Forbes: UConn should join Big East as hoops affiliate

[BEhomer]

I think UConn's FB will turn the corner and become more successful. BB will also be fine. Although the conference will be weaker without Louisville, UConn proved they can still get it done

I don't think one season proves anything. just like one season doesn't define BE. they have won mostly with BE(and Calhoun) recruits. it's not like they have stormed thru the regular season being ranked in the top 3 with roster full of MCD recruits.

what they proved was you win this tournament with strong guard play and you can still win without MCD AA but with experienced roster.

[BEwannabe]

I'm sure OBE ACC affiliates except BC are interested in UCONN being added but traditional ACC fans don't even like the new OBE affiliates but UCONN is an attractive target excluded supposedly by BC but BC can't have too much pull at this point - they're in a bigger shambles as Johnnies but it's both football and basketball. ACC might look at it this way though...if not us then maybe the B1G swoops in and gathers more of an NYC presence. At some point UCONN will be in B1G or ACC not Big East.

[GumbyDamnit!]

I think UConn's FB will turn the corner and become more successful. BB will also be fine. Although the conference will be weaker without Louisville, UConn proved they can still get it done

In this day of age, football in the northeast just doesn't mix. When was the last time there was a big time college football team in the northeast?

There is that little school Penn State that had a top flight FB program for decades. College FB is not totally dead in the Northeast.

I remember saying very early in the expansion debate to hold off for a couple years to see what happens to UCONN football. I believe BillMarsh was on board as well, but we got lambasted by those thinking that jumping back in bed with a FB school was the worst idea. THe problem that UCONN faces is that there will be a big boy table (SEC, B1G, BIG12, ACC, PAC12, etc) and then there will be teams that just don't make the cut. uCONN, Temple, Memphis can't keep losing millions of $ with aspirations of being big time, when they are funded by taxpayer money. At some point they have to change direction. I would much rather hold a couple spots for UCONN, Memphis, maybe even ND then to quickly add Dayton and Richmond types. Would love to see UCONN back in the fold.

This years tourney was yet again another reminder of how much fun the oBE was... UConn, Gtwn, Syr, L'ville, Nova all winning NC's as BE members. SJU, SHU, WVU, Marq., (right before membership) all FF teams in the past 30 years. That's a LOT of success spread around. Man I loved that conference.

[ChelseaFriar]

I think UConn's FB will turn the corner and become more successful. BB will also be fine. Although the conference will be weaker without Louisville, UConn proved they can still get it done

In this day of age, football in the northeast just doesn't mix. When was the last time there was a big time college football team in the northeast?

There is that little school Penn State that had a top flight FB program for decades. College FB is not totally dead in the Northeast.

I remember saying very early in the expansion debate to hold off for a couple years to see what happens to UCONN football. I believe BillMarsh was on board as well, but we got lambasted by those thinking that jumping back in bed with a FB school was the worst idea. THe problem that UCONN faces is that there will be a big boy table (SEC, B1G, BIG12, ACC, PAC12, etc) and then there will be teams that just don't make the cut. uCONN, Temple, Memphis can't keep losing millions of $ with aspirations of being big time, when they are funded by taxpayer money. At some point they have to change direction. I would much rather hold a couple spots for UCONN, Memphis, maybe even ND then to quickly add Dayton and Richmond types. Would love to see UCONN back in the fold.

This years tourney was yet again another reminder of how much fun the oBE was... UConn, Gtwn, Syr, L'ville, Nova all winning NC's as BE members. SJU, SHU, WVU, Marq., (right before membership) all FF teams in the past 30 years. That's a LOT of success spread around. Man I loved that conference.

PC also has a Final Four appearance in the past 30 years.

Penn State has always seemed to have more of a Midwest feel to it for me. Maybe it's the Big Ten affiliation.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Mea culpa Friar fans... That Friars FF run with Billy the Kid was one of the all time greats. That's what made that conf so great. So many different schools made impacts on the long term success of the conference. It wasn't like the ACC with Duke and UNC or the Big 12 with Kansas. Just about everyone got involved. Hoping the nBE can somehow figure out how to do it again.

[Bill Marsh]

Mea culpa Friar fans... That Friars FF run with Billy the Kid was one of the all time greats. That's what made that conf so great. So many different schools made impacts on the long term success of the conference. It wasn't like the ACC with Duke and UNC or the Big 12 with Kansas. Just about everyone got involved. Hoping the nBE can somehow figure out how to do it again.

Actually that's the history of college basketball in the Northeast. Whether you go back 50 years or 75 years, it's still the same old, same old dominating college basketball in other regions of the country - with only an occasional exception like the recently emerged Florida program in the SEC. Kentucky never had any competition in the SEC, Kansas never had any competition in the Big XII or in the old Big 8, and UCLA never had any competition in The PAC 8/10/12. In the ACC, it was always Carolina and Duke. That's why those programs could be som dominant.

The East produced a long list of national champions over the decades, but it was always someone different - Temple, LIU, Holy Cross, City College, LaSalle, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse, UConn. I'll even throw in Seton Hall since their 1953 NIT champs were every bit as deserving of being recognized as national champions as Indiana that year - perhaps more so.

Those teams combined for 13 national championships, which is more than UNC, Duke, & MD combined for in the ACC, more than Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas combined for in the SEC, more than Indiana, MSU, Michigan, OSU, and Wisc combined for in the Big Ten, way more than Kansas & Oklahoma State combined for in the Big 8/12, and as many as UCLA, AZ, and Cal combined for in the PAC. The difference is that it was always someone different in the East. The landscape has been constantly changing and evolving.

Let's hope that more national championships are in the offing for our region and that Big East schools are able to win their share.

[Michael in Raleigh]

Mea culpa Friar fans... That Friars FF run with Billy the Kid was one of the all time greats. That's what made that conf so great. So many different schools made impacts on the long term success of the conference. It wasn't like the ACC with Duke and UNC or the Big 12 with Kansas. Just about everyone got involved. Hoping the nBE can somehow figure out how to do it again.

Actually that's the history of college basketball in the Northeast. Whether you go back 50 years or 75 years, it's still the same old, same old dominating college basketball in other regions of the country - with only an occasional exception like the recently emerged Florida program in the SEC. Kentucky never had any competition in the SEC, Kansas never had any competition in the Big XII or in the old Big 8, and UCLA never had any competition in The PAC 8/10/12. In the ACC, it was always Carolina and Duke. That's why those programs could be som dominant.

The East produced a long list of national champions over the decades, but it was always someone different - Temple, LIU, Holy Cross, City College, LaSalle, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse, UConn. I'll even throw in Seton Hall since their 1953 NIT champs were every bit as deserving of being recognized as national champions as Indiana that year - perhaps more so.

Those teams combined for 13 national championships, which is more than UNC, Duke, & MD combined for in the ACC, more than Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas combined for in the SEC, more than Indiana, MSU, Michigan, OSU, and Wisc combined for in the Big Ten, way more than Kansas & Oklahoma State combined for in the Big 8/12, and as many as UCLA, AZ, and Cal combined for in the PAC. The difference is that it was always someone different in the East. The landscape has been constantly changing and evolving.

Let's hope that more national championships are in the offing for our region and that Big East schools are able to win their share.

ACC teams that won national championships while members of the ACC (i.e., including Maryland's '02 title but not Syracuse's or Louisville's) have not been just Carolina and Duke. Maryland won one, and NC State won two, '74 and '83. NCSU, before the mid-80's, was widely regarded as the #2 program in ACC hoops. Duke was solid before Coach K, but they kind of mixed in with UVA, Maryland, Wake Forest, and South Carolina.

I'm not trying to troll here. I just want to point out that the Big East is not the only league that ever had any depth. Wake Forest spent a lot of weeks at #1 in the Tim Duncan days. Georgia Tech was a top 15 program under Bobby Cremins and even made a surprise run to the NCG in '04 under Paul Hewitt. UVA was also at the top of the polls for quite a while in the Ralph Sampson era.

For the Big 12/ Big Eight, Kansas is the only bona fide blue blood, and quite possibly the only one known more for basketball than for football (whereas the ACC or the Big East had numerous teams fitting that description), but other programs have had strong histories, too. The '88 KU win over Oklahoma was a #6 seed beating the #1 in the nation Sooners. OU has made at least three FF appearances in my lifetime and at least 3 Elite 8's. Oklahoma State has been to the FF twice since 1990. Mizzou has been to the Elite 8 over and over. More recently, Iowa State has been really strong. This year, 7 of 10 teams made the field.

[LeMoyne00]

I think this talk of UCONN to the Big East benefits the Big East and FS1 more than it benefits UCONN.

I mean they're an FBS school in an FBS conference. Why would they give that up to come to this conference? The BCS and College Football Playoff Conference payouts virtually neutralizes the benefit of our television contract payout with less visibility. Plus, they'd have to give up more than $4-million a year over the length of their current television contract in payments from former Big East exit fees/NCAA units left to them by us; plus give up Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville money from football, basketball, and exit fees earned since we announced our departure in December 2012; give up their share of UCF's BCS Bowl winnings, and give up their share of earned American NCAA units which is more than the new Big East made going forward.

I don't think UCONN is going anywhere unless it is to a P5 conference - Football drives the major college program bus, they've invested a ton, I don't see them giving up now, waiting a year or two, paying $10-million plus in exit fees, just to play with a couple schools they may like to play in basketball, but can play OOC if they'd like, while completely sacrificing other programs of theirs - like football. Try selling out their 40,000 seat stadium playing Akron, Western Michigan, or James Madison - not happening.

[Michael in Raleigh]

I'm sure OBE ACC affiliates except BC are interested in UCONN being added but traditional ACC fans don't even like the new OBE affiliates but UCONN is an attractive target excluded supposedly by BC but BC can't have too much pull at this point - they're in a bigger shambles as Johnnies but it's both football and basketball. ACC might look at it this way though...if not us then maybe the B1G swoops in and gathers more of an NYC presence. At some point UCONN will be in B1G or ACC not Big East.

Nothing personal against BC. I think it's a great school in a great city which had a great start in football in the ACC. Even in basketball, it made the tournament championship the first year. But basketball is a shell of its former self. Football is meh. It is the least appealing ticket on almost any team's home schedule, now that Duke is respectable in football. It has not delivered the Boston market AT ALL. So, yes, I personally would prefer to have had UConn in the ACC over BC. But I don't want the ACC expanding anymore. 14 for football and 15 for everything else is big enough, maybe too big. Adding UConn would also require adding an additional school in order to keep balanced divisions, resulting in 17 schools overall. Sounds awful.

I think for fans of the Big East and of UConn, it would best if the Huskies could join the league. UConn fans would much, much rather play in the awesome Big East tournament in Madison Square Gardern than in some random city hundreds or even thousands of miles away. They like and probably grow to appreciate more and more playing Memphis, Cincinnati, Temple, and I suppose SMU. But they'd take basketball games against Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall. And of course Big East schools would love to have them back.

But UConn absolutely cannot alienate its football team by putting them in as an independent or as a Sun Belt or MAC FB-only member after having poured so many millions into the program. Of course the geography and lack of rivalries in the AAC sucks. But they HAVE to adjust to it. The quality of play, at least at the top, is fairly solid in basketball, and it's the best situation available for football.

As for the Big East's perspective (the schools, not just the fans), I don't see them even considering going down that road, even if UConn was interested. Once Syracuse and Pitt left, UConn was the one sentimental reason to stay in the old league, and they consciously chose to give that up. UConn, along with Cincinnati, was an open threat to leave, and they wanted away from that. That wouldn't change if UConn went to the Big East because they'd still clamor for the Big Ten, ACC, or even Big 12. Not to mention, as others have pointed out, the all-private Big East surely must enjoy not having any members subject to open records requests. Less drama in the media has probably made the university presidents happy.

More realistically, the Big East should target UConn for non-conference scheduling. Along with Syracuse, I imagine there are few schools that Big East schools would rather see as frequently as possible as UConn. I would think UConn would reciprocate, especially with the five schools along the east coast. They have so little history with teams in their conference that they must be craving games against the old gang.

[ChelseaFriar]

Most people with New England roots could have told the ACC that BC would not deliver the Boston market. Great city but awful college sports city.

They do love their Sox, Pats and Bruins though. College hockey moves the needle in Boston as well.

Friar fans have long enjoyed our "home" games in Conte Forum. Plenty of black & white in that arena on game day.

As for UConn, they want to be a major football program. They have zero interest in a conference without football as long as that dream is alive.

For the record, UConn has already turned down an offer from PC for a basketball home and home. It's too bad for PC, because we split games with them for the past decade. I'm sure Uconn would be more interested in games in NYC, Philly and DC for recruiting reasons.