(12-02-2019 09:48 AM)oliveandblue Wrote:  I am not thrilled about them leaving.

Do you really trust Aresco to find someone better?

The big loss is UConn as an institution, not a football program.

I am and yes.

(12-01-2019 12:54 PM)The Grape King Wrote:  I hope they fail in the Big East and their fans wake up and realize they're not going "back" anywhere. They're joining a new conference and will play exactly half its road games in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana against private, mostly Catholic schools with which they share no common culture.

You're describing the footprint of the 05-13 Big East with Nebraska subbed in for Kentucky and Florida.

(12-02-2019 10:41 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 12:54 PM)The Grape King Wrote:  I hope they fail in the Big East and their fans wake up and realize they're not going "back" anywhere. They're joining a new conference and will play exactly half its road games in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana against private, mostly Catholic schools with which they share no common culture.

You're describing the footprint of the 05-13 Big East with Nebraska subbed in for Kentucky and Florida.

Very similar footprint, but far away from the same institutions.

No more Louisville, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pittsburg, South Florida.

Enjoy those subtractions and the additions of Xavier, Creighton, Butler.

Ultimately, if Connecticut's men's basketball program didn't nosedive, I think Connecticut would remain in the American.

SMU, Memphis, Houston, etc... built national championship level programs. UConn just had a dip. That's tough for a program that is a modern basketball blue-blood.

(12-02-2019 10:55 AM)natibeast21 Wrote:  

(12-02-2019 10:41 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 12:54 PM)The Grape King Wrote:  I hope they fail in the Big East and their fans wake up and realize they're not going "back" anywhere. They're joining a new conference and will play exactly half its road games in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana against private, mostly Catholic schools with which they share no common culture.

You're describing the footprint of the 05-13 Big East with Nebraska subbed in for Kentucky and Florida.

Very similar footprint, but far away from the same institutions.

No more Louisville, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pittsburg, South Florida.

Enjoy those subtractions and the additions of Xavier, Creighton, Butler.

Sure, institutionally it's going to be more similar to the original Big East - no football, a smaller total number of members, and primarily basketball-focused private schools - while geographically it's going to be more like the third iteration of the Big East that went from 05-13. Both those versions of the Big East worked very well for UConn, though.

At the end of the day the conference is going to have six members in the Boston-DC corridor and play its tournament in New York. For all the arguments that one could make against UConn joining the Big East, geography might be the single silliest one.