UConn back to Big East?

[BigEastPhil]

Andy Katz and our friend Mark Blaudshein of the Boston Globe are reporting that UConn has made overtures to the Big East and the BE may be receptive for UConn to join for all sports except FB.

In turn, UConn would attempt to move its FB to the MAC; Sunbelt or any conference that would take UConn for FB only.

Of course, this doesn't occur if the Big 12 accepts UConn.

If these reports are true, doubt any conference would accept UConn for FB only as UMass is in the same limbo state - as the MAC dumped it for FB - due to an ultimatum for UMass to join the MAC for all sports - which UMass rejected.

Would be ironic if UConn did join the BE and the AAC scoops up UMass especially givem the AAC is likely to lose schools with the Big 12 expanding.

Should the above occur, it would be a great heist for the BE and make MSG in mid March a super event once again.

 

[Bdodger2]

Andy Katz and our friend Mark Blaudshein of the Boston Globe are reporting that UConn has made overtures to the Big East and the BE may be receptive for UConn to join for all sports except FB.

In turn, UConn would attempt to move its FB to the MAC; Sunbelt or any conference that would take UConn for FB only.

Of course, this doesn't occur if the Big 12 accepts UConn.

If these reports are true, doubt any conference would accept UConn for FB only as UMass is in the same limbo state - as the MAC dumped it for FB - due to an ultimatum for UMass to join the MAC for all sports - which UMass rejected.

Would be ironic if UConn did join the BE and the AAC scoops up UMass especially givem the AAC is likely to lose schools with the Big 12 expanding.

Should the above occur, it would be a great heist for the BE and make MSG in mid March a super event once again.

Very interesting. It certainly would solidify UConn's status in the basketball world. It would also be a huge pickup for the BigEast.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Big East doesn't want UConn back....

 

[Hondo77]

The only way the Big East will take UConn is if football drops down to the FCS level and it's not going to happen.

 

[Joey Bacala]

The only way the Big East will take UConn is if football drops down to the FCS level and it's not going to happen.

Football drops to FCS and the Catholic Church takes over UConn, then maybe.

 

[PatrickRU92]

LOL. never thought I'd see a state school want to be a CYO.

Desperate times....

 

[RUinFla]

Several schools have their football and basketball teams in different conferences, including Notre Dame, whose football team is unaffiliated. Army did too, I think. Some teams play hoops in a non-FB conference like the BE and football elsewhere. UCONN belongs in the BE--they showed they were not just a Calhoun wonder.
TL

 

[RUsince52]

The writing was on the wall once the Yankee Conference folded. Sometimes the grass only appears to be greener. Vermont was smart and just dropped FB and seem to be happy.

 

[ecojew]

I think this would be a disastrous move for UConn football. The AAC may not pay very much but it still provides some decent opposition and gives UConn a far more interesting schedule than it would have in any of the other conferences. It is quite clearly the 6th conference in the pecking order, after the P5. UConn's football fans better be praying for a B12 invite at this point or for the SEC and B1G to expand to 16 and cherry-pick two schools each from the ACC to create some space for the Huskies there.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

I don't see this happening...

 

[needmorecowbell]

UCONN is a basketball school. If I were them, I would join the Big East and keep football an after thought. If they stay in he AAC their basketball program will slowly deteriorate.

 

[UCBearcat]

UConn right now is a contender for 13th and 14th spot in the B12, with 3 or 4 others, for 2018. They're keeping their options open, since the MWC may also poach the AAC and MBB may be substantially watered down in the AAC.

 

[srru86]

Not saying it not the case, but a scan of the Hartford Courant shows nothing on the topic.

 

[RUfinal4]

Not a bad move for UConn. They want the ACC or B12 which will probably happen.

They have a top 10 hoops program (top 3 for ladies). In the BE they will help improve the basketball presence. They have decent non-revenue sports (ie. Soccer). Football is the biggest issue. If they go indy they can set up games against Army and Umass each year with potential games against BYU. I can see the MAC working a deal with them for either conference membership or OOC games. For OOC games they will allow UConn to play 4 to 5 MAC schools each year but will require UConn to schedule 3-4 hoops games against MAC schools each year. A similar arrangement can be in play if UConn joins the MAC.


To fill 12 football games:
1 FCS game
1 Army game
1 UMass game
1 BYU / MWC game
2 AAC OOC game
1 ACC OOC game
2 MAC OOC games
2 Sunbelt games
1 B10 OOC game

if they struggle to fill the schedule they may need to schedule UMass as a home and home for 2 games

 

[srru86]

To fill 12 football games:
1 FCS game
1 Army game
1 UMass game
1 BYU / MWC game
2 AAC OOC game
1 ACC OOC game
2 MAC OOC games
2 Sunbelt games
1 B10 OOC game

That's a neat list. Maybe Army will go one for one, but a bunch of those teams are going to expect a sizeable check to show up at the Airfield. I don't think UConn has the revenue to support that for long.

 

[friar10]

LOL. never thought I'd see a state school want to be a CYO.

Desperate times....

You can take all the shots you want. But if you think Uconn wanting to get into the Big East is a sign of desperation you obviously don't have a clue. A conference that has consistently been in the top 3 or 4 of the rpi ratings. Also gets at least half the conference in the tourney. Of course you probably would not know much about that since your team has not sniffed the tourney in twenty some odd years.

 

[PatrickRU92]

You can take all the shots you want. But if you think Uconn wanting to get into the Big East is a sign of desperation you obviously don't have a clue. A conference that has consistently been in the top 3 or 4 of the rpi ratings. Also gets at least half the conference in the tourney. Of course you probably would not know much about that since your team has not sniffed the tourney in twenty some odd years.

 

[MADHAT1]

You can take all the shots you want. But if you think Uconn wanting to get into the Big East is a sign of desperation you obviously don't have a clue. A conference that has consistently been in the top 3 or 4 of the rpi ratings. Also gets at least half the conference in the tourney. Of course you probably would not know much about that since your team has not sniffed the tourney in twenty some odd years.

It is a sign of desperation because it shows they think their football program isn't now or will be in the future, strong enough to get them a P-5 invite and will settle for just being a good basketball program in a pretty good basketball conference.

 

[Pritz99]

A lot (if not most) of the posters on this board expected/predicted the Death of the BE. To the contrary, It has done very well. I don't know the financial shape of UConn FB, but my guess is they're losing money. BE BB would help them with $$$, both men and women. Basketball will deteriorate in the AAC and thrive in the BE. And a drop to FCS FB (where they were some years ago, and where they seemed to want to stay) would seem appropriate.

I suspect if they're not ACC or B12 int he next year or so, it's off to the BE.

 

[srru86]

A conference basketball league

Fixed that for you.

 

[PatrickRU92]

A lot (if not most) of the posters on this board expected/predicted the Death of the BE. To the contrary, It has done very well.

Again, lets revisit this in a decade.

I'm sure you are aware of the $ and TV expsosure that the B1G members are going to be getting shortly. The Pac12's TV contracts are pretty amazing too and the SEC owns ESPN.

Evolution doesn't happen overnight. Natural selection will run it's course.

 

[srru86]

Again, lets revisit this in a decade.
Evolution doesn't happen overnight. Natural selection will run it's course.

Yes, I don't think anyone saw a Dresden level of sudden destruction. More a Detroit fading away over time.

 

[srru86]

Courant
President Herbst's Letter To Big 12: UConn Has 'Strong Interest' In Joining

 

[friar10]

Again, lets revisit this in a decade.



I'm sure you are aware of the $ and TV expsosure that the B1G members are going to be getting shortly. The Pac12's TV contracts are pretty amazing too and the SEC owns ESPN.

Evolution doesn't happen overnight. Natural selection will run it's course.

I am sure you are aware these teams already have a huge advantage money wise and exposure wise. Like I have said over and over anyone who thinks there will be no meaningful college basketball played in the northeast where football has no presence is kidding themselves. Many teams in the big East are building multi million practice facility's I guess those are going to go to waste.

CBS is not going to let March madness go by the wayside. The whole allure of the tournament is a lot of people rooting for the cinderella to beat the top seeded teams. you can be sure with all the greed of the P 5 schools. If they could have cut out the other leagues they would have already done it.

 

[PatrickRU92]

I am sure you are aware these teams already have a huge advantage money wise and exposure wise. Like I have said over and over anyone who thinks there will be no meaningful college basketball played in the northeast where football has no presence is kidding themselves. Many teams in the big East are building multi million practice facility's I guess those are going to go to waste.

CBS is not going to let March madness go by the wayside. The whole allure of the tournament is a lot of people rooting for the cinderella to beat the top seeded teams. you can be sure with all the greed of the P 5 schools. If they could have cut out the other leagues they would have already done it.

I see. So is the BE considered Cinderella?

 

[ecojew]

I see. So is the BE considered Cinderella?

It used to be considered the "Goliath" so "Cinderella" would seem to represent a significant loss of status. Perhaps, for the time being, the BE schools were able to negotiate a decent TV contract for basketball, but that is still a lot less than the old contracts which included football. And the conference no longer receives any BCS payouts for the BCS bowls, some of which went to cover the cost of operating league championship events.

UConn bball may benefit from going back to the BE but its football program will whither on the vine as an independent or as a MAC member. And CT has invested in building that stadium specifically to enhance the Huskies' football program. UConn's fans had grown accustomed to their football team playing a major league schedule in the BE but that no longer exists as a football conference. Till the ACC is forced to make a move, their best alternative is clearly the B12.

Looking at the B12 situation, with no "home run" candidates out there, UConn might be rather appealing, especially if the conference decides to add 4 schools rather than just 2. If you consider the list of serious candidates (i.e., not including the Arkansas States of the world), UConn looks pretty good, especially from the perspective of evaluating the total institution, as the B1G did with us. Its advantages:

1. a flagship state university possibly on the verge of AAU membership
2. championship women's bball and strong men's bball
3. an entire state (larger than Kansas, Iowa, + WVa, about equal to Oklahoma) as its TV market, which it need share with no one
4. a "name" advantage over city schools (Cincy, Memphis, Houston) or directional public schools (UCF, USF, ECU) that are among the candidates for membership.

IMHO, only BYU brings more to the table, but they carry with them some pretty big issues.

UConn's major shortcomings:

1. distance from most of the conference members
2. a relatively small stadium, not located on campus. But it is larger than Tulane's, and the same size as Cincy's expanded stadium and Houston's new one, and only 5000 seats smaller than UCF's.
3. it adds virtually nothing to the B12's recruiting base, the way RU and UMd have for the B1G.

I am certainly no UConn fan but I can entirely relate to what their fans are going thru being on the outside looking in. I clearly recall how we all felt prior to the lifesaving offer coming from the B1G.

 

[friar10]

The Big East is certainly no cinderella. I was speaking in terms of the smaller leagues when talking about that.

You like to talk about all the money the football conferences will be getting. Well I think it would be quite naive to not realize they will also be paying out tons of money for lawsuits in regards to concussion related issues.

 

[PatrickRU92]

The Big East is certainly no cinderella. I was speaking in terms of the smaller leagues when talking about that.

.

I see. So what does your statement about "CBS is not going to get rid of Cinderella" (not verbatim, I know) have to do with this thread? Of course there will always be cinderellas in the NCAA. I would even think that many people would consider THE Nova's terrific year as Cinderella-like, or no?

 

[RutgersDon]

B12 will go to 12 from 10
.BYU appears to have 7 of the 8 votes needed for membership.
'WVU is holding out for UCINN
.UCINN will be replaced by UMASS(200 million dollar expansion of facilities) in the AAC
.Possibly Witchita State will move into the western part of the AAC for all sports other than football(Navy football only)
AAC is the best G5 conference

 

[Upstream]

I see. So what does your statement about "CBS is not going to get rid of Cinderella" (not verbatim, I know) have to do with this thread? Of course there will always be cinderellas in the NCAA. I would even think that many people would consider THE Nova's terrific year as Cinderella-like, or no?

I was one of the people who expected the BE to fade from major to midmajor status in BB. But Villanova's performance this year has certainly ended that (or at least stalled that for a while). Right now the BE, as a basketball league, has to be considered one of the 6 major BB conferences along with the other P5 conferences.

I still think it will be hard for the BE to compete financially with the other P5 conference. But it is a lot easier to run a quality BB program on the cheap than a quality football program on the cheap. So it is possible that the BE could maintain its major status for the next decade or longer, even with lower overall revenues. It could go either way, so it would be premature to predict the demise of the BE at this time.

That said, UConn moving all sports except FB to the BE would be a move that would condemn their football program.

 

[friar10]

I see. So what does your statement about "CBS is not going to get rid of Cinderella" (not verbatim, I know) have to do with this thread? Of course there will always be cinderellas in the NCAA. I would even think that many people would consider THE Nova's terrific year as Cinderella-like, or no?

Not sure how you can say a 2 seed is a cinderella. It's not even like it was a fluke they got the 2 seed since they were a one last year. I would say George Mason when they went to the Final four more of a Cinderella. As far as what I was talking about with CBS I thought you were one of those people that is trying to say the P 5 was going to bolt and have their own tournament.

 

[srru86]

Many teams in the big East are building multi million practice facility's I guess those are going to go to waste.

Doesn't prove anything for the long run. Look around the country is full of sports venues of various sorts that are underused or abandoned. Sure most are minor leagues, but MLB baseball parks in Florida? Various hockey arenas in the South?

CBS is not going to let March madness go by the wayside. You can be sure with all the greed of the P 5 schools. If they could have cut out the other leagues they would have already done it.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. The smart ones, like Delany have a very long range view and plan. It is a very secondary issue of course but once football realignment settles down I don't think you can assume they won't want to cut out the Little Sisters of the Poor schools from the March Madness payday.

The whole allure of the tournament is a lot of people rooting for the cinderella to beat the top seeded teams.

Cinderella is cute, but hugely overblown. Is anybody actually paying their provider to see regular season Gonzaga or Wichita State games? People pay to see P5 games all season long. If folks had to choose between watching a tourney with Alabama, Florida, Ohio State and Michigan, or one with Villanova, Georgetown, George Mason and Temple, which draws more eyeballs?

 

[TDIrish27]

If I was the Big 12 I would take BYU , Houston , Cincy and either UConn or UCF as football only members if I was committed to expanding-----which I'm not sure they are.

Their TV deal gets them a ton more revenue if they take 4.

ESPN and Fox Sports are anti them taking 4 because they will have to pay more.

They signed a bad contract plain and simple.

 

[G- RUnit]

It used to be considered the "Goliath" so "Cinderella" would seem to represent a significant loss of status. Perhaps, for the time being, the BE schools were able to negotiate a decent TV contract for basketball, but that is still a lot less than the old contracts which included football. And the conference no longer receives any BCS payouts for the BCS bowls, some of which went to cover the cost of operating league championship events.

UConn bball may benefit from going back to the BE but its football program will whither on the vine as an independent or as a MAC member. And CT has invested in building that stadium specifically to enhance the Huskies' football program. UConn's fans had grown accustomed to their football team playing a major league schedule in the BE but that no longer exists as a football conference. Till the ACC is forced to make a move, their best alternative is clearly the B12.

Looking at the B12 situation, with no "home run" candidates out there, UConn might be rather appealing, especially if the conference decides to add 4 schools rather than just 2. If you consider the list of serious candidates (i.e., not including the Arkansas States of the world), UConn looks pretty good, especially from the perspective of evaluating the total institution, as the B1G did with us. Its advantages:

1. a flagship state university possibly on the verge of AAU membership
2. championship women's bball and strong men's bball
3. an entire state (larger than Kansas, Iowa, + WVa, about equal to Oklahoma) as its TV market, which it need share with no one
4. a "name" advantage over city schools (Cincy, Memphis, Houston) or directional public schools (UCF, USF, ECU) that are among the candidates for membership.

IMHO, only BYU brings more to the table, but they carry with them some pretty big issues.

UConn's major shortcomings:

1. distance from most of the conference members
2. a relatively small stadium, not located on campus. But it is larger than Tulane's, and the same size as Cincy's expanded stadium and Houston's new one, and only 5000 seats smaller than UCF's.
3. it adds virtually nothing to the B12's recruiting base, the way RU and UMd have for the B1G.

I am certainly no UConn but I can entirely relate to what their fans are going thru being on the outside looking in. I clearly recall how we all felt prior to the lifesaving offer coming from the B1G.

Always think the directional schools joke is so old and just not true. USC, UCLA, Cal Berkly, Northwestern, Just a silly reason to chastize other schools.

 

[ecojew]

Always think the directional schools joke is so old and just not true. USC, UCLA, Cal Berkly, Northwestern, Just a silly reason to chastize other schools.

The schools you mentioned are well established major universities; at least 3 are AAU members (not sure about USC). The schools I referred to in my post are mostly newer public regional universities that don't have the history of a USC or Northwestern, which are private schools.

I wasn't chastising anyone. I personally hold USF and UCF in high regard and hope that they end up in a better place. My comments reflected the fact that, within their state, they are viewed as the 4th and 5th schools, where athletics is concerned, behind UF, FSU, and Miami. Believe me, I root for USF and UCF every time they play one of Florida's "big 3," especially when it's the 'Canes they are playing! But I do believe that UConn holds an edge over them in terms of "name" along with its other advantages that I noted.

 

[friar10]

Doesn't prove anything for the long run. Look around the country is full of sports venues of various sorts that are underused or abandoned. Sure most are minor leagues, but MLB baseball parks in Florida? Various hockey arenas in the South?


I wouldn't be so sure of that. The smart ones, like Delany have a very long range view and plan. It is a very secondary issue of course but once football realignment settles down I don't think you can assume they won't want to cut out the Little Sisters of the Poor schools from the March Madness payday.



Cinderella is cute, but hugely overblown. Is anybody actually paying their provider to see regular season Gonzaga or Wichita State games? People pay to see P5 games all season long. If folks had to choose between watching a tourney with Alabama, Florida, Ohio State and Michigan, or one with Villanova, Georgetown, George Mason and Temple, which draws more eyeballs?

Never going to happen your talking about cutting about 200 schools out of the process all their fans and Alumni. Plus some major markets like Boston and New York where no P 5 football resides that's a lot of money lost.

 

[Virginiarufan]

Uconn would definitely add to a currently depleted Big East. Outside of Georgetown and Villanova there are no "Name" schools in that league and even Nova is questionable. That's not to say there aren't teams that rise up for a few years like Xavier or Butler for example. It would be good for both Uconn and the Big East.

As for Uconn football, they never accomplished anything deserving of P-5 consideration. They play in a small stadium 25 miles from campus to sparse crowds. They can't compete in the AAC! How the hell are they going to win in a power league? Uconn would be much better off dropping to FCS level play because they bring nothing to the table. If the B12 expands it has to be with Cinn as a travel partner for WVU and a school closer to their footprint. The other school should be Houston or BYU both with much better resumes than Uconn.

 

[ru8081]

If I were the Big East I'd make them sign an agreement that there football team would have to stay at FCS level. The Big East is not desperate, they can get what they want.

 

[SHUSource]

Cinderella is cute, but hugely overblown. Is anybody actually paying their provider to see regular season Gonzaga or Wichita State games? People pay to see P5 games all season long. If folks had to choose between watching a tourney with Alabama, Florida, Ohio State and Michigan, or one with Villanova, Georgetown, George Mason and Temple, which draws more eyeballs?

A four team tourney in the first two weeks of January with Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, and Michigan would be a spectacular way to settle the national football championship, but it's not drawing any super-sized audience in March. In March, people love the unexpected, and the presence of George Mason and Temple are natural points of interest, as are traditional powers like Villanova and Georgetown. Those four schools would also secure huge regional audiences as well, with all four either in or strongly associated with major cities/population centers.

Most are not paying their provider to see Gonzaga or Wichita State specifically, nor would they pay to see P5 games if they had a true choice to itemize their channel selection. But they don't; no major cable providers structure their choices that way.

 

[SHUSource]

I'm sure you are aware of the $ and TV expsosure that the B1G members are going to be getting shortly. The Pac12's TV contracts are pretty amazing too and the SEC owns ESPN.

Of course, the vast majority of those dollars are/will be funneled directly back into football, especially at schools where they will always struggle to keep up with the elite programs. The Big East receives a fraction of what the Big Ten schools will get, for example, but they can also then pour that all into basketball, which costs much, much less to operate successfully. So really, the Big East schools won't be operating from that much of a disadvantage from their P5 basketball counterparts.

Also, there will continue to be those kids who simply prefer to play at schools where their sport is the top sport, and the Big East gives the that context. For every kid who is seduced by a great football weekend (and I can understand why that would be influential to a kid - I would've eaten it up myself), there is another who loves the idea of playing in the pro arenas where their NBA idols ply their trade, and knowing that their sport is the center of the sports world at their school.

With each new year, the memories of the all-powerful, latter day old Big East means less and less to recruits, but as long as teams can continue to perform well and remain relevant (and winning a national championship is a pretty good way to do it), the Big East brand will remain strong. So with all that dedicated TV revenue, and the talent continuing to flow to those ten campuses (per any recruiting rankings, it certainly is), you are indeed seeing national selection at work. There isn't any reason for the league to simply fade away, even over time. Only the purposeful exclusion of non P5 conferences from the NCAA tournament would accomplish that, and I think the cooler, wiser heads would understand they'd be losing the very heart of what makes March Madness such a cultural touchstone, so I don't worry too much about that.