Candid Coaches: Is it better for UConn to stay in the Big East or try to join the Big 12 or ACC?

[Greedo]

25% of them are now in the Big XII.

We would be on the outside looking in right now whether we stayed in the AAC or not. And if we had stayed we’d be stuck in an absolutely garbage conference at this point. Our independent football schedule is way better than the current AAC. Big East for bball is no contest.

 

[hank970]

"Toughing it out?" Be serious. We'd not only be stuck in the new all-misfits AAC for football, but also wouldn't be celebrating a fifth NC with AJax going to Cuse. And UConn would truly be irrelevant across the board.

That's possible. Or, you might have maintained some semblance of football respectability, fared just as well in basketball, and received an invitation to join the B12 at the expense of another AAC candidate -- one of those commuter schools with the inferior academics that UConn fans are so dismissive of. We'll never know.

 

[Greedo]

That's possible. Or, you might have maintained some semblance of football respectability, fared just as well in basketball, and received an invitation to join the B12 at the expense of another AAC candidate -- one of those commuter schools with the inferior academics that UConn fans are so dismissive of. We'll never know.

No, we know. Staying in the AAC would not have improved any program. Football would be in the same place as today. RE 2.0 still would have sent football into a complete death spiral. Only difference is Jim Mora may not have agreed to coach a team in the AAC, and we’d be stuck with some Bob Diaco retread.

Football would suck and the Big 12 would not want us. The same schools would have still gone.

 

[superjohn]

Nice argument, except UConn and Villanova are the only truly strong programs in the Northeast. A superstar kid from Maine is probably going to go to Duke. Meanwhile, our 5 star this year is from Georgia. Things have changed. It's all national now. Flory Bidunga, top 5 kid from Indiana, just announced for Kansas. In the past, IU would lock that kid up.

I'm not saying the American didn't hurt UConn, it did. Mostly because we had a bad coach and because our fans reacted badly, even though we never won the league. Houston had no trouble recruiting. UConn recruiting would be fine in any P4 conference.

If you don't see how UConn in the Big East is attractive to recruits you're lost. A superstar kid from Maine is deciding between Duke and UConn. Kansas has always pulled top kids from all over the country. Syracuse is a truly strong program.

 

[JeepCSC]

No, we know. Staying in the AAC would not have improved any program. Football would be in the same place as today. RE 2.0 still would have sent football into a complete death spiral. Only difference is Jim Mora may not have agreed to coach a team in the AAC, and we’d be stuck with some Bob Diaco retread.

Football would suck and the Big 12 would not want us. The same schools would have still gone.

Is the thought Mora was in love with the Independent schedule? I get the BE is better for parking basketball, but clearly winning football games in the AAC (even over bad teams) is not detrimental for making a case for the BXII.

It might have been right for UConn to leave the AAC, but it definitely isn’t a clear-cut issue on the football side. Particularly if the messaging people got out of it is that UConn is good to pair with Gonzaga.

 

[JohnFSilver]

That's possible. Or, you might have maintained some semblance of football respectability, fared just as well in basketball, and received an invitation to join the B12 at the expense of another AAC candidate -- one of those commuter schools with the inferior academics that UConn fans are so dismissive of. We'll never know.

I been around program for about 25 years. Yes. UConn didn’t perform. Even if they did. No one would care.

 

[Greedo]

Is the thought Mora was in love with the Independent schedule? I get the BE is better for parking basketball, but clearly winning football games in the AAC (even over bad teams) is not detrimental for making a case for the BXII.

It might have been right for UConn to leave the AAC, but it definitely isn’t a clear-cut issue on the football side. Particularly if the messaging people got out of it is that UConn is good to pair with Gonzaga.

I just think Mora would have seen the AAC as beneath him. But our schedule is also just better than the AAC. This season we have 4 Pwhatever schools. That wouldn’t be achievable without independence. It also matters for fan engagement. UConn fans just didn’t care about the teams in the AAC and attendance plummeted. Getting more Power schools and scheduling schools closer to home like UMass and BC gets more fans to care.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you don't see how UConn in the Big East is attractive to recruits you're lost. A superstar kid from Maine is deciding between Duke and UConn. Kansas has always pulled top kids from all over the country. Syracuse is a truly strong program.

The Big East isn't more attractive than the Power conferences. Nor less attractive, at the moment. Yes, a superstar kid from Maine is considering not joining the reigning national champion New England school that plays in the Big East. If it was that attractive, he'd be a UConn lock.

You have to go to #46 on this list to find a North East recruit going to a Big East school. Unless you count Solo from MD. The next one I see is Ducharme going to Xavier at #96. I'm not saying the Big East is a negative at all, just that it isn't more appealing than the power conferences.

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[Tampahusky]

When did we leave?

AAC times… that didn’t work out much did it?

 

[CL82]

That's possible. Or, you might have maintained some semblance of football respectability, fared just as well in basketball, and received an invitation to join the B12 at the expense of another AAC candidate -- one of those commuter schools with the inferior academics that UConn fans are so dismissive of. We'll never know.

Hank, you do realize that you are the only person on this board who talks about "inferior schools" "dismissively", right? I mean are you so unhappy with the school you attended? Did you feel that your education was inferior? Is that why you always focus on that point over and over again?

I hope your reply. I think talking it out will help you to feel better about yourself again. Oh, and I want you to know you are absolutely the best Hank 970 that you can be.

I hope that helps!

 

[Tampahusky]

All true. But it also won't be the PAC10. It'll still be a viable conference, albeit having to take a haircut $-wise. Still, it's more than UConn is making. And if it comes to the point where P4 becomes P3, it's probably better to be inside the P4 than outside.

Personally I’m not worried how much we make a year as a school, let school board figure out finances. All I know it feels real good right now to be in the Big East and on top of the basketball world.

 

[CL82]

Personally I’m not worried how much we make a year as a school, let school board figure out finances. All I know it feels real good right now to be in the Big East and on top of the basketball world.

School board?

 

[GotNets?]

Let's have a list of coaches and how they voted, please. It's hard enough in this environment to believe someone who looks you in the eye with their name tag on. The bottom line remains - football dies if we stay in the BE. Further, there will be a distinct and growing shortage of funds to operate our athletic department. The BE is fine for all the other members. But staying put there for UConn hurts the entire athletic department, not just football. Sure the BIG would be the grand slam option. We would just have to convince the BIG that we won't screw it up like Rutgers has. This is unlikely, however.

Other than that, I think even if we end up in a depleted ACC, we would be better off. No doubt FSU and Clemson want out of the ACC.
Their boards show disdain for the ACC given that it will pay them about $30mm less than Vanderbilt gets this year. They have 7 votes to terminate the ACC's GOR and they only need one more. There is rank bitterness at FSU, Clemson and others over the performance of some of our former conference mates. FSU and Clemson see the SEC members getting nearly double the conference payout than the ACC pays. So the ACC will be much different soon enough IMO. A reconstituted ACC can have the best BB in the country as well as a lower tier of football, but still profitable. I do think the prestige league of 28 teams (see thread herein) is possible, but more likely I see 18-20 member SEC and BIG conferences. That leaves a lot of teams on the outside looking in. If we are good at one thing, it is being on the outside looking in...

Who is the most likely candidate to be the 8th vote to cancel the grant of rights in the ACC? And who are the current 7 for that matter?
FSU
Clemson
Miami
UNC
UVA
NC State
VA Tech

Is that right? Would Dook go along?

 

[JeepCSC]

It’s pure internet speculation that 8 would dissolve the conference/GOR. Considering the threshold for inviting Stanford/Cal is 13, I imagine the actual threshold for dissolution is not 8.

 

[metsfan2323]

Only difference is Jim Mora may not have agreed to coach a team in the AAC, and we’d be stuck with some Bob Diaco retread.

There is no way Jim Mora came here because we are independent. Being independent was not a "step up" for football, that's just a delusion of some people on this board who think it makes us similar to Notre Dame.

 

[CL82]

There is no way Jim Mora came here because we are independent. Being independent was not a "step up" for football, that's just a delusion of some people on this board who think it makes us similar to Notre Dame.

I think people on the board have said that the schedule is better as an independent. I agree, although as consolidation keeps happening I wonder if we will be able to sustain it.

 

[metsfan2323]

I think people on the board have said that the schedule is better as an independent.

Is it really though or is that just fantasy. After this year our home schedule takes a dip and it stinks not competing in a conference and that will get amplified when the playoffs expand and we are not competing for the G5 auto bid.

For comparison, Temple's schedule this year is pretty solid:

Akron
@Rutgers
Norfolk State
Miami
@Tulsa
UTSA
@North Texas
SMU
@South Florida
Navy
@UAB
Memphis


and BTW UCONN's body bag games on the road against Clemson and Michigan were unwatchable.

 

[CL82]

Is it really though or is that just fantasy. After this year our home schedule takes a dip and it stinks not competing in a conference and that will get amplified when the playoffs expand and we are not competing for the G5 auto bid.

For comparison, Temple's schedule this year is pretty solid:

Akron
@Rutgers
Norfolk State
Miami
@Tulsa
UTSA
@North Texas
SMU
@South Florida
Navy
@UAB
Memphis


and BTW UCONN's body bag games on the road against Clemson and Michigan were unwatchable.

To be honest, I'd rather have our schedule this year.

 

[RioDog]

To be honest, I'd rather have our schedule this year.

Ditto that.

 

[Blades]

To be honest, I'd rather have our schedule this year.

Or probably this year below too. Rather than vs. what's left of the imploded AAC, or as Matt puts it vs. C-USA. But it is interesting how certain fans/writers like to cherry pick facts to make a flawed point, which this tweet isn't.

 

[JeepCSC]

The discussion is concerning AAC and Independence at the point you left right? At the point of leaving, you had OOC teams, Temple, Navy, and 3 bubbling powers in Houston, Cincy, and Central Florida. I get the coaching was crappy, and I get basketball needed a jolt and you had no idea when the next round of conference musical chairs would begin. But with hindsight, I think it would have been beneficial for UConn to wait one more cycle.

 

[History Geek]

....But with hindsight, I think it would have been beneficial for UConn to wait one more cycle.

Actually, that's what I thought when the news broke that we were headed to the Big East. Now with hindsight, indy football/Big East in most other sports was absolutely the right move. And not because it helped men's hoop win natty #5. The overall health of the entire AD is much better.

For now. The current setup will only be sustainable for a while longer. We need Px cash ASAP. We need to be sitting a seat at the grown-up table when CR music is reaching its crescendo. That's going to be in about 8-10 years I think.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

ESPN is now paying ACC schools for doing nothing. These linear deals are completely unsustainable for ESPN. If ESPN can't find a buyer for ESPN, there is a meaningful chance that Disney spins ESPN out with these terrible contracts, and ESPN just defaults on them.

Do any UConn fans think that playing for free in the ACC is a better solution than the Big East?

 

[noeynox]

ESPN is now paying ACC schools for doing nothing. These linear deals are completely unsustainable for ESPN. If ESPN can't find a buyer for ESPN, there is a meaningful chance that Disney spins ESPN out with these terrible contracts, and ESPN just defaults on them.

Do any UConn fans think that playing for free in the ACC is a better solution than the Big East?

CFB playoff money combined NCAA tournament money would probably be more than they get now.

But forget them ACC hates UConn its personal. Seriously fluck em.

 

[JohnFSilver]

ESPN is now paying ACC schools for doing nothing. These linear deals are completely unsustainable for ESPN. If ESPN can't find a buyer for ESPN, there is a meaningful chance that Disney spins ESPN out with these terrible contracts, and ESPN just defaults on them.

Do any UConn fans think that playing for free in the ACC is a better solution than the Big East?

No.UConn adds real value. I get that the value is locked, but the ACC even considering SMU is an abject joke.