy where they are and the Big East would take UCONN at any point in the future so that should have no bearing. If you don't think the Big 12 is stable then look at this article where Okla pres just stated that the Big 12 has entered a period of prosperity.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...prosperity

UCONN just made a critical mistake that gives them no chance of big money and exposure moving forward and as each year elapses that will become more and more patently apparent.

Football’s costs dwarf basketball too.

But they are still playing football and will still have to travel and field a team, they just thwarted their ability to effectively benefit from it.

(06-22-2019 03:29 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:26 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:24 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  I know they don't care about football and this move makes that crystal clear (which is extremely short sighted to begin with) but if you thought UCONN football recruiting was poor already just wait and watch a program burn. Can you imagine what their current recruits and underclassman are thinking now? Any program can just come and tell a recruit, why play at a place that at best you won't be able to play for anything meaningful. No access bowl, no CFB playoff $, no conference championship, no one in the stands, nothing.

Football dwarf's basketball $ and they could of stayed and grown with the AAC. The trajectory of the 2 conferences are like night & day. The Big 12 is happy where they are and the Big East would take UCONN at any point in the future so that should have no bearing. If you don't think the Big 12 is stable then look at this article where Okla pres just stated that the Big 12 has entered a period of prosperity.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...prosperity

UCONN just made a critical mistake that gives them no chance of big money and exposure moving forward and as each year elapses that will become more and more patently apparent.

Football’s costs dwarf basketball too.

But they are still playing football and will still have to travel and field a team, they just thwarted their ability to effectively benefit from it.

I personally don’t think they’ll have an FBS program for that long.

(06-22-2019 03:10 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 02:47 PM)Golden Jedi Knight Wrote:  I think both the American and UConn will be better off if UConn stays. I understand that UConn's men's basketball is struggling right now, but good grief, it's only been 5 years since their last national title! Any other program that the American could realistically add from the G5 right now (some school from C-USA, I suppose) would not have UConn's men's basketball history. I'm also doubting how much interest the Big East has in UConn; if there was really enough interest, and if they knew UConn was going to say "yes," and if both UConn and the Big East could make a lot more money from it, wouldn't the Big East have already extended an invitation?

Multiple major news outlets have confirmed it's a done deal, likely to be announced next Thursday.

Beyond that, I would say it's bad for the AAC in basketball, but good for the AAC in football.

For UConn, it's probably good for basketball, and bad for football.

Thats the way I see it. We also lose a strong academic presence and our only state flagship school. As I scan the landscape---sadly---it will be hard to replace everything they bring. Yes, the football program was atrocious---but they were a former P5, a state flagship, strong academically, with an elite basketball brand (despite under performing the last few years). I think we have an opportunity to improve---but I see no single school that offers all that UConn brought to the table. My guess is splitting the membership and pairing a "football only" offer with a "olympic sports only" offer is the best way end up with an overall upgrade in the conference.

(06-22-2019 03:33 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:29 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:26 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 03:24 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  I know they don't care about football and this move makes that crystal clear (which is extremely short sighted to begin with) but if you thought UCONN football recruiting was poor already just wait and watch a program burn. Can you imagine what their current recruits and underclassman are thinking now? Any program can just come and tell a recruit, why play at a place that at best you won't be able to play for anything meaningful. No access bowl, no CFB playoff $, no conference championship, no one in the stands, nothing.

Football dwarf's basketball $ and they could of stayed and grown with the AAC. The trajectory of the 2 conferences are like night & day. The Big 12 is happy where they are and the Big East would take UCONN at any point in the future so that should have no bearing. If you don't think the Big 12 is stable then look at this article where Okla pres just stated that the Big 12 has entered a period of prosperity.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college...prosperity

UCONN just made a critical mistake that gives them no chance of big money and exposure moving forward and as each year elapses that will become more and more patently apparent.

Football’s costs dwarf basketball too.

But they are still playing football and will still have to travel and field a team, they just thwarted their ability to effectively benefit from it.

I personally don’t think they’ll have an FBS program for that long.

^^^^
Yup.

Not sure how you're happy with this move if you're UConn. New Big East =/= Old Big East.

(06-22-2019 03:10 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 02:47 PM)Golden Jedi Knight Wrote:  I think both the American and UConn will be better off if UConn stays. I understand that UConn's men's basketball is struggling right now, but good grief, it's only been 5 years since their last national title! Any other program that the American could realistically add from the G5 right now (some school from C-USA, I suppose) would not have UConn's men's basketball history. I'm also doubting how much interest the Big East has in UConn; if there was really enough interest, and if they knew UConn was going to say "yes," and if both UConn and the Big East could make a lot more money from it, wouldn't the Big East have already extended an invitation?

Multiple major news outlets have confirmed it's a done deal, likely to be announced next Thursday.

Beyond that, I would say it's bad for the AAC in basketball, but good for the AAC in football.

For UConn, it's probably good for basketball, and bad for football.

I've read some of the news sources out there. I can't find any confirmation, but certainly, many people are saying the move to the Big East is probably going to happen. In the Hartford Courant, there's an article I found with a quote from Hartford mayor Luke Bronin saying that a move to the Big East could revitalize the downtown area. A Yahoo! article reports that Pete Thamel's sources believe a UConn move will happen. We'll just have to wait and see, but UConn leaving wouldn't exactly be surprising.

With UConn it's all about basketball and protecting their basketball brand, I can get that, even respect it. If you rewinded a couple years ago before Wichita State addition, the new conference TV deal, and the general upswing in basketball I would probably if I was a UConn fan feel the same way.

Today, I don't really get it now after adding another program like Wichita State, the TV deal, and what guys like Penny are doing on the recruiting trail. I also think the biggest $hit stains on their basketball like ECU and Tulane seem to have a much brighter future and mitigating much of the biggest issues they have.

Really just overall a conference with football has more upside in the long term too and more overall money flowing into each school. If anything comes from this, hopefully it gets the AAC proactive to add the Dayton/Army package as an appeasement to UConn in someway. If that happened I think they would be dumb to go to the Big East at that point as that's a near perfect additions for them.

(06-22-2019 03:11 PM)HuskyU Wrote:  Excellent decision.

buh bye.

USA Today: UConn rejoining the Big East means the school has given up on football program

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1536302001?...ssion=true

"UConn football will be in trouble when Huskies leave AAC....It will be a disaster for UConn football.

Fewer than nine years after the Huskies played in the Fiesta Bowl, they’re waving the white flag on ever reaching such lofty heights again. They’re surrendering any hopes of eventually being invited to the ACC or the Big 12. They’re acknowledging that they have screwed up so bad the last half-decade in football that the only way they can save their athletic department is to cut and run from a conference that’s actually trying to compete with the big boys....frankly, as much as UConn fans and administrators thought they were too good to be in the AAC, it’s not like the Huskies brought much of value in the first place....

If anything, the AAC has a chance to upgrade in football — the sport where it’s trying to make the argument that it’s part of the so-called “Power Six.” And while there’s realistically a big gap between the real Power Five and the AAC, there’s also a big gap in terms of finances, exposure and ambition among the AAC and leagues like the Mountain West and Conference USA. The AAC will have plenty to consider here — including whether to replace UConn in basketball with a school like VCU that doesn’t have football — but there are options."

To go from being in a BCS bowl a decade ago (or so...), to dropping football? Wow what's in the water in Connecticut? Damn....

(06-22-2019 02:07 PM)B easy Wrote:  Sure there are some possible short term benefits and nostalgia incentives but this seems like a ludicrous move long term. They will get less money, less exposure, give up on the p5 dream all for a lateral move in basketball. They still have to travel to Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc. It's like they just got tired of having awful football and mediocre basketball and had this knee jerk reaction just to do something that really doesn't address the root cause or is in their longterm best interest. Just doesn't make sense to me. They're not joining their father's Big East conference.

I think it's a no-brainer for them. They are Basketball school and their fans have no interest in AAC games especially Women's BB who hasn't had many competitive games in the AAC and now they have to watch those games on ESPN+. Good luck to them but bye bye bye!

Anytime your school is broke as a joke and you can pay $10 million to make a lateral move in basketball and kill off your football program, you've gotta do it.

Kinda stupid with the new AAC contract. We just got old big east money. Basically they are taking a paycut and will get less exposure. Uconn is nothing without the ESPN.

(06-22-2019 04:20 PM)World Wide Swag Wrote:  Anytime your school is broke as a joke and you can pay $10 million to make a lateral move in basketball and kill off your football program, you've gotta do it.

RIP to the Civil Conflict. Best game on TV

(06-22-2019 04:46 PM)Crazier Wrote:  RIP to the Civil Conflict. Best game on TV

Gotta find that trophy