UConn escape plan - The Big East

[stever20]

I think the interesting thing would be if the Big East had not stuck together in 2005 but split at that point....

Football-
Pitt, WVU, Syracuse, Rutgers, presumably UConn
basketball-
Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St John's

the big questions-
1- where does ND go? My hunch is probably with football to keep bowl bids possible....
2- who else does the C5 add? DePaul and Marquette obviously. But after that? Xavier and Butler I think pretty good bets. #10 would have been real interesting. SLU smack dab in the Brad Soderburg era.
3- who else does the fb add? Cincy and Louisville obviously. USF I guess- gets them to 8/9. i'd guess Memphis would have been a lock to get them 9/10.

Just looking where we were back then- we were probably smart in sticking with the footballers at that point. Especially if Notre Dame had gone with the fb teams for other sports.

Boston College may have stuck it out then and gone with the Big East football schools instead of being the only northern school in a southern conference in joining the ACC.

Possible I suppose- but I seriously doubt it.

[NJRedman]

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.[/quote

No animosity whatsoever. Rutgers to many in New Jersey is a fallback option, not a first choice. They were never on my radar. When I was in high school Rutgers was always encouraged as a safety school, somewhere you knew you could go if you didn't get into or couldn't afford your top choices but did not want to go the county college route. Sorry, this is just the way it was. I went to a catholic high school geared toward college prep (about 98% of my class went on to college) so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

You and NJRedmen seem to have this vastly inflated view of Rutgers. I just do not see Rutgers on the same level as schools in the Big East, ACC, Big Ten and the like either athletically or academically. Rutgers to me is more on the level of a Temple or a UMass. Sorry, but Rutgers just does not hold much allure for me. They never seem to be happy with who they truly are and instead would like you to believe they are something they truly are not. Obviously they've been able to convince the two of you but I'm not buying what they are selling. I just don't see it.

Hahaha Dude, stop acting like Seton Hall is some academic bastion.

Rutgers is ranked #70 by US News. Stop acting like its a community college. Umass is #76 Temple is #121 Seton Hall is #126. Anything else you want to try and spin?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... ities/data

You can see them however you want but those conferences obviously think differently. Personally I see Seton Hall as an A-10 or Horizon league school.

[JOPO]

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.[/quote

No animosity whatsoever. Rutgers to many in New Jersey is a fallback option, not a first choice. They were never on my radar. When I was in high school Rutgers was always encouraged as a safety school, somewhere you knew you could go if you didn't get into or couldn't afford your top choices but did not want to go the county college route. Sorry, this is just the way it was. I went to a catholic high school geared toward college prep (about 98% of my class went on to college) so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

You and NJRedmen seem to have this vastly inflated view of Rutgers. I just do not see Rutgers on the same level as schools in the Big East, ACC, Big Ten and the like either athletically or academically. Rutgers to me is more on the level of a Temple or a UMass. Sorry, but Rutgers just does not hold much allure for me. They never seem to be happy with who they truly are and instead would like you to believe they are something they truly are not. Obviously they've been able to convince the two of you but I'm not buying what they are selling. I just don't see it.

Hahaha Dude, stop acting like Seton Hall is some academic bastion.

Rutgers is ranked #70 by US News. Stop acting like its a community college. Umass is #76 Temple is #121 Seton Hall is #126. Anything else you want to try and spin?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... ities/data

You can see them however you want but those conferences obviously think differently. Personally I see Seton Hall as an A-10 or Horizon league school.

Like Bill Marsh, I'm done with you. You just do not get it and each of your posts just gets more ridiculous. I'm beginning to think you are another of ncaaball's alter egos.

[billyjack]

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.[/quote

No animosity whatsoever. Rutgers to many in New Jersey is a fallback option, not a first choice. They were never on my radar. When I was in high school Rutgers was always encouraged as a safety school, somewhere you knew you could go if you didn't get into or couldn't afford your top choices but did not want to go the county college route. Sorry, this is just the way it was. I went to a catholic high school geared toward college prep (about 98% of my class went on to college) so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

You and NJRedmen seem to have this vastly inflated view of Rutgers. I just do not see Rutgers on the same level as schools in the Big East, ACC, Big Ten and the like either athletically or academically. Rutgers to me is more on the level of a Temple or a UMass. Sorry, but Rutgers just does not hold much allure for me. They never seem to be happy with who they truly are and instead would like you to believe they are something they truly are not. Obviously they've been able to convince the two of you but I'm not buying what they are selling. I just don't see it.

Hahaha Dude, stop acting like Seton Hall is some academic bastion.

Rutgers is ranked #70 by US News. Stop acting like its a community college. Umass is #76 Temple is #121 Seton Hall is #126. Anything else you want to try and spin?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... ities/data

You can see them however you want but those conferences obviously think differently. Personally I see Seton Hall as an A-10 or Horizon league school.

Yeah, why the over-the-top hostility towards anyone that criticizes Rutgers?

[ivet]

Why the hell are you guys arguing over Rutgers Merits? This is a discussion on UConn and the Big East....stay focused everyone!

[gosports1]

Why the hell are you guys arguing over Rutgers Merits? This is a discussion on UConn and the Big East....stay focused everyone!

what he said! Trash talk UConn's academics!

[GoldenWarrior11]

For those interested, below is the AAC conference attendance averages (per game) thus far. It's not as bad as everyone thinks... It's much, much worse.

AAC Attendance Averages:

1) Memphis: 13,921 (5 conf games)
2) UCONN: 13,316 (4) Includes 3 conf games played at XL Center in Hartford
3) Cinci: 9,854 (4)
4) SMU: 6,882 (4)
5) Temple: 5,767 (4)
6) Tulsa: 5,189 (3)
7) ECU: 4,565 (3)
8) UCF: 4,064 (5)
9) USF: 4,016 (4)
10) Tulane: 2,688 (5) Includes one conf game at downtown NBA Arena vs UM
11) Houston: 2,416 (3)

It is generally agreed that UConn is not going anywhere, which is fine - they want to push football to get into ACC/Big 10. However, it is clear that this move is severely hurting basketball. It is such a shame.

[stever20]

For those interested, below is the AAC conference attendance averages (per game) thus far. It's not as bad as everyone thinks... It's much, much worse.

AAC Attendance Averages:

1) Memphis: 13,921 (5 conf games)
2) UCONN: 13,316 (4) Includes 3 conf games played at XL Center in Hartford
3) Cinci: 9,854 (4)
4) SMU: 6,882 (4)
5) Temple: 5,767 (4)
6) Tulsa: 5,189 (3)
7) ECU: 4,565 (3)
8) UCF: 4,064 (5)
9) USF: 4,016 (4)
10) Tulane: 2,688 (5) Includes one conf game at downtown NBA Arena vs UM
11) Houston: 2,416 (3)

It is generally agreed that UConn is not going anywhere, which is fine - they want to push football to get into ACC/Big 10. However, it is clear that this move is severely hurting basketball. It is such a shame.

midseason attendance can be very misleading...
SMU for instance- 4 home games so far- USF, Memphis, ECU, and Houston. Remaining games- UCF, Cincy, UConn, Temple, Tulsa
Temple 4 home games- UCF, Tulsa, SMU, and USF. Remaining games- Tulane, Cincy, ECU, Houston, and UConn(2 top games left)
ECU- 3 home games- Tulane, Houston, Tulsa. Remaining games- Cincy, UCF, Memphis, USF, UConn, Temple(probably top 4 games left)

Even Uconn has games left with SMU and Memphis left at home.

What is hurting UConn more is the fact that they are 11-8 right now and 4-3 in the conference.

[butlerguy03]

It is generally agreed that UConn is not going anywhere, which is fine - they want to push football to get into ACC/Big 10. However, it is clear that this move is severely hurting basketball. It is such a shame.

Not that it matters to the whole idea of conference realignment, but UConn women's basketball is probably going to suffer even worse in the end.

[stever20]

It is generally agreed that UConn is not going anywhere, which is fine - they want to push football to get into ACC/Big 10. However, it is clear that this move is severely hurting basketball. It is such a shame.

Not that it matters to the whole idea of conference realignment, but UConn women's basketball is probably going to suffer even worse in the end.

2 things-
1- no matter where they went outside of getting in the ACC- they were going to lose. Big East and AAC COMBINED have 3 top 40 teams outside of UConn. AAC actually better than the Big East right now- 7 vs 9.
2- in women's basketball you can compete extremely well outside the big conference. Look at La Tech all those years.