Susan Herbst on Big East: ‘We See Intriguing Opportunities to be Unique

[husky99]

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-men/s...we-see-intriguing-opportunities-to-be-unique/

Intriguing is ku, unc aand IU

 

[sledog]

This must be national empty quote day.

 

[mcs333]

She needs to stay positive. Good for her. Keep it up.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Not sure what to make of that. I guess she has to say nice things about the conference we are currently in, but if she's not working her ass off to get out of the BE, then she's not doing her job.

 

[specialisthusky]

Not sure what to make of that. I guess she has to say nice things about the conference we are currently in, but if she's not working her ass off to get out of the BE, then she's not doing her job.

I'm starting to think she is not trying to get out of the BE and is perfectly comfortable in it.

 

[UCONNfan1]

I'm starting to think she is not trying to get out of the BE and is perfectly comfortable in it.

I'm not so sure about that. I have no inside knowledge one way or the other, but for many even more reasons unrelated to sports, the current BE is not a premier conference to be in. It seems it's just a matter of time, with Boise State backing out, before they lose the auto BCS berth, right? If that happens, it's a disaster for any teams left in the BE.

In all honesty, my comment was sort of tongue-in-cheek. I'm not sure there is anything she really can do. We have to hope that the Big 10/12 decide to expand and either decide they want UCONN, or poach from one of the other power conferences which will open the door for us...

 

[JellyBean]

She is a visionary. We should be ok with our conference make up over the years.

 

[Scot-e]

Her visions - if that is what they are - are looking more and more like excuses for failure as time goes by. Just MHO.

 

[CL82]

Hmn, I think I'd rather that she said "we see unique opportunities to be intriguing."

 

[Greathusky]

Ok call me stupid but I don't know what the hell she is saying.

 

[freescooter]

Unfortunately I don't think she is all that concerned with athletics. I could be reading this wrong, but I really think it is pretty low on her list of priorities and that she has much more of an "Ivy league" outlook...not that we should be in the Ivy league of course, but that athletics is a nice adjunct but as long as the boys and girls have a chnace to play, it doesn't much matter what league they're in.

 

[Waquoit]

Unfortunately I don't think she is all that concerned with athletics. I could be reading this wrong, but I really think it is pretty low on her list of priorities and that she has much more of an "Ivy league" outlook...not that we should be in the Ivy league of course, but that athletics is a nice adjunct but as long as the boys and girls have a chnace to play, it doesn't much matter what league they're in.

Of course she's concerned about athletics. But she knows UConn is screwed and she's making do.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

I find it very hard to believe that UConn has been ignored and that they will continue to be ignored. Certainly it is easy to lay all of this at the feet of our football program. And the dollars in football compared to basketball must be huge(I pay little or no attention to football at any level). Otherwise how the hell do you ignore this:

NCAA Titles:1999, 2004, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Final Four​

NCAA Final Fours:1999, 2004, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight​

NCAA Elite Eights:1964, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen​

NCAA Sweet 16s:1956, 1964, 1976, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament appearances​

NCAA Appearances:1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012​

Conference tournament champions​

Conference Tournament Champions:1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2011​

Conference regular season champions​

Conference Regular Season Champions(Big East from 1990):1941, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006​

Now all of the titles are not Big East titles but give me a freakin' break! And I don't want to hear any nonsense about our retired,Hall of Fame coach having made enemies in critical places. If that's the case, then this sport(college hoops) just isn't worth it anymore. Just my two cents(aka non-expert rambling ).

GO HUSKIES!!! BEAT DEPAUL!!!

 

[Cheddie]

She needs to stay positive. Good for her. Keep it up.

Agree. Bottom line the NBE is UConn's home at present. Doesn't do the school much good to publicly disparage it at the same time that Aresco is trying to beg TV $, even if Susan would jump to the ACC in a heartbeat.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Of course she's concerned about athletics. But she knows UConn is screwed and she's making do.

It's close to that. She's saying the politically correct thing, which is more or less her job. How many times have you heard a football coach say "my heart is in X, I have no interest in the Y job", only to have him sign with Y two days later.

The public face is one of "we're fine where we are", but you can bet your *ss she's working behind the scenes to make something happen.

 

[freescooter]

I find it very hard to believe that UConn has been ignored and that they will continue to be ignored. Certainly it is easy to lay all of this at the feet of our football program. And the dollars in football compared to basketball must be huge(I pay little or no attention to football at any level). Otherwise how the hell do you ignore this:

NCAA Titles:1999, 2004, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Final Four​

NCAA Final Fours:1999, 2004, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight​

NCAA Elite Eights:1964, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen​

NCAA Sweet 16s:1956, 1964, 1976, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011​

NCAA Tournament appearances​

NCAA Appearances:1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012​

Conference tournament champions​

Conference Tournament Champions:1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2011​

Conference regular season champions​

Conference Regular Season Champions(Big East from 1990):1941, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006​

Now all of the titles are not Big East titles but give me a freakin' break! And I don't want to hear any nonsense about our retired,Hall of Fame coach having made enemies in critical places. If that's the case, then this sport(college hoops) just isn't worth it anymore. Just my two cents(aka non-expert rambling ).

GO HUSKIES!!! BEAT DEPAUL!!!

Apparently you haven't been paying attention. Reality is that basketball success is nice as a complement but the ability to play big time football is the main factor. It is why BC, Virginia Tech and Miami left the Big East in 2003.It was why West Virginia left. it was why Pitt & Syracuse left. It is why Kansas, a place with a pretty good basketball tradition, was on the verge of being left at the altar when it looked like the B-12 would collapse a couple of years ago, and its why UConn is being left behind today. Schools aren't being added to conferences because of basketball any more than they are being added because of womens volleyball.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

In fact, my post made it very clear(despite my low to no interest in football) that I know what drives realignment. My point was(which is why I posted the info from Wikipedia re: hoops history) that an elite basketball program is vacillating between being totally ignored to being blatantly kicked to the curb as the result of all of this nonsense. IMO it is a shameful at best.

GO HUSKIES!!! BEAT DEPAUL!!!

 

[freescooter]

It isn't shameful. It isn't anything except a reflection of reality.

 

[Adios]

Our football program is already almost as much as the Carolina Hurricanes. Football program will continue to catch on here. Football was and is the country's pastime. Before baseball ever became labelled the pastime.

 

[TheChamps990411]

i cant believe that this has so much to do with football. look at duke for christs sake! they are clearly not a football school. uconn is not in the acc because someone didnt want us there. our football program is good enough to be in the acc.

 

[freescooter]

i cant believe that this has so much to do with football. look at duke for christs sake! they are clearly not a football school. uconn is not in the acc because someone didnt want us there. our football program is good enough to be in the acc.

Yes but here's the difference...Duke has been a member of the ACC since its earliest days. I think they were a founding member but I'm not 100% sure. Just like PC in the Big East which hasn't done much more than hold up the rest of the standings for a decade now, Duke doesn't have to be a football power. They are already in the club. As is Indiana, and Washington State and Kansas, and some others. We are not. So our football needs to be either good or have a history. We have no history, so we left with being good.

 

[CL82]

Yes but here's the difference...Duke has been a member of the ACC since its earliest days. I think they were a founding member but I'm not 100% sure. Just like PC in the Big East which hasn't done much more than hold up the rest of the standings for a decade now, Duke doesn't have to be a football power. They are already in the club. As is Indiana, and Washington State and Kansas, and some others. We are not. So our football needs to be either good or have a history. We have no history, so we left with being good.

I suggest that an additional difference is that Duke is incredibly effective at maintaining and marketing their brand. That's something we should look to emulate.