Living it up in the island of misfit toys ain't much but it's where we thrive.

(06-24-2019 09:16 AM)vick mike Wrote:  Said it before, the Big East is a fine basketball league; but that is all it is. It is not the Big East from the 90s and 00s. I think the perception stated by a poster here of BE vast superiority is way overstated. The American is on the upswing: Memphis, number 1 class; Wichita regaining form; Houston top 10 team; Temple and Cincinnati great programs with new coaches. Our bottom tier teams also have better coaching and of course the USF improvement. Would I want Temple in the new Big East over the American? Not in a million years.

If football wasn't involved, I'd take the Big East in a heartbeat over the AAC and it isn't even close.

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

Texas and Oklahoma are not going anywhere. They are doing just fine money wise and performance wise.
If you are hoping that this move by UConn is just another stop until something better comes along you are truly delusional. This move is an acknowledgement of failure in football. The Huskies will try the independent route for a few years then either drop the program or go FCS. Neither outcome will lead to something better.

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

The Big East is the final jump. You don't make the jump, basically conceding death on your football program, if you think a P5 jump will be there. They made the calculation that football is a lost cause. They've taken themselves out of the P5 game. The Big East is a great league for UConn if you are forsaking football. I hope it works out for them.

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

This is precious.

(06-24-2019 09:59 AM)Psicosis Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

This is precious.

(06-24-2019 09:57 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  The Big East is the final jump. You don't make the jump, basically conceding death on your football program, if you think a P5 jump will be there. They made the calculation that football is a lost cause. They've taken themselves out of the P5 game. The Big East is a great league for UConn if you are forsaking football. I hope it works out for them.

This is probably correct. The cable-driven expansion of five to ten years ago is over and UConn was/in the position of picking their forever (or at least medium-term+) home between the AAC and Big East. If the Big East can have two or three ranked teams more seasons than not and The Garden is sold out for the tournament I honestly believe that UConn can live with the Big East as their home indefinitely, giant changes that completely upend college sports notwithstanding.

I know I can come off sounding bitter but I really hope they're super duper sure this is the cure for what ails them, because they're amputating football

(06-24-2019 08:11 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  Big East as a whole has a better perception than the AAC...and that isn't going to change. THis is true for the top and bottom of the conference, esp. with UCONN add/delete.

At the bottom:
St. Johns, Providence, Seton Hall, etc. are MUCH > brand/perception vs ECU, USF, Tulane and Tulsa. Anybody who disagrees is being willingly ignorant.

The to top:
Nova, UCONN, Gtown, and XU are >/= in brand/perception on the whole vs the sum of UH (just recently started doing something), UC (ncaa flame out U), Memphis, and Temple.

Plus, the Big East alone helps this perception. They didn't pay the AAC $88M or whatever it was for that name 'just because'. Sure its not the same Big East of old, but the name has cache.

This is a great move for UCONN (hoops). They are in a better perceived league and now its even MORE SO because they were the biggest basketball brand in the AAC. If there was any doubt as to perception Big East vs AAC prior to the move, that doubt has been resolved.

The AAC will be under the Big East perception wise moving forward. And there is nothing anybody can do about it.

If one team in the AAC rises up and all of a sudden goes to four stragiht final fours, it will just be seen as "Memphis in CUSA". It won't raise the conference above the Big East.

Better accept this now.

What's good for UConn doesn't have to be bad for us. Their priority is basketball, and the Big East is a better basketball conference. On our end, the hit of losing what has become an average basketball team is more than made up by jettisoning our worst football team.

Can everyone just pretend like we just backfilled UConn with Wichita (who has been better than UConn since they got here) in basketball and move on with our lives?

(06-24-2019 10:12 AM)Psicosis Wrote:  I know I can come off sounding bitter but I really hope they're super duper sure this is the cure for what ails them, because they're amputating football

It's just different in New England, and at UConn specifically. College football's a sideshow to pro football and the basketball team's a much bigger deal than football will ever be. I have no specific ill will toward the football team, and they can be a very fun afternoon, but the team could go away entirely and life would go on at UConn. Basketball fades into obscurity and you're just like all the other New York/New England publics, though.

(06-24-2019 09:14 AM)TripleA Wrote:  Bottom line is that UConn admin and fans decided they are a basketball school, and they don't really care about football. I get it. I just wonder how much money they wasted with that effort since they moved to FBS, b/c football is going to die on the vine. But they were doing so poorly anyway, I don't suppose it matters.

They're so bad, even CUSA and the Fun Belt are reportedly not interested in their football. I think they should go back to FCS.

But...I hold no ill will toward them. I understand why they're doing it. Just glad it's not my school. But a southern school that has been playing football for 107 years has a whole different attitude about college football than does a school in CT that started FBS in 2002.

Good luck. There is nothing wrong with trying to be Villanova.

Started BCS-level FBS in 2002, with Syracuse, Pitt, WVU. And, in the 1990s when the groundwork was laid and the approvals granted and the funding arranged, the idea was that UConn would be joining a league with the Miami Hurricanes.

Since that ship has sailed, whether or not you play Temple or Villanova or UMass or no one in football doesn't really make much difference.

(06-24-2019 09:59 AM)Psicosis Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

This is precious.

UCONN is a top 22 land grant Public University in the USA. There is none in the AAC. Most of those schools are in the conferences above. What part of it do you not get?

(06-24-2019 10:30 AM)CoastalJuan Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 08:11 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  Big East as a whole has a better perception than the AAC...and that isn't going to change. THis is true for the top and bottom of the conference, esp. with UCONN add/delete.

At the bottom:
St. Johns, Providence, Seton Hall, etc. are MUCH > brand/perception vs ECU, USF, Tulane and Tulsa. Anybody who disagrees is being willingly ignorant.

The to top:
Nova, UCONN, Gtown, and XU are >/= in brand/perception on the whole vs the sum of UH (just recently started doing something), UC (ncaa flame out U), Memphis, and Temple.

Plus, the Big East alone helps this perception. They didn't pay the AAC $88M or whatever it was for that name 'just because'. Sure its not the same Big East of old, but the name has cache.

This is a great move for UCONN (hoops). They are in a better perceived league and now its even MORE SO because they were the biggest basketball brand in the AAC. If there was any doubt as to perception Big East vs AAC prior to the move, that doubt has been resolved.

The AAC will be under the Big East perception wise moving forward. And there is nothing anybody can do about it.

If one team in the AAC rises up and all of a sudden goes to four stragiht final fours, it will just be seen as "Memphis in CUSA". It won't raise the conference above the Big East.

Better accept this now.

What's good for UConn doesn't have to be bad for us. Their priority is basketball, and the Big East is a better basketball conference. On our end, the hit of losing what has become an average basketball team is more than made up by jettisoning our worst football team.

Can everyone just pretend like we just backfilled UConn with Wichita (who has been better than UConn since they got here) in basketball and move on with our lives?

Putting Wichita and UCONN in the same basketball universe

(06-24-2019 09:57 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

The Big East is the final jump. You don't make the jump, basically conceding death on your football program, if you think a P5 jump will be there. They made the calculation that football is a lost cause. They've taken themselves out of the P5 game. The Big East is a great league for UConn if you are forsaking football. I hope it works out for them.

If I'm a UConn fan, the only thing that worries about this move is that the administration doesn't seem to realize what they've done. They HAVE killed football, but don't seem to have realized it. They are trying a half measure. I'd respect their decision a lot more if they just announced 'Hey, yeah, we're cratering football and are going to focus on bball and olympic sports'. I still think that would be a bit of an off move for a school that wants to be a national institution, but at least they had a plan.

Right now, it appears they have no plan, and considering the incompetence of the administrators that have led to a major budget crisis and the position they are in now, I'm really worried about the people in charge more than I am about the move.

This is a must move for Uconn . Football is bad and trending awful. Basketball will be hit or miss. By staying regional they will salvage basketball. Regional opponents are they only thing that drives northeast schools. Uconn fans should be happy. If I was one, I would be.

(06-24-2019 10:44 AM)stxrunner Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:57 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

The Big East is the final jump. You don't make the jump, basically conceding death on your football program, if you think a P5 jump will be there. They made the calculation that football is a lost cause. They've taken themselves out of the P5 game. The Big East is a great league for UConn if you are forsaking football. I hope it works out for them.

If I'm a UConn fan, the only thing that worries about this move is that the administration doesn't seem to realize what they've done. They HAVE killed football, but don't seem to have realized it. They are trying a half measure. I'd respect their decision a lot more if they just announced 'Hey, yeah, we're cratering football and are going to focus on bball and olympic sports'. I still think that would be a bit of an off move for a school that wants to be a national institution, but at least they had a plan.

Right now, it appears they have no plan, and considering the incompetence of the administrators that have led to a major budget crisis and the position they are in now, I'm really worried about the people in charge more than I am about the move.

I woudnt be surprised if the UConn administration does know they basically killed football---they just are being very careful not to say it right now.

(06-24-2019 10:53 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 10:44 AM)stxrunner Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:57 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:32 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  The reality is that UCONN doesn't fit into the AAC or the Big East (or really any other league). Time will tell regarding this decision, but I'm not the least bit mad about being proactive for once and losing that putz, Aresco, for good.

I also believe the landscape for conference deals will be changing over time. I doubt media companies will pay $50M per year to teams like RU in the B1G when RU is basically leeching off teams like Michigan and OSU. The trend is you might see more independent or individual team deals vs. massive conference deals where teams like IOWA State etc. will get big payouts for just in a conference with Texas and OSU.

If Texas and OSU don't join the B1G in the next media deal go around, they might go indy (at least Texas might) to get its own media deal. These kinds of moves might change the college landscape forever.

UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

The Big East is the final jump. You don't make the jump, basically conceding death on your football program, if you think a P5 jump will be there. They made the calculation that football is a lost cause. They've taken themselves out of the P5 game. The Big East is a great league for UConn if you are forsaking football. I hope it works out for them.

If I'm a UConn fan, the only thing that worries about this move is that the administration doesn't seem to realize what they've done. They HAVE killed football, but don't seem to have realized it. They are trying a half measure. I'd respect their decision a lot more if they just announced 'Hey, yeah, we're cratering football and are going to focus on bball and olympic sports'. I still think that would be a bit of an off move for a school that wants to be a national institution, but at least they had a plan.

Right now, it appears they have no plan, and considering the incompetence of the administrators that have led to a major budget crisis and the position they are in now, I'm really worried about the people in charge more than I am about the move.

I woudnt be surprised if the UConn administration does know they basically killed football---they just are being very careful not to say it right now.

Why though? Do they really think their fans are that ignorant? Anyone can plainly see what this does to their football program and by extension, any hope of ever joining the 'power' structure of college athletics.

Again, if that's the direction you've chosen, I can understand. But just be decisive. Don't say 'We are committed to finding a home for our football program'. It's insulting to the fans that actually buy and attend their football games (jokes about attendance, I know, but they had plenty of people invested in that program).

(06-24-2019 10:53 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  I woudnt be surprised if the UConn administration does know they basically killed football---they just are being very careful not to say it right now.

Yea, I think they're just slow-playing the eventual fate of the football team (and if they can go 5-7 against indys/MAC/SB schools and be a fun fall afternoon, great). Whether they're impacting football on purpose or by mistake though: Don't care, got MSG back.

(06-24-2019 10:39 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:59 AM)Psicosis Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:49 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  UCONN does not fit with the Big East or the AAC. Academically, UCONN is more a fit with B1G schools, ACC schools, or P12 schools. I never thought UCONN would stay in the AAC for long. Big East is just another stop until something better comes along.

This is precious.

UCONN is a top 22 land grant Public University in the USA. There is none in the AAC. Most of those schools are in the conferences above. What part of it do you not get?

What part of not having a football program means you are stuck don't you get?

Going to the big east is a slight bump above the A10 but your basically going to be UMass. We won't even take UMass and UMass has never sniffed the p5. That's your future. The Big East is it for you. Should the ratings continue to be awful (and they are awful) you have until the end of the Fox contract to try and prove the Big East is worth 4.5 million. ESPN won't be saving the day if Fox doesn't offer next contract cycle. In fact it's hard as a small private school league for anyone to think there is growth potential in that conference for a profit. The only school who will have that sort of potential is UConn the only non-catholic, non-private university. You don't think the Big East was inviting you because they missed you did you? You're their only possible life line and almost half of them never shared a conference with you or did so for about a cup of coffee.

UConn will do what they think is best, but this makes as much sense for them as the MAC adding UMass and going uneven divisions.