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Author Topic: Uconn to rejoin the BE?  (Read 14847 times)

Tugg Speedman

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Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« on: April 17, 2014, 07:17:23 AM »
Is anyone reading Brent's memo that the BE is a crappy conference????

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/rubin-conn-vincing-case-hoop-champs-rejoin-big-east-article-1.1750178

Convincing case for NCAA Tournament champion UConn to rejoin Big East
UConn is not a big-time football school. But it is a big-time basketball school, one of the very best. Let’s take a look at what prioritizing basketball and seeking a reunion with the Big East might bring.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 10:18 PM

The University of Connecticut has the top college basketball team in the nation once again. It is time for its administration to finally embrace that it has become one of the nation’s great hoops powerhouses and stop pretending to be so many other things in order to chase football money.

Monday’s 60-54 win over heralded Kentucky gives UConn four national championships in 16 seasons and two in the last four. It’s a basketball destination, built by Jim Calhoun and seamlessly continued by Kevin Ollie. It stands with Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Indiana, North Carolina and Duke. Connecticut’s roster has players from both coasts and everywhere in between, evidence of its reach.

Football drives so much in college sports, but it should not be steering UConn. Its administration should play to its strength and make basketball the higher priority in athletics. Find a decent place for your football program and seek what would surely be a welcome reunion with the Big East.

First let’s look at where prioritizing football has taken UConn. It’s now a member of the American Athletic Conference, which is quickly weakening as Louisville departs and East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa arrive for next season. The schools in the AAC have a television contract for football and basketball that reportedly brings them about $2 million annually. The football conference is seen as weak. Worse, so is the basketball conference.

The AAC regular-season and tournament champion (Louisville) got only a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The shifts in conference membership could mean that UConn has to play a half-dozen Top 25 teams in non-conference games to get a respectable NCAA Tournament seeding.

It’s no secret that Connecticut wants out of the AAC and hopes to be invited to the ACC or the Big 12, whose TV contracts bring in at least $15 million-$20 million per school annually. But it really doesn’t have something that will enhance either conference’s football product.

The Huskies play in a 40,000-seat stadium, don’t have a track record of success and people outside the state don’t turn on televisions to watch them. They wouldn’t bring the Big 12 the Boston or New York cable markets.

UConn is not a big-time football school.

But it is a big-time basketball school, one of the very best. Let’s take a look at what prioritizing basketball and seeking a reunion with the Big East might bring. We’ll begin with two weekends ago.

 UConn played the East Regional at Madison Square Garden and it was a phenomenal scene. It owned the Garden again the way it did on many nights when it played in the Big East Tournament and against St. John’s. Huskies fans relished it. And a Big East get-together could make that a regular thing and renew many of the rivalries the fans longed for this season when the Huskies were playing the likes of Houston, and will ache for even more next season.

The Big East claims to be content with 10 members, but there are rumblings it would welcome the Huskies back. Something was missing from the conference without them. The Garden would surely love it. And both would be served by keeping the Big East’s tournament a premier ticket, even when the ACC holds its tournament at Barclays Center in 2017-18.

But wait, there’s more.

There’s money that UConn seems to crave in this idea, too. The Big East television deal pays members about double what the AAC schools get, about $4 million annually.

And it would mean that nearly every Huskies basketball game would be on national television, which is where the school should want its best asset showcased.

Options for the football program could be reasonable. UConn could be a football-only member in a conference. Or it could play as an independent, which is a slightly harder road, but games with Army or Navy could be good for the fan base.

More than three decades ago Connecticut used basketball as its guiding light, joined the Big East and there was nothing to regret. It needs to look in the mirror, see how basketball makes it beautiful, and try to do that once more.




GoldenWarrior11

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2014, 07:43:36 AM »
The ONLY way UCONN would ever rejoin the Big East would be because of the burden of travel for olympic sports AND the necessity to either drop or move down their football program (which, IMO, is not happening within the next 10 years).

Sending their non-football and non-basketball teams could be a problem when other conference schools are located in Houston, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, UCF, and USF.  I'm not a travel agent, but that sounds AWFUL for their teams.  I think Temple is their closest conference mate at the moment. 

Look at West Virginia and the Big XII.  I believe Oliver Luck even said that WVU got a special scheduling agreement with the conference so that the teams were not going to and from the Southwest every other night.  It's a tough act on the students. 

Hards Alumni

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2014, 07:50:08 AM »
Don't let them in if they keep D1 football.

MU Fan in Connecticut

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2014, 08:38:28 AM »
Thanks for posting Heisenberg.   I was actually going to post earlier in the week, but I got busy.  They were discussing on WFAN one afternoon also. 
("UConn needs to find a place to park it's football program.  They need the Big East and the Big East needs them.")


I'll throw this out-of-the box idea out there. 
* Football aside, the Big East would obviously want them.  Besides basketball, they also offer other very good sports programs that fit the BE very well (soccer, for example).
* FOX Sports would obviously pony up more money for UConn, so everyone can keep their $4mil per year basketball money.
* UConn football is not dreadful and it actually competitive.
* Where to park football?  Not the MAC, as UMass is already leaving as it had to choice to join the MAC for all sports or leave after 4-5 years.  I don't see them offering anything different for UConn.
* West Virgina is already squawking about excessive travel in the Big XII conference.
* UConn for all sports to the Big XII isn't happening for the same reason as the WVU issues and they won't bring enough additional TV money, so that everyone ends up with at least the same or more pay-out.
* So what if the Big XII takes them for football only and they offer some other university TBD the same deal so they get to 12 teams.  The Big XII can now have a conference championship game.  UConn agrees to take the same amount of money they get from the AAC ($2mil) and agrees to play each season a number of basketball games against Big XII opponents.  A conference championship game may very well cover the UConn and other team TBD payout.  (UConn men vs. Kansas or Texas, UConn women vs Baylor)

    * The current full-time Big XII members keep the same payout.
    * Big XII other sports don't have to deal with any new travel.
    * WVU get some reduced travel for football.
    * UConn football remains relevant (somewhat) and they won't hurt the Big XII either.
    * The Big East picks up one (probably 2) high profile members for basketball that will help FS1, the Tournament at MSG, the RPI, etc.
    * UConn gets a much bigger payout between football & basketball.
    * Big XII gets some marquee games on their basketball schedule.
    * Maybe include a Big East - Big XII basketball challenge.  (Doesn't FS1 carry Big XII football games?)

The other team could be Cincinnati (the BE has Xavier now, so I don't know from the BE perspective?) or UMass (their football team is dreadful, and would hurt Big XII football in the short term for sure, but it does get the Big XII into Boston area and does give WVU another team geographically close).  Or someone else like Memphis (although their football isn't much better than UMass).
My out-of-the box thought.

MU82

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2014, 08:38:33 AM »
Hard to believe BE decision-makers would welcome a large public school with D1 football that would jump immediately at the chance to join the B1G or ACC and has recently been penalized for poor academics.
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ChicosBailBonds

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2014, 08:43:45 AM »
Why would the Big 12 take Uconn for football only?  What benefit does Big 12 get?

Tugg Speedman

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2014, 08:49:40 AM »
Join the BE for everything but football. 

Become independent in Football (poor man's ND).

That is about the only way they could make the BE work.  And this is not realistic.

frozena pizza

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2014, 08:57:27 AM »
Hard to believe BE decision-makers would welcome a large public school with D1 football that would jump immediately at the chance to join the B1G or ACC and has recently been penalized for poor academics.

All those national championships maybe?  If they went independent in football and joined the BE for the other sports I think this would be a great move.  The BE has already said they want to go to 12 teams - adding UConn and St. Louis would be perfect.  If UConn jumps at some point, it's not the end of the world.  It's much different having one school with a football program than half the conference.

Texas Western

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2014, 09:22:14 AM »
U Conn will eventually join the ACC or Big Ten .  They just have to wait for the next round of changes. My sense is the Big Ten wil eventually bring in Kansas and they will pair that with an offer to U Conn. ACC waiting to see how litigation with Maryland is resolved before making next steps .

GoldenWarrior11

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2014, 09:29:20 AM »
The Big XII will be staying at 10 for the foreseeable future, unless it adds a team that gives each of the teams (specifically the Longhorn Network) more money.  The only realistic school (based on location, prestige and market) is BYU - and they aren't going anywhere because they get tons of money from their TV deal.  They SHOULD have just gone for an eastern block with West Virginia, Louisville, and Cincinnati in 2012, but it's too late for that now.

TV markets are what drove the latest round of expansion.  For the Big East, it's not necessarily about adding the location that adds the biggest market, it's about who is the best fit.  The perfect school adds the right institution (private), in the right location (big city), that has a clear emphasis towards elite basketball (no threat to jump to another conference).  Right now, I would say that only Saint Louis is the clear addition.

The Big East has the luxury of waiting out the realignment period (which appears to be coming to a close) and selecting based on these needs, rather than adding out of survival that doomed the Old Big East.  

It could quite possibly be that the Big East will wait out and hope for UCONN.  Realistically speaking, if UCONN continues to falter in football, the school may (MAY) decide to say, "We are a basketball-first school.  Let's abandon the football dream and pump all of our resources into basketball."  However, IMO, if Duke can manage a respectable football program, then so can UCONN.  I don't see a second marriage at all in the future.

Farley36

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2014, 09:32:00 AM »
What on earth does UConn offer any of the BCS conferences?  They make decisions on football only.  From a football point of view UConn generates no revenue for these conferences, their stadium is tiny, they do not bring a big tv market to the table, etc..   Sure they'd be a nice addition from a basketball perspective but that's an after thought for the ACC, Big 10, and Big 12.  UConn is either staying in the AAC which could end up killing them even in bball or they need to find something to do with football and rejoin the Big East in other sports.  My guess is they don't see this and will stick with the AAC believing that it's only a matter of time until a BCS conference comes calling.  Only when it's too late will they realized the error of their ways and by then they will just be once great basketball power.  

ChicosBailBonds

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2014, 09:41:06 AM »
U Conn will eventually join the ACC or Big Ten .  They just have to wait for the next round of changes. My sense is the Big Ten wil eventually bring in Kansas and they will pair that with an offer to U Conn. ACC waiting to see how litigation with Maryland is resolved before making next steps .

Big Ten is not adding UConn.  Not with those academics.  It is not happening.  They aren't part of the AAU.  End of story.

KU could join the Big Ten, it has been talked about many times.  The thought process was KU and Mizzou at one point, but the SEC got Mizzou first.  However, the grant of rights the Big 12 members signed goes until 2024, meaning if KU or anyone leaves the Big 12 for other conferences they are giving up a ton of revenue and the conference they go to isn't getting it either.


MU Fan in Connecticut

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2014, 09:49:34 AM »
Big Ten is not adding UConn.  Not with those academics.  It is not happening.  They aren't part of the AAU.  End of story.

KU could join the Big Ten, it has been talked about many times.  The thought process was KU and Mizzou at one point, but the SEC got Mizzou first.  However, the grant of rights the Big 12 members signed goes until 2024, meaning if KU or anyone leaves the Big 12 for other conferences they are giving up a ton of revenue and the conference they go to isn't getting it either.


UConn is expecting an AAU invite.  They meet the AAU criteria with recent changes in the system and the university ranking is very good (#57 USN) and has climbed to be a Top 20 public university (#19, up from #27).

SaveOD238

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 10:17:02 AM »
I grew up in CT, so I would love to have UConn back in our conference.  Ideally, uconn would drop football altogether and come back to us (and we would take them with open arms), but I just don't see that happening.  (Heck, I'd even take Memphis in the same deal)

The biggest reason is that Connecticut has a bit of an inferiority complex.  Sandwiched between New York and Boston, CT (and Hartford specifically) just wants to play with the big boys.  Losing the Whalers was a huge blow.  So was the Patriots to Hartford flirtation.  Both of those moves in the mid-late 90s led to the promotion of the UConn football team (which plays across the river from downtown Hartford, not in Storrs), which took a lot of public investment.  I do not see the whole city/state just giving up on their dream of hitting the big time.

Of course, they should be happy that they have 13 combined championships in men's and women basketball over the last 20 years.  Alas...

MU Fan in Connecticut

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2014, 10:37:43 AM »
I grew up in CT, so I would love to have UConn back in our conference.  Ideally, uconn would drop football altogether and come back to us (and we would take them with open arms), but I just don't see that happening.  (Heck, I'd even take Memphis in the same deal)

The biggest reason is that Connecticut has a bit of an inferiority complex.  Sandwiched between New York and Boston, CT (and Hartford specifically) just wants to play with the big boys.  Losing the Whalers was a huge blow.  So was the Patriots to Hartford flirtation.  Both of those moves in the mid-late 90s led to the promotion of the UConn football team (which plays across the river from downtown Hartford, not in Storrs), which took a lot of public investment.  I do not see the whole city/state just giving up on their dream of hitting the big time.

Of course, they should be happy that they have 13 combined championships in men's and women basketball over the last 20 years.  Alas...

Very well stated.

Hards Alumni

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #15 on: April 17, 2014, 11:00:14 AM »
Big Ten is not adding UConn.  Not with those academics.  It is not happening.  They aren't part of the AAU.  End of story.

KU could join the Big Ten, it has been talked about many times.  The thought process was KU and Mizzou at one point, but the SEC got Mizzou first.  However, the grant of rights the Big 12 members signed goes until 2024, meaning if KU or anyone leaves the Big 12 for other conferences they are giving up a ton of revenue and the conference they go to isn't getting it either.



+1  KU could head to the B1G, and then the Big12 could become what it should be... all Texas and OK teams adding SMU, Houston and another... UTEP or Rice?.  WVU, KSU, and ISU head to the AAC to replace SMU and Houston (and Rutgers which is B1G bound).  Even trade for conferences that make more sense.

WVU cuts down on travel expenses tremendously, but obviously loses some conference notoriety.  I think this balances the conferences, and makes the AAC more valuable as a conference than it was... There is an obvious weakening of the Big12, but with those new teams added from Texas there is plenty of room to grow.

This shakes the conferences out to:

Big12
Texas
SMU
Texas Tech
Baylor
Oklahoma
OK State
TCU
Houston
UTEP?  Rice?  Both?

AAC
UCF
Louisville
WVU
UConn
Iowa State
Cincinnati
USF
Temple
Memphis
KSU

B1G adds

KU
Rutgers

ChicosBailBonds

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2014, 11:09:10 AM »
UConn is expecting an AAU invite.  They meet the AAU criteria with recent changes in the system and the university ranking is very good (#57 USN) and has climbed to be a Top 20 public university (#19, up from #27).

If they get that, it is one domino for sure.  That being said, the AAU and Uconn rumors have been going around now for at least 5 years if not much longer.  It's an invitation only club.  Maybe it happens.  I know they have been trying and it has been put out there as a public goal of theirs.  It should be and kudos to them for making the effort.  I'm just of the mindset I'll ultimately believe it when it happens.  Here's an example going back to 2010.  http://blogs.courant.com/uconn_football/2010/05/uconn-and-the-aau.html

On the athletics side, I still don't see where they add any value on the $$ side.  They bring very little to the Northeast in football ratings, basketball ratings don't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, not compare to football anyway.  Yes, they have men's and women's hoops, solid soccer, but the only market they add is Hartford (NY DMA already covered with Rutgers). 

The one big thing they do have going for them is no grant of rights with the AAC, which makes their movement much easier.


keefe

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2014, 11:16:07 AM »
The biggest reason is that Connecticut has a bit of an inferiority complex. 

Is it the whole state? I thought it was just Greenwich...


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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2014, 11:22:24 AM »
+1  KU could head to the B1G, and then the Big12 could become what it should be... all Texas and OK teams adding SMU, Houston and another... UTEP or Rice?.  WVU, KSU, and ISU head to the AAC to replace SMU and Houston (and Rutgers which is B1G bound).  Even trade for conferences that make more sense.

WVU cuts down on travel expenses tremendously, but obviously loses some conference notoriety.  I think this balances the conferences, and makes the AAC more valuable as a conference than it was... There is an obvious weakening of the Big12, but with those new teams added from Texas there is plenty of room to grow.

This shakes the conferences out to:

Big12
Texas
SMU
Texas Tech
Baylor
Oklahoma
OK State
TCU
Houston
UTEP?  Rice?  Both?

AAC
UCF
Louisville
WVU
UConn
Iowa State
Cincinnati
USF
Temple
Memphis
KSU

B1G adds

KU
Rutgers

Louisville is going to the ACC next year.
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warriorchick

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2014, 11:25:03 AM »
Don't mess withe Big East brand:

Private. Great basketball tradition. Strong academics. No football.
Have some patience, FFS.

Hards Alumni

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #20 on: April 17, 2014, 11:51:15 AM »
Louisville is going to the ACC next year.

Fair enough.  Replace Louisville with nearly any top A-10 team.

MU82

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #21 on: April 17, 2014, 11:56:37 AM »
All those national championships maybe?  If they went independent in football and joined the BE for the other sports I think this would be a great move.  The BE has already said they want to go to 12 teams - adding UConn and St. Louis would be perfect.  If UConn jumps at some point, it's not the end of the world.  It's much different having one school with a football program than half the conference.

I understand what you're saying and I mostly agree. But I'm trying to think from an administrator's perspective.

Poor academics. Public school. Focus on D1 football.

It just doesn't add up.
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PBRme

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #22 on: April 17, 2014, 01:19:51 PM »
You are all missing the most important question

But what would UConn joining the BE mean to Dayton's chances of joining the BE

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keefe

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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #23 on: April 17, 2014, 01:21:57 PM »
But what would UConn joining the BE mean to Dayton's chances of joining the BE



Dayton who?


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Re: Uconn to rejoin the BE?
« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2014, 02:45:24 PM »
UConn would be SO much more profitable if they didn't have football. They may come to their senses eventually but until then, no deal
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