Welcome Back, UConn Fans!

[TheBasketballOpinion]

Wonder how much of a say UConn has in who they play the H&H with?

Hopefully its Cincy and whoever else is relevant at the time. Being forced to play ECU/Tulane/Tulsa/SMU would be crucial and unusual punishment

[gtmoBlue]

Probably have a big say in who they play. Only 1 or 2 games annually, stretched out over 5-6 years.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Wonder how much of a say UConn has in who they play the H&H with?

Hopefully its Cincy and whoever else is relevant at the time. Being forced to play ECU/Tulane/Tulsa/SMU would be crucial and unusual punishment

The only thing worse would be if the games were to be on ESPN+...

[GoldenWarrior11]

AAC Fans:

"Psh! We don't need UConn - they drag our league down. GOOD RIDDANCE!"

(Signs up for home/home series with UConn as part of separation agreement)

"YES! That will help OOC and improve the perception of the league!"

[Husky_U]

AAC Fans:

"Psh! We don't need UConn - they drag our league down. GOOD RIDDANCE!"

(Signs up for home/home series with UConn as part of separation agreement)

"YES! That will help OOC and improve the perception of the league!"

I love the posts about VCU being an even exchange/upgrade over UCONN. The same way that St Mary's would be an upgrade over UCLA and Loyola-Chicago over Indiana.

[adoraz]

WHAT? The AAC wanted to schedule 4 more games with them? Never heard of that before. Did the ACC ask Maryland for that? Did the Big East ask Syracuse? I understand that teams individually schedule these former rivals (based on geography/history- like Georgetown/Syracuse), but the conference itself doing that is a bad look.

[adoraz]

I still see a lot of AAC fans saying that UConn isn't really a loss because they have been mediocre the last 3 years.

Interesting but very dangerous game. Let's just assume that winning titles 5 years ago or brand value means nothing. That's ancient history and UConn will never be a national contender again. All that matters is the future... and what is by far the #1 indicator of future success? Recruiting!

Let's look at the 247 rankings for 2019:
https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Baske ... mRankings/

AAC Top 2019 Classes:
#1 Memphis
#22 UConn
#41 Wichita St
#44 Cincinnati
#61 Houston
#69 SMU
#75 ECU
#86 UCF
#88 Tulsa
#96 Temple
#99 Tulane
#110 USF

This will be the AAC's best class in a long time. Definitely a solid class overall. Let's assume that ranking will correspond to NET ranking two years from now (when UConn joins the Big East). Now, is that a sensible 100% accurate expectation? Of course not. There are many other factors, such as the 2017/2018/2020 recruiting classes. I think people can see the argument I am trying to make, though, and given that the AAC has recruited better in 2019 than the prior two years, I think this is fair.

So, we'll have Memphis at #1 in the nation. That's excellent. They have an amazing incoming class, period. Theeeennn we have #22 UConn leaving... so Memphis is the only AP Top 25 team. #41 Wichita St and #44 Cincinnati make the Tournament (generally the cutoff is around #50), but nobody else does. So, they go from being a 4 bid league to a 3 bid, with only 1 team that's nationally relevant. Not that far off from the WCC.

(For those wondering, for 2019 the Big East has #4 Nova, #22 UConn, #25 Xavier, #32 DePaul and #53 Georgetown... which is only a minor advantage over the AAC. However, we also have far better classes for 2017/2018/2020.)

Again, obviously this does not paint the full picture. I am in no way predicting the outcome for 2020. I am simply stating that UConn has the second best recruiting class in a league that has only ONE other top 40 class. Downplaying their departure is ridiculous. You can't pretend only the current year matters and disregard all of their major accomplishments in the past AND future.

[BFieldHusky]

First of all, so happy to be here. Thank you to the Big East for inviting us back. Initially some of our football fans were reluctant, but most of them now see that we had to save basketball, and there may be a way to go independent and have success. Our basketball fans know this is a slam dunk.

I posted on the Boneyard that I have a source who says now that UConn is officially in the Big East for 2020-2021, and that the league will now have 20 conference games per team, that Fox will be sitting down with the conference to talk about adding more money to the TV deal. Have others heard this as well?

UConn will be a bubble team this year as Hurley transitions his recruits into the program. Word is that UConn may add a reclassify recruit in the next couple of weeks for this season, and are in good shape for a good 2020 class, especially since the Big East news has come up.

It is laughable how American fans think the leagues are on par with each other. There is no comparison.

[Husky_U]

Hello Friend.

[BFieldHusky]

Hello HuskyU. Nice to be here isn't it? Our American colleagues are not a huge fan of us right now lol.