UCONN to the Big Televen?

[VegasWarrior77]

Colin Cowherd is reporting on ESPN that UCONN will join the big ten.  He says he's also hearing that Utah and Colorado are being courted by the PAC-10.

edit: subject question mark

[GGGG]

Colin Cowherd is reporting on ESPN that UCONN will join the big ten.  He says he's also hearing that Utah and Colorado are being courted by the PAC-10.

They are also saying that Pitt and Rutgers will be joining UConn to the Big Ten.

If true, bye bye Big East as we know it.  <sigh>

[VegasWarrior77]

I thought Cowherd said he wished Pitt & Rutgers would also join - not that they actually are joining.

[TheButlerDidIt]

Cowherd's been squawking about this for a while now. He loves to take shots at the Big East because its basketball is stronger than its football. He's a big college football fan and amittedly doesn't like college basketball.

[GOMU1104]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/sports/20colleges.html?ref=sports

[Skatastrophy]

Bleh... college football always ruins everything.

[Shanunu]

Does Cowherd have any facts behind this? Or is he just speculating yet again?

[jficke13]

college football does always ruin everything. hopefully this is just bs speculation.

[lurch91]

Nothing on ESPN.com as of noon ET.

[GGGG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/sports/20colleges.html?ref=sports

Crouthamel is a moron.  Ask Syracuse fans how they feel about how he fubbed up the end of his tenure.

[Windyplayer]

This is either really irresponsible reporting by mu77vegas or Cowherd, I'm guessing the former. If Cowherd did indeed say definitively that UCONN was joining the Big Ten then the fault lies with him, but I doubt he did considering it's not even on ESPN's site. However, I'm guessing it was taken out of context by mu77vegas and made to be true in the subject line. It's misleading and frustrating. Everyone obviously wants to know what's going to happen, but that doesn't mean we should start posting speculation as truth--more regarding the subject line than the body.  

[mu_hilltopper]

If this were true, it would be all over Google News with a search .. it is not. (at the moment.)

[ChicosBailBonds]

Cowherd was speculating, nothing official. It would not surprise me because they have the football and basketball, plus the New York market is what the Big Ten wants.


I hope Cottingham has a plan.

[Husker4MU]

The Big 11 will not invite a school that is not part of the American Association of Universities.  UConn is not a member
http://www.aau.edu/about/article.aspx?id=5476

I hope Cottingham has reached out to Nova, Gtown, X and Dayton.  They would be our best hope once the dust settles.

One far out there prediction - after this all settles down in 5-10 years, Syracuse could drop football or move down to 1-AA.  I just don't see where they land.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

If this happens, it's really remarkable for UCONN. There is no way to measure how big their victory over ND was in football last year. Not only did it seal the fate of Charlie Weis and earn them a trip to a bowl, it legitimized their entire football program. This is a school that didn't have a D1 football team a dozen years ago. Now they're on the doorstep of joining the Big Ten? Unbelievable, really. And I'll tell you what, if ND doesn't get on board with one of these conferences, they're going to have a very difficult time becoming relevant again.

[VegasWarrior77]

Does Cowherd have any facts behind this? Or is he just speculating yet again?

Clarification:  Cowherd said he heard from a reliable source (he said he had inside information) that UCONN was joining the big ten.  These are HIS words paraphrased.  Of course Cowherd has been known to hype things (like himself).  I'm just stating what I hear HIM say this morning.

[RJax55]

I hope Cottingham has a plan.

Honestly, if a major shakeup happens, what can Cottingham do? Other than working with ADs at other institutions to create a new conference, what sort of plan can be realistically undertaken?

[GOO]

IF true, then other east coast teams must be going to the big 10 as well. Otherwise UConn is an island. They will suffer. Their basketball will suffer as well as recruits won't want to be playing in the Midwest. Bad move, if true which I doubt, unless Syracuse and Rutgers or ? Go with.

[Marquette_g]

Whether accurate or not Cowherd is a turd.

[Hards Alumni]

Honestly, if a major shakeup happens, what can Cottingham do? Other than working with ADs at other institutions to create a new conference, what sort of plan can be realistically undertaken?

That is exactly what CBB hopes he has a plan for.

[GGGG]

IF true, then other east coast teams must be going to the big 10 as well. Otherwise UConn is an island. They will suffer. Their basketball will suffer as well as recruits won't want to be playing in the Midwest. Bad move, if true which I doubt, unless Syracuse and Rutgers or ? Go with.

UConn, or any other BE school, really can't afford to say "no" if the B10 offers.  The money is too good.

[goodgreatgrand]

IF true, then other east coast teams must be going to the big 10 as well. Otherwise UConn is an island. They will suffer. Their basketball will suffer as well as recruits won't want to be playing in the Midwest. Bad move, if true which I doubt, unless Syracuse and Rutgers or ? Go with.

When Penn St moved to the B10, it destroyed their bball program. As you said, it's tough to recruit in the NY/NJ/Balt. areas when all of your games are in the midwest. The B10 wont make the same mistake again. If they pull UConn, they will most certainly pull other programs (a combination of Rutgers, Pitt, WV, SU). With several BE programs, the current B10 schools can penetrate the recruiting circuit and soften the blow for the BE schools that leave by ensuring them there will be a mini-BE within the B10. 

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

UConn will only go if in tandem w/the other NY Big East schools (Syracuse and Rutgers). Big 10 can't get full NY media market penetration with just UConn alone, and it serves UConn as no good to be an island alone on the East Coast. 

Remember, this conference expansion talk isn't about academic fit, geography, or even football revenue alone.  It's whatever combination of schools, whether it be 1, 3, or 5, maximizes revenues for the current Big 10 schools and expands the overall distribution of the Big 10 Network. 

What that combination is, whether it includes ND, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn, Pitt, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, etc., we don't know.  The Big 10 certainly does, and all we can do is sit back and wait just like everyone else.

[GGGG]

When Penn St moved to the B10, it destroyed their bball program.

Penn State never has had much of a basketball program.  They went to the Final Four in 1954.  Outside of that, most of their success (and that means one Sweet 16 appearance and an NIT Championship) have come since 2000.

In fact, when PSU joined the B10, I remember them talking about it helping their basketball program since they were not invited to join the BE.  (Still the most short-sighted decision made by the Big East.  They didn't want to give PSU a cut of the basketball action in return for an eastern football conference, and it is probably why the BE is heading into this period of uncertainty right now.)

[goodgreatgrand]

Pitino made some comments yesterday about BE defensive measures...

"In basketball, we don't get as concerned as football," Pitino said. "Football does probably generate the most money in collegiate athletics. If that's true, we have to be proactive and make sure that we have three teams. Remember, it happened once before to the Big East and they immediately got Louisville and South Florida, so right now the Big East has got to be ready. OK, if this does happen we've got to be proactive, we've got to be ready for Central Florida, we've got to be ready to get two other programs into this equation."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/knights/os-ucf-football-0420-20100419,0,7381365.story