(03-07-2016 10:33 AM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote: I don't think that was ever an option UConn gave serious consideration to, nor should they have honestly. The American may not be where they want to be, but it's still a step up from the other options on the table and is a platform upon which they can continue to build themselves into a program worthy of a P5 invite. Face it, nobody's going to go from C-USA to P5. Nor will they go from Big East to P5. Since the MWC isn't an option for UConn, the American is about the best they're able to do at the moment and thankfully for them, the American is this sort of "tweener" conference. Had UConn taken a step back, it would've been as stupid as it was devastating to their athletics.
Thinking it through
1. If UConn started moving towards a Big East/MAC arrangement, which was kicked around on these boards
2. MWC is going to react, offering UConn, Cincinnati, Houston and SMU to crush the AAC and claim the "tweener" claim for themselves.
MWC West: Hawaii, SDSU, SJSU, Fresno, UNLV, UNR, Boise State, USU
MWC East: Wyo, AFA, CSU, UMN, Houston, SMU, Cincy, UConn
3. That leaves Aresco with Temple, USF in the league, UCF on the way for 2013, Tulane and ECU (FB) on the way for 2014, and NAvy (FB) on the way for 2015. That's 4 full members, 2 football-onlies and maybe Tulsa on deck. I'm not sure where things go from here--does the Aresco League pluck USM, MArshall, Rice, Charlotte and ODU from CUSA, or does CUSA go to 20 with TEmple, USF and reclaim the defectors.
But the point is that UConn would have been in the best G5 league by a lot, and in a power (BCS) basketball conference.
Of course, they already burned bridges and bad blood with BC and the ACC, and this would have not endeared UConn to the rest of the AResco LEague schools, whether they ended up in the MWC or CUSA or the Aresco LEague.