New Assistant - Dwayne Killings

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

All it takes is a day.
UConn was a high major for decades-since 1979.
The day they left the Big East, they instantly became mid major.
One day they were a high major, overnight they became mid major. Cincy too.
Conversely, Marquette was apparently a mid major for most of its existence. But, MU joined the Big East one day and instantly became a high major.
I assume the similar conference affiliation paths of Notre Dame and Penn State are parallel to MU.

Exactly. Though I honestly don't know how to label independents like 1970s Marquette.

[We R Final Four]

Exactly. Though I honestly don't know how to label independents like 1970s Marquette.

Well, based upon your definition of the distinction of high vs. mid vs. low majors resting exclusively on conference afiliation, independents of all decades would have to be considered mid or low majors.

[brewcity77]

Well, based upon your definition of the distinction of high vs. mid vs. low majors resting exclusively on conference afiliation, independents of all decades would have to be considered mid or low majors.

I think it was simply a different time. I don't think independents would've been high, mid, or low major. They were independent, which meant none of those labels applied to them. The nomenclature is more apt today because virtually everyone is conference affiliated. I still think the hardest line to draw is between mid and low major.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well, based upon your definition of the distinction of high vs. mid vs. low majors resting exclusively on conference afiliation, independents of all decades would have to be considered mid or low majors.

That's exactly why it's hard to judge independents. High/mid/low major is based on your conference....but they didn't have a conference. I think I agree with Brew that independents were simply independents.

I think it was simply a different time. I don't think independents would've been high, mid, or low major. They were independent, which meant none of those labels applied to them. The nomenclature is more apt today because virtually everyone is conference affiliated. I still think the hardest line to draw is between mid and low major.

Everyone is conference affiliated in basketball now. NJIT was the last holdout and they joined the Atlantic Sun a few years back. Even the 2 new Division 1 schools elevating this year, North Alabama and California Baptist, are starting out in conferences.

I agree that the line between low/mid major is the hardest to draw. I've always used the vague definition of mid majors routinely send at larges to the Big Dance. So AAC, A10, MWC, MVC, and WCC would probably fit the bill. Maybe CUSA? Though we will need to watch the MVC now that Wichita State is gone. Loyola likely doesn't make the tournament if they didn't win the autobid and there was no one else from that conference remotely close to the bubble.

[Marcus92]

UConn is a historic, highly accomplished program. But the Huskies stumbled big-time in the wake of Jim Calhoun, more than many other programs trying to replace a legend. The move to the AAC is a huge downgrade from the Big East, both in terms of revenue and national attention. And the athletic department's priorities have obviously been elsewhere, focusing instead on pursuing conferences that don't want them. Those are some significant hurdles to overcome.

[MU82]

Hey, how 'bout that Dwayne Killings?

When he gets us 4-star and 5-star recruits, we all gonna say, "Our guy is killings it!"?

[Loose Cannon]

Hey, how 'bout that Dwayne Killings?

When he gets us 4-star and 5-star recruits, we all gonna say, "Our guy is killings it!"?

Ouch.

[muwarrior69]

everyone really needs the teal huh

It should be our default font color. Make it happen mods!

[Silkk the Shaka]

Hey, how 'bout that Dwayne Killings?

When he gets us 4-star and 5-star recruits, we all gonna say, "Our guy is killings it!"?

When one if his recruits doesn't work out we can say we got LeDaryl Killingsley'd

[Golden Avalanche]

It's strange to have a discussion about UConn basketball and not mention that Calhoun is one of the dirtiest coaches in the history of the game and repeatedly put the program into sanctions over the course of his career. Then again, don't think many Marquette fans have a good perspective on the program due to where they grew up and where they currently live.

[MU82]

Ouch.

I'll be here all week ...

[Loose Cannon]

I'll be here all week ...

Thanks for the Warning.

[D'Lo Brown]

People do need to chill with the mid-major talk. Neither UW nor UConn is or will ever be saddled with this label. Regarding our conference affiliation, absent a pro-active TomCrean and an equally crafty Larry Williams (his one big "hit" among many glaring misses), MU may have suffered the application of that label.

However, you can be major and irrelevant in no time, and the Huskies are riding the precipice right now. Hard to believe they can't see what is so clear to everyone else. Their folly of football dreams is ruining a once proud hoops juggernaut. The BigEast does not need them at all. Sans a prenup precluding them from leaving to pursue pigskin ambitions, nobody here wants them.  I hope they have an epiphany soon...a reckoning where they realize where their proverbial bread is buttered.

The thing is, people from Wisconsin and elsewhere only really know about Uconn's "failed football dreams" due to the recent conference realignment. It's not some sort of new dream that they recently got wrong. People don't realize that this has been a long-term, decades long process where they have gone from playing conference football games with Holy Cross, Rhode Island, Maine, etc (and not doing well at all) to playing in power conferences. Rome wasn't built in a day. They got lucky for a few of the 2000's seasons mainly on the play of Dan Orlovsky but otherwise it has been an uphill battle. There is no football tradition at Uconn whatsoever, they have to build it piece by piece. All I'm trying to get at is, they can't simply "fall back on" tradition when they go through a rough stretch, they need to have all the right pieces in place (good coach, recruiting, wins) for the football program to build itself.

The football program has nothing to do with the basketball program... At all. The football coaches did not force the basketball program to hire Kevin Ollie. Jim Calhoun forced that.

The people of Connecticut are obsessed with Uconn basketball. Them landing in the AAC did not change that. It's not like people suddenly started rooting for Providence, Boston College, Yale, whoever instead. That'll never happen. College basketball is the lifeblood of the state. A whole lot of people that have no personal connection to Uconn are huge fans. Similar to UW (dissimilar from Marquette).

Nobody is saying that the AAC is some incredible basketball conference. But if it is a mid-major conference, then the PAC-12 absolutely must be, and the SEC is at least in the discussion as well.

[Galway Eagle]

The thing is, people from Wisconsin and elsewhere only really know about Uconn's "failed football dreams" due to the recent conference realignment. It's not some sort of new dream that they recently got wrong. People don't realize that this has been a long-term, decades long process where they have gone from playing conference football games with Holy Cross, Rhode Island, Maine, etc (and not doing well at all) to playing in power conferences. Rome wasn't built in a day. They got lucky for a few of the 2000's seasons mainly on the play of Dan Orlovsky but otherwise it has been an uphill battle. There is no football tradition at Uconn whatsoever, they have to build it piece by piece.

The football program has nothing to do with the basketball program... At all. The football coaches did not force the basketball program to hire Kevin Ollie. Jim Calhoun forced that.

The people of Connecticut are obsessed with Uconn basketball. Them landing in the AAC did not change that. It's not like people suddenly started rooting for Providence, Boston College, Yale, whoever instead. That'll never happen. College basketball is the lifeblood of the state. A whole lot of people that have no personal connection to Uconn are huge fans. Similar to UW (dissimilar from Marquette).

Nobody is saying that the AAC is some incredible basketball conference. But if it is a mid-major conference, then the PAC-12 absolutely must be, and the SEC is at least in the discussion as well.

Regarding the last paragraph, the difference is the bottom of the conferences. If the AAC just took UCONN Memphis Temple Houston Cinci  Wichita and SMU (maybe Tulsa to round it out as they have some history there) you'd have a conference that's tradition rich and could be considered a legit conference. The problem is Tulane, east Carolina, south Florida, central Florida have zero history, zero interest in creating history and are so god awful they make the DePaul's and Washington states look good.

[brewcity77]

Nobody is saying that the AAC is some incredible basketball conference. But if it is a mid-major conference, then the PAC-12 absolutely must be, and the SEC is at least in the discussion as well.

Compare the media deals the SEC and PAC-12 get with the AAC. Big East schools get more from FS1 than the AAC gets and they get including football. The AAC would have to multiply their revenues tenfold to be a high-major.

[D'Lo Brown]

Compare the media deals the SEC and PAC-12 get with the AAC. Big East schools get more from FS1 than the AAC gets and they get including football. The AAC would have to multiply their revenues tenfold to be a high-major.

Kind of a straw man, no? I don't disagree with you, but it's addressing a separate issue... We can certainly debate the fairness of conference realignment (with respect to an unreasonably massive dichotomy between winners and losers), but that is still outside the bounds of how good the conference is.

I'm saying, objectively speaking, in terms of a basketball conference, on balance the AAC is somewhere around the PAC-12 and SEC. The AAC has better basketball programs at the top than either, but the bottom is far worse.

Is your point that even if those bottom 1/2 teams became top 50-75 programs, that the AAC would still be "mid-major" because of their TV deal? As I was getting at above, the teams in the AAC were just left holding the bag. Of course they got screwed. There are still a bunch of storied basketball programs in the conference, regardless of whether they are taking a hellacious ****ing on the TV deal

[Herman Cain]

Compare the media deals the SEC and PAC-12 get with the AAC. Big East schools get more from FS1 than the AAC gets and they get including football. The AAC would have to multiply their revenues tenfold to be a high-major.

AAC will be getting an enhanced media their next contract. Their Football conference has worked out reasonably well .  Two of the teams that are after thoughts in basketball, UCF and USF are attractive in terms of football ratings. ESPN puts their games on the main ABC network. The ACC is expected to get around $10 million per team annually versus the $2. 1 million they are presently getting . That is clearly much less than Big 12<ACC and others who are in the 20-30 million range. The Big East is getting $4 millionish  per team per year.

[D'Lo Brown]

Regarding the last paragraph, the difference is the bottom of the conferences. If the AAC just took UCONN Memphis Temple Houston Cinci  Wichita and SMU (maybe Tulsa to round it out as they have some history there) you'd have a conference that's tradition rich and could be considered a legit conference. The problem is Tulane, east Carolina, south Florida, central Florida have zero history, zero interest in creating history and are so god awful they make the DePaul's and Washington states look good.

Totally agree. (Taking off my MU hat again) I wish the AAC didn't have so many directionals and junk teams, it's a bad look. The fans of the power teams especially are not happy about it. And many others.

DePaul is right in there with those teams though. I mean, as MU fans we know all about the "rich history" of DePaul but objectively speaking, they really suck. It was a joke even when they were added to the old Big East, they were/are a punching bag.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Big East gets $40m per year.
AAC gets $21m per year.

[brewcity77]

AAC will be getting an enhanced media their next contract. Their Football conference has worked out reasonably well .  Two of the teams that are after thoughts in basketball, UCF and USF are attractive in terms of football ratings. ESPN puts their games on the main ABC network. The ACC is expected to get around $10 million per team annually versus the $2. 1 million they are presently getting . That is clearly much less than Big 12<ACC and others who are in the 20-30 million range. The Big East is getting $4 millionish  per team per year.

So they get half what the Power 5 get (applicable term for football) and that makes them high major? That's a hard no.

[Herman Cain]

So they get half what the Power 5 get (applicable term for football) and that makes them high major? That's a hard no.

It is still more than twice our conference.  They also participate in the College Football Playoff pool which we do not.

[brewcity77]

It is still more than twice our conference.  They also participate in the College Football Playoff pool which we do not.

Assuming they get the highest end of estimates. And they still have to afford football, which costs significantly more than basketball.

In addition, 11 bids the last 4 years. They have more teams than we do and we've had 24 in the same span. They have some significant programs, but in no way, shape, or form are a high major league.

[MU82]

The people of Connecticut are obsessed with Uconn basketball. Them landing in the AAC did not change that.

I don't know what it's like now, but back when I was in the "biz," UConn men's basketball had more newspaper beat writers following them than any other team in the country.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The AAC is not close to the P12 or SEC in any sense of the word close.

[NorthernDancerColt]

The AAC is not close to the P12 or SEC in any sense of the word close.

Teal tongue in cheek: You mean it's not close to "The Conference of Champions"?

I thought UCONN has 4 recent NCAA titles?