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This Temple season is a repeat of last year's. They won't even sniff the NIT.

Another down year so far for UConn and they're very likely not a tourney team again. I said years ago they were on the downfall and Stever acted like they were just unlucky with injuries. Well, they had everyone back healthy and still sucked, now some other guy got injured I think. Let's face it...this is a team with no identity in the AAC as a football-first school and their divorce from the Big East is killing their brand. Calhoun was also the reason for their prestige. Once he and his players were totally gone, Ollie's true coaching ability was revealed and it ain't anything special. SMU also lost...that's 3 losses now for them. Cincy got throttled by X. UConn is still down. You can go right down the line. Wichita State and Cincy are really the only 2 teams that have a decent shot of doing anything significant at least for now.

Now even ESPN is calling out UConn saying they don't belong in the AAC and are suffering outside of the Big East. It's hilarious reading the Boneyard. They used to say we suck, now they're beating the door down to get in here. They know their brand is being tarnished more and more everyday they remain in the AAC. Let em rot. Let them be the cautionary tale ESPN makes a 30 for 30 about.

MullinMayhem wrote:Now even ESPN is calling out UConn saying they don't belong in the AAC and are suffering outside of the Big East. It's hilarious reading the Boneyard. They used to say we suck, now they're beating the door down to get in here. They know their brand is being tarnished more and more everyday they remain in the AAC. Let em rot. Let them be the cautionary tale ESPN makes a 30 for 30 about.

Great, so ESPN is trying to sabotage us again by forcing the dead weight of the UConn carcass on us? Lol. Interesting that they're pushing this narrative. Only reason I can think of is they're betting against UConn's future value.

Funny thing is - I agree their value will continue to decline in the AAC. I also think a reunion with the Big East could revitalize them.

Well, think about ESPN's promotion of the AAC this way:

It is not in their best interest to promote them as a top conference (whether or not they are or not). They were able to pick apart the old Big East by funneling top programs to the ACC (Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame). They also got to have both Rutgers (B1G) and West Virginia (Big 12) leave due to the league falling apart. The C7 were not asked to leave by ESPN, but our decision was cemented the moment the conference invited Tulane and East Carolina. Since the football league was an absolute shell of its former self, its rights were able to be purchased for pennies on the dollar ($1.7 million to be exact).

The AAC's next contract is coming up for negotiation. Do you really think ESPN wants to give more money, when it is cutting back in talent and employees, and when subscribers are going down, to the American? Absolutely not. Maybe a slight bump in the $3-$4 million range, but that's it. ESPN wants to ensure that its valuable properties are maintained, followed by content fillers on its additional channels (this is where the AAC comes in). If the AAC doesn't want to play ball with ESPN, they can go to a Fox, or an NBC, or really think outside the box and try and go to Netflix or Amazon. That would be a conference killer, IMO. The C7 (NBE) at least had the brand, the history and the reputation to ensure its continuation and survival. The AAC is a collection of misfit toys (public/private, east coast/southeast/southwest, football/basketball) that is only together out of necessity, not choice.

If any of the AAC programs are able to showcase themselves as a power program, they will just orchestrate their move to an actual power conference. If the AAC does want to go to another carrier, ESPN can easily backfill with content with the MAC or Conference USA, who will gladly take the exposure and the $1.7 million per member currently being offered to each school. The P5 is already so far ahead in terms of TV dollars already earned, exposure and reputation over the G5, that is is literally impossible for the gap to be eliminated, much less closed. The 2010-2013 realignment cycle will be remembered as the period that cemented the have's from the have not's. Thankfully, we ended up on the right side of divide.

Who knows if UConn will ever return to the Big East. What I do know is that the Big East does not need UConn in order to be successful, and that - with UConn's recent downturn - it has allowed programs like SMU and Houston to rise. With UConn's consistent disappointments in football, they are now clearly behind a majority of AAC programs in football. This was the danger and the risk in UConn staying in this conference in 2013: if it wasn't successful on the field/court, it would give direct rise to the new programs - and lower it's own reputation and prestige.

Any negotiation to have UConn in the Big East would have to begin with UConn either dropping football or moving it to FCS level, while also signing off that they will never seek to go FBS again either. Have lawyers really box them in. Make an exit fee insanely high. If they want their basketball program brought back to life, they will have to be fully-committed to us. But they must give up on football and commit completely to the conference. If they say no to either, then have fun rotting. We are in a position to play hardball with them. We might just be their last safety raft to escape irrelevancy.

I think move #1 for UConn will be firing Ollie if the futility continues. Sad to move a NC alum coach to the curb but they have way too much talent on that team to be in the RPI mid 100’s. Watching them last night you got to see how undisciplined and disjointed they are. I never got the sense that they had a plan offensively or defensively.

But more years of FB losses, and slow realization that they will never have a seat at the big boy table will produce stress in Storrs. If the AAC continues its BB mediocrity, the steady BE drumbeat will certainly get much louder. Give up FB dillusions and I would welcome them back with open arms. Hate their fans but their program success historically is undeniable.

It's too late for UConn. They bring history but no current value to us. That window of opportunity has closed. Good luck to them.

Bring in anybody- st anthelm's sisters of the poor, St Thomas Aquinas (Div2), Grand Canyon, Rockhurst - anybody but UConn.
It's the same story as BC, Pitt, & S'cuse, leave the BE and their program goes south. Sorry to hear it, but decisions were made, they all have to live with the consequences.

The only 1 of the four I might consider rejoining us is Syracuse and they won't leave the ACC. Just too much cash on that table.

gtmoBlue wrote:It's too late for UConn. They bring history but no current value to us. That window of opportunity has closed. Good luck to them.
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About 4-5 years premature i think. But a few more years sucking in the AAC and they lose their luster and become a midmajor that was once upon a time, long ago a great program. At that point their addition would bring down the quality of the BE and the option might not exist for them.

The "option" for UConn or any public school for that matter, joining the Big East, only exists in fans heads. The Presidents are happy with things as they are. I've said many times before...Any new inclusions will be private schools. Why open the conference to a higher level of access and scrutiny if you don't need to?

We obviously in no way need UConn right now. Let them continue to fail until they drop football.

The worst thing possible would be for UConn to join for a few years, become the elite team like Nova is right now, and then be taken by the ACC.