Who cares if Huskies stay in Big East?

If I remember correctly, Memphis with John Calipari played in a God-awful conference which they dominated and were on national TV all the time. Uconn is a brand--3 time champions. I could care less if we had no conference and played independently. If Uconn has the best players and play the best brand of basketball-nothing else would matter.


Now I hope the AD does the right thing and give Kevin Ollie a 5 year contract. While we do have two very nice players under lock and key, there is no doubt that K O is ham-stringed beyond that.

Ticket sales care. Syracuse and Louisville are a little different than Tulane and SMU.

Memphis has been successful with many, many local players. UConn has no such advantage.

Recruiting will get a lot harder. Kids wanted to play in the old Big East. The new Big East is an absolute train wreck that makes no sense.

anyone who understands the economics of athletic departments. Ours is about to be decimated.

This conference will be the Big East in name only. I cant even imagine how laughable the "Big East Tournament" is going to be at MSG with those teams.

Basketball we got Georgetown, Cincy and who else?? That is not very attractive.

+1

Gonzaga, Memphis, Butler (I'm sure I'm missing some) are the exceptions of college basketball. Those teams have spurts of success when they get some rare talent, but if anybody thinks we can consistently be at the level we have been for the past 20 years in the "new" Big East is borderline looney. Everything will be to a lesser degree: money, coaching, players, arenas, competition. It's simply an overall downgrade in every aspect.

I would include Temple & Xavier in that list as well. But the future is going to be about which bball programs adjust to realignment and there will be new winners & losers...But it's far from decided who will be in which category. Going to a "better" conference doesn't guarantee success (BC) and remaining in the BE won't define a schools potential to compete. I don't think Ed Cooley is going to be any less relentless on the trail because RU is gone, so why so much wine & cheese over here. VCU didn't wait for somebody to come crown there a$$es and rescue them?

While we're moaning about being left behind there are those hungry programs out there like Houston, SMU, Memphis, UCF, Providence, SJU, that are foaming at the mouth waiting to get their shot to dominate this league. No league going forward will have as many teams with apartment-sized "chips" on their collective shoulders trying to prove all the doubters wrong as the BE. That's the same perspective that turned the original BE into the BEast of cbb.

Getting into the ACC doesn't garentee anything, but it greatly adds to the several categories already mentioned. That's not really debatable. Ask yourselves one question: would you rather play the new teams heading into the big East in the near future, or Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Duke, North Carolina, Loiusville etc.? I bet I know where the big time recruits will want to go. We have spent years turning the Big East into what it is, and we have too big of a name to wait around 20 more years for these new members that may or may not turn into basketball schools. Maybe they will, maybe they won't but I know the big time teams I just named ALREADY ARE and they always will be.

How much have those benefits that the ACC provides meant for Wake, Miami, VT, GT, BC, Clemson, Virginia & to a lesser extent FSU & Maryland bball. A part of me really wants to post comments similar to yours, because there is truth in it. But what's not included in your post is that...A Choice Doesn't Exist right now. So either we feel down or we double down...I for doubling down, manning up & betting on our chances against any other program out there in any conference!

Love your optimism! Unfortunately, I don't share it.

As a fan, I don't want to see us go from being in a BCS powerhouse conference to being in a mid-major. There are many negatives, especially with the retirement of a Hall of Fame coach. There's too much transition. Calhoun built this program, but in the early years, he used to tell recruits, "look who you can play against". KO or whoever our future coach is won't have that card to play.

Love your honesty I just thinks its way too early in this new chapter of cbb to say who the new winners and losers will be. If conference affiliation was all that mattered Uconn could never have jumped past so many "blue bloods" over the bast 25 years...I'm looking at you UCLA.

Good points and you're right. Who knows what will happen? As a fan, I'm just a little antsy.

Me too But remember this...every conference now has teams one of the folowing categories now:

1. Happy about realignment & expects to benefit big time (Louisville, RU, TCU, all the incoming BE teams, the entire B12, conferences like the MAC)
2. Feeling like they lost out so far in realignment (FSU, Clemson, BYU, Current all-sport BE teams not leaving & some bball only BE schools)
3. Things have gotten a little worse (The entire SEC except the newcomers, B1G & ACC schools that care about football)
4. Things are a little better (ND)
5. Not much change (PAC12)

To turn that complex list into a winners/losers list is going to take time lol!

These are good points, but we aren't those teams. Those are lower tier teams for the most part and we are UCONN, and three time champ among many other accolades. We are just fans and I'm going to cheer whether we are in the ACC or the Mountain West but I would hate to see a school with as much clout and history get left behind in this conference realignment.