Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big East

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Baywave1
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by Baywave1 »

UConn got AAC Northeast media attention. Army could generate the same as noted by JMac but that is it. Upon reflection I guess more and more that AAC may stick with 11 teams for football if the prime suspects (Army and BYU) say no to invites.

I've also seen a few comments that suggest that AAC enter a scheduling agreement with Army and BYU in exchange for access to AAC bowl games. It's worked for ACC with ND but the latter meanwhile participates in all other conference sports. AAC surely is only interested in either of those schools for football only. Obvious response from AAC could simply be join the conference if you (BYU or Army) want access to our bowl schedule.

Meanwhile this 27 month notice for withdrawing from AAC will be an interesting sticking point. Most commentators seem to believe the AAC will reduce it down to 12 months to salvage football RPI since UConn is now so bad but again who knows?


At least we have something to kick around while we wait for FIU game.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by charlamange8 »

I'd like to throw my $.02 in...I think the AAC has 3 paths here...

1) Take ODU (Norfolk, Virginia market) solid basketball, decent albeit c-usa football.

2) Take Army FB only & VCU all sports...Army football has, and will always have a national following and VCU is good at basketball. Also having Navy and Army in the same conference, with both usually being seen as a
"P5 equivalent opponent" by the other P5 conferences you upgrade the pedigree of the AAC.

3) Stand pat in football and add VCU in basketball, VCU basketball will get you the Richmond, VA market.

A couple of longshots to consider:

Add Air Force, BSU, BYU, CSU and SDSU; go to 16 team conference with four scheduling pods. You play the four teams in your pod every year and rotate the other 3 in football. At this point we are truly a P6 and can demand a seat at the table and no one would be able to say otherwise.

Pods
POD1 - SDSU, BSU, CSU & BYU
POD2 - Air Force, Tulsa, SMU, Houston
POD3 - Tulane, Memphis, UCF, USF
POD4 - Navy, ECU, Temple, Cincy

Pod format cuts down on travel costs, and builds rivalries. Top two records out of the PODS meets in the championship. Also this could work with two pods...


Add BYU for Football only and VCU for all sports...increases football brand, d&*n the travel, and basketball brand as well.

If we had to add a c-usa/SB program I think 1st - ODU, 2nd - Georgia Southern, 3rd - Marshall, distant 4th usm
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by GreenieBacker »

My vote would be to stick with 11 members and let the market come to us. Can’t see going down the BSU/BYU Rabbit Hole again, Army has no MBB program worth mentioning and doesn’t excite our fan base, pretty much all the CUSA schools are train wrecks of one kind or another. Except for the FU schools in Florida where we already have a strong presence and both schools seem serious about football and have made strong hires at HC. Personally I don’t think I can stand Kiffen long term but FIU ticks off most of the boxes for me. That would be my choice if told by our ESPN Masters we had to grow back to 12 schools.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by long green »

There is nothing bad about USM that isn't much worse about GA Southern. And Marshall and ODU, if you ask me. If the suggestions here match reality, stand pat is a slam dunk.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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Marshall should never be considered --
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by AO Sig »

sr wrote:Marshall should never be considered --
Roller and I agree; too many fans that are either evidence of the perils of inbreeding, or are evidence of evolution (as in missing links) among their fans
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by NJwave »

I don’t think there is a great football answer. However, we aren’t exactly losing a football powerhouse. It would be nice to at least mitigate the basketball loss some. VCU, St. Louis and Davidson have all had success in the past. Georgia State has the capability of improving in all sports, but Hunter left for a reason. Unless we lure a Gonzaga for basketball or Boise State for football any addition probably won’t move the needle.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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I say the AAC hold a public interview process asking all CUSA and SB to give them a pitch only to announce that we aren't expanding
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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Seriously Army would be a good fit but dealing with the Army-Navy game at the end of the year complicates way to much. UMass would be almost an even trade, right. Colorado State would be my pick. Just land them in the west and move us or Memphis to the east. CSU is one o the only state schools out there that doesn't have a glass ceiling.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by gerryb323 »

Colorado State, Nevada or UNLV
Wandering around somewhere in a matchup zone
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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gerryb323 wrote:Colorado State, Nevada or UNLV
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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gerryb323 wrote:Colorado State, Nevada or UNLV
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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Fair factual analysis from UConn beat writer about specific effects of move. However perspective matters: if he were in the Southeast, he'd be panicking about football and baseball. Since he is northeast, he emphasizes how great the BE change will be for MBB, WBB (and other minor sports), Husky fans and the athletic department bottom line (of course only after that pesky little problem about paying the AAC exit fee and the BE entry fee is solved.)


I hope he enjoys reporting on the UConn home-and-home football games with NMSU and Liberty and moving to a one-bid baseball league while playing popsicle ball until mid-April.

https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-hu ... story.html
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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Baywave1 wrote:I hope he enjoys reporting on the UConn home-and-home football games with NMSU and Liberty and moving to a one-bid baseball league while playing popsicle ball until mid-April.

https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-hu ... story.html
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by angrywavedad »

Why wouldn’t sportswriters based in the northeast covering a school that is in New England care more about a grand basketball tradition than a non-existent football one, not to mention long-standing rivalries with half a dozen schools within driving distance.
This is a no-brainer for UConn and their fans. Best of luck to them.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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angrywavedad wrote:Why wouldn’t sportswriters based in the northeast covering a school that is in New England care more about a grand basketball tradition than a non-existent football one, not to mention long-standing rivalries with half a dozen schools within driving distance.
This is a no-brainer for UConn and their fans. Best of luck to them.
For the same reason Syracuse keeps plugging away. Money.

My wife is a UCONN grad. I lived in Hartford while she was going to law school there.

From a purely myopic POV I get what the writer is saying but he conveniently forgets the machinations UCONN went through to fight the NIMBYs to build a football stadium in 2000 because even then they knew football was the key to long term athletic department viability. It was the battle for East Hartford. Maybe MBB/WBB might displace football in the 22nd century once all the helicopter parents switch their kids to full body armor plating playing only soccer, but that’s not the landscape we live in. They have admitted defeat, will turn Pratt & Whitney Stadium over to Sun Belt level football and be lucky to outdraw soccer.

As for a grand basketball tradition, UCONN is a come lately in the grand scheme of things. I remember when the UCONN players practiced in the Hartford JCC. Calhoun retired and the old Big East is no more. The 1980s aren’t coming back. Auriema will eventually retire or die from stress. Even at its best, UCONN WBB averages 10k a game and football at its worst is 20k a game. The Hartford Courant summarized things well a year ago: https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-wo ... story.html

I get why they want to go back to epic Big East basketball but that’s like us complaining about leaving the SEC. What this moves says to me is that UCONN is writing off its 20 year experiment with big boy football. They may blame being in the Northeast with not as much interest but Syracuse seems to be viable enough with football.

I say bon voyage, UCONN. Your heart was never in it. Maybe lacrosse will fill Pratt & Whitney Stadium once in a while.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by NJwave »

Their national appeal is drastically overstated. A very good program with a recent national championship, but they aren’t even close to being a Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky. Heck, Memphis will have more national appeal this year. They have not dominated the AAC. While the Big East is good, it is not the ACC or Big Ten. They have recruited well but it has not translated to on court success in the last few years. I’m not sure the minor sports are better in the Big East either despite the author’s contention. Outside of Villanova basketball, does the Big East have a national title in any sport?

Basically, they renew rivalries with Villanova, St. John’s and Seton Hall which will help their home attendance and give up any chance at football prominence.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by Baywave1 »

For a different perspective than the Pollyanna at the Hartford Courant, here is The Athletic's take:

"Now the program is currently homeless, with its future options either unknown — would Conference USA accept UConn as a football-only member? — or not viable (independence). The school’s, and the state’s, gamble to go all-in on football has reared its ugly head, and no one knows what comes next."


As concerns the AAC, the writer ably summarizes all the alternatives stated above. But in short he finds it meh that UConn is leaving.

"The AAC will withstand the loss of UConn, and it may even become an opportunity for growth if the league wants a replacement."

That should really be the wake up alarm to UConn and presumably its new old best BE friends. It ain't no big deal what you do.


https://theathletic.com/1042603/2019/06 ... -football/

Behind a paywall.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by GreenieBacker »

UConn made the decision to go back to being a basketball school and essentially abandon football. Which is their right. I just think that if thee is no clear football first school out there (that can also add to basketball and baseball) we should just stand pat at 11.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by Baywave1 »

Baywave1 wrote:
tulaneoutlaw wrote:Why would navy stop Boise joining? Travel costs?
Just my guess about Navy but Gladchuck went publicly ballistic over BSU's tactics on its BE departure and Chet is still there. His reaction by any definition was not "collegial." I couldn't quickly find articles to support my memory but perhaps others recall this and can search better than I can.

Look I'm not on Chuck's speed-dial so this is simply my off the wall speculation but still Gladchuck's comments at the time (I do trust my memory BTW) were so blunt that I simply don't see kiss-and-forget about it. But again who knows?

In short Gladchuck questioned BSU asking for disproportionate conference TV payments (which MW approved after BE/AAC rejected it) while Navy negotiated keeping Army game receipts out of BE/AAC conference bucket (for at least a few years.) Never claimed these folks were consistent.

So at minimum for BSU to join, it would have to accept "standard" conference equal revenue splits. Again just my off the wall predicting.
Chris Vannini quotes Gladchuck extensively via Twitter today. Doesn't sound like much water has gone under the bridge in five years but I guess door is slightly open for BSU since Gladchuck doesn't mention vetoing it directly. He clearly will never vote for a special deal for it.

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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by Poseidon »

Anybody else here kinda wanting to say bon voyage to Navy as well. Go to 10 with two 5 team divisions playing 7 conference games and make it a rule to play 3 out of conference games a against P5 opponents. That would help our SOS and legitimize the unbeatens we produce.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by GSx »

BYU is the only team worth pursuing. They have a brand. Maybe a couple of MWC teams like front range Colo State and Air Force but that's about it.
ULL and La Tech would never get anywhere near close enough for Tulane to have to even try to block them.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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GSx wrote:BYU is the only team worth pursuing. They have a brand. Maybe a couple of MWC teams like front range Colo State and Air Force but that's about it.
ULL and La Tech would never get anywhere near close enough for Tulane to have to even try to block them.
My problem with ULL and la tech is the same I have with UAB, Ga State, and many other state schools. They can be run really well athletically and still have a thick glass ceiling from the Alabama, LSU, Georgia, etc. Having too much political power. Col St, USAFA, and only a handful of other schools not P5 are really in charge of their own destiny. Uconn's problems are because they made poor coaching hires. Pasqualoni and Diaco were bad hires 20/20. They were in a decent place when edsLl left. We as Tulane fans know this all too well.
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

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Strongest argument for BYU joining AAC comes from Deseret News. Why does that matter? It's owned by LDS like BYU. When the house organ for management is saying it makes sense, then BYU execs may actually be considering this (although it's still a long shot.)


Why? As author explains in detail, as independent BYU has no route to NY Day Bowls.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... ships.html

I think AAC stays at 11 but....
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Re: Looks like UConn is leaving and going back to the Big Ea

Post by NJwave »

BYU is a logistical nightmare for every sport but football. Besides the expensive travel, schedules have to be completely revamped. For example, the conference baseball and basketball finals could no longer be played on a Sunday. Weekend baseball series would either be Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Saturday with a doubleheader one of the two days. Any rain and almost no way to a squeeze a full series in.

I don’t want to violate forum rules so I’ll just say there might be other issues that arise as well.

Basically, they only work for football and be prepared for some public backlash.
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