Some interesting points raised here. Not sure I'm qualified enough to make an expert opinion, but seems like consensus is Louisville is top job, Memphis and UCONN strong second/third. Cinci is lacking in facilities, but with tradition and fanbase ranks 4th. Temple seems to be favorite for 5, but Houston, SMU, and UCF can make cases for that spot as well.

(01-31-2014 08:56 PM)franzeal Wrote:  Temple does not suck this year, and your fans aren't helping. They're very close to good (which I hope you know); things are not black and white.

We allow nearly 77 points per game. We've allowed 80+ points 8 times. We've scored 80+ 6 times. Our defense absolutely stinks. I'm not sure how it's the fans' fault our coach cant recruit and cant even fill a roster.

I think if you are comparing basketball programs the top 5 are
Louisville
UConn
Memphis
Cinncinati
Temple

Those teams have had by far more success than any of the other programs

(01-31-2014 07:46 PM)KnoxTiger Wrote:  I'll put Temple at number 5.

It is a good job. Very little turnover. We've had something like 4 coaches over that last 50 years. Edit: Make that 61 years.

Interestingly if you go by NCAA tourney record
1Louisville 70-40
2. UConn 52-29
3. Cincinnati 43-26
4. Temple 33-31
5. Houston 26-24
6. Memphis 19-19
7. Tulsa 12-14
8. SMU 10-12
9. Rutgers 5-7
10. Tulane 3-3
11. USF 2-3
12. ECU 0-2
13 UCF 0-4

(01-31-2014 09:24 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  I think if you are comparing basketball programs the top 5 are
Louisville
UConn
Memphis
Cinncinati
Temple

Those teams have had by far more success than any of the other programs

I took it as comparing coaching jobs, not programs. At least in terms of salaries, Ollie gets $7 million over 5 yrs, Pastner gets $15-$18 million over 7.

Then again, Ollie's only in his 2nd yr I believe, and if he's successful it will be renegotiated upwards.

Edit--has Pitino given any indication when he might think of retirement?

(01-31-2014 08:07 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  1. Louisville- Top salary, largest fan base, best arena, absolute commitment from AD (For the next few months, then move everyone up one)
2. Memphis- Great city fan support, good salary, close 2nd arena in FedEx Forum, excellent in-city recruiting
3. UConn- Good salary, argument for #2 but I feel the truly dedicated fan base is smaller than Memphis, arena situation falls behind top two
4. Cincy- Rates better historically but lack of resources for basketball facilities currently hurts. Fan base starting to regain form but still not close to Huggins days due to a minority that illogically never accept anyone but Bob.
5. Temple- Historically strong. Not sure about salary but Philly is good basketball town and not a lot of better options to be honest.

You're underestimating UConn's fanbase.

UConn makes $25m a year in licensing. No other team in the AAC comes close to that. Louisville makes more in ticket sales. But the total amount that UConn makes from advertising with its coaches shows, Tier 3, etc., shows that the 3.5m residents of the state hold UConn as a top draw. Even the women will be the most highly rated show on television, network or cable. 3.5m is a really big fanbase for TV, bigger than Ville's.

(01-31-2014 09:36 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 09:24 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  I think if you are comparing basketball programs the top 5 are
Louisville
UConn
Memphis
Cinncinati
Temple

Those teams have had by far more success than any of the other programs

I took it as comparing coaching jobs, not programs. At least in terms of salaries, Ollie gets $7 million over 5 yrs, Pastner gets $15-$18 million over 7.

Then again, Ollie's only in his 2nd yr I believe, and if he's successful it will be renegotiated upwards.

If you go by salaries the top 5 I listed might be reorder but I believe it would be still the same five unless SMU is paying Brown a lot

(01-31-2014 08:24 PM)Knights_of_UCF Wrote:  1. Louisville - tons of money, fans, and heading to ACC
2. Memphis - perennial power, huge fan base, unlimited bball money, even at the expense of football
3. Uconn - See memphis. Rated memphis higher due to fed ex
4. Cinci - perennial top 25 contender.
5. Temple based on history, and willingness to win
6. SMU/UCF SMU has tons of $$$$$ for coaches, budget, recruits, etc.
8. USF
9. Houston
10. Rutgers

To the smu poster who thinks their facilities are better than UCF....just no. I know Moody just got a makeover, but really the only thing thats better about the arena than UCFs is the jumbo tron.

I sometimes wonder if you all ever look at the actual budgets.

(01-31-2014 09:39 PM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 08:24 PM)Knights_of_UCF Wrote:  1. Louisville - tons of money, fans, and heading to ACC
2. Memphis - perennial power, huge fan base, unlimited bball money, even at the expense of football
3. Uconn - See memphis. Rated memphis higher due to fed ex
4. Cinci - perennial top 25 contender.
5. Temple based on history, and willingness to win
6. SMU/UCF SMU has tons of $$$$$ for coaches, budget, recruits, etc.
8. USF
9. Houston
10. Rutgers

To the smu poster who thinks their facilities are better than UCF....just no. I know Moody just got a makeover, but really the only thing thats better about the arena than UCFs is the jumbo tron.

I sometimes wonder if you all ever look at the actual budgets.

I will next year now that memphis is on a level playing field. Uconn was getting BCS money the last decade while memphis was in CUSA making pennies.

(01-31-2014 07:50 PM)GrayBeard Wrote:  1. SMU -- Will pay huge money and you don't have to give a chit (See June)
2. Tulane -- Anyone know who their coach is?
3. ECU -- Limited pressure

what is wrong with our fans

(01-31-2014 09:39 PM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 08:24 PM)Knights_of_UCF Wrote:  1. Louisville - tons of money, fans, and heading to ACC
2. Memphis - perennial power, huge fan base, unlimited bball money, even at the expense of football
3. Uconn - See memphis. Rated memphis higher due to fed ex
4. Cinci - perennial top 25 contender.
5. Temple based on history, and willingness to win
6. SMU/UCF SMU has tons of $$$$$ for coaches, budget, recruits, etc.
8. USF
9. Houston
10. Rutgers

To the smu poster who thinks their facilities are better than UCF....just no. I know Moody just got a makeover, but really the only thing thats better about the arena than UCFs is the jumbo tron.

I sometimes wonder if you all ever look at the actual budgets.

Interesting comment.

UConn's overall athletic budget is almost 40% larger than Memphis' budget.

With non-allocated funds, it's hard to tell from federal filings what the actual revenue is for an individual sport, but the men's basketball budgets are closer than the overall athletic budgets; but upstater's point is well taken. The funds are available for UConn to spend what it wants to in hoops.

(01-31-2014 09:21 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  We allow nearly 77 points per game. We've allowed 80+ points 8 times. We've scored 80+ 6 times. Our defense absolutely stinks. I'm not sure how it's the fans' fault our coach cant recruit and cant even fill a roster.

I'm sure your fan's unwavering support will help the situation.[/sarcasm] Your team is better than their record, and that's despite their current roster situation (which I don't know or care about the details of). That coach and those players deserve a better show of support, but that's my opinion.

(01-31-2014 09:35 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  Interestingly if you go by NCAA tourney record
1Louisville 70-40
2. UConn 52-29
3. Cincinnati 43-26
4. Temple 33-31
5. Houston 26-24
6. Memphis 19-19
7. Tulsa 12-14
8. SMU 10-12
9. Rutgers 5-7
10. Tulane 3-3
11. USF 2-3
12. ECU 0-2
13 UCF 0-4

Our actual NCAA record is 36-25. The NCAA decided to punish us to make up for not punishing Duke and Kentucky and Kansas, among others.

(01-31-2014 10:55 PM)franzeal Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 09:21 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  We allow nearly 77 points per game. We've allowed 80+ points 8 times. We've scored 80+ 6 times. Our defense absolutely stinks. I'm not sure how it's the fans' fault our coach cant recruit and cant even fill a roster.

I'm sure your fan's unwavering support will help the situation.[/sarcasm] Your team is better than their record, and that's despite their current roster situation (which I don't know or care about the details of). That coach and those players deserve a better show of support, but that's my opinion.

I think you are giving fans too much credit.

(01-31-2014 11:31 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 09:35 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  Interestingly if you go by NCAA tourney record
1Louisville 70-40
2. UConn 52-29
3. Cincinnati 43-26
4. Temple 33-31
5. Houston 26-24
6. Memphis 19-19
7. Tulsa 12-14
8. SMU 10-12
9. Rutgers 5-7
10. Tulane 3-3
11. USF 2-3
12. ECU 0-2
13 UCF 0-4

Our actual NCAA record is 36-25. The NCAA decided to punish us to make up for not punishing Duke and Kentucky and Kansas, among others.

The games were played. They count to me.

Mostly agree...my last one is different.

1. UL
2. UCONN
3. Memphis
4. UC
5. Houston

(01-31-2014 09:37 PM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 08:07 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  1. Louisville- Top salary, largest fan base, best arena, absolute commitment from AD (For the next few months, then move everyone up one)
2. Memphis- Great city fan support, good salary, close 2nd arena in FedEx Forum, excellent in-city recruiting
3. UConn- Good salary, argument for #2 but I feel the truly dedicated fan base is smaller than Memphis, arena situation falls behind top two
4. Cincy- Rates better historically but lack of resources for basketball facilities currently hurts. Fan base starting to regain form but still not close to Huggins days due to a minority that illogically never accept anyone but Bob.
5. Temple- Historically strong. Not sure about salary but Philly is good basketball town and not a lot of better options to be honest.

You're underestimating UConn's fanbase.

UConn makes $25m a year in licensing. No other team in the AAC comes close to that. Louisville makes more in ticket sales. But the total amount that UConn makes from advertising with its coaches shows, Tier 3, etc., shows that the 3.5m residents of the state hold UConn as a top draw. Even the women will be the most highly rated show on television, network or cable. 3.5m is a really big fanbase for TV, bigger than Ville's.

As I mentioned I think #2 & #3 can be debated but I stand by my comment on the fan base and it's not new from me, I've said the same in previous years on this board. UConn's attendance is unimpressive to me. I used the term dedicated fan base. If we're claiming all 3.5 million people in the state as UConn fans, why don't they come to games?

I've discussed it before so I know numbers in prior years were equally low, but UConn only has 77% capacity at home this year for the 11 games at XL/Gampel with no weather impact. I'm fully excluding the Temple game because my point stands even without the outlier.

UConn on the year is filling up home games at 88% capacity for Florida/Stanford/AAC teams, taking into account where the games were played (4 Gampel, 1 XL). Against less desirable opponents you only have 69% capacity. For comparison, UofL is at 98% capacity for AAC games (21,750), and despite not having any great non-conference home games averaged 94% for the 9 non-league games.

I fully realize it's impossible for UConn to compare to the raw attendance totals of UofL, Syracuse, Memphis, UK etc due to arena size. The question is why UConn can't come close to filling their arenas consistently even with the reduced seating capacity? For a program with 3 titles in the last 15 years, filling 69% of seats when the opponent is a low/mid major says there aren't enough fans willing to come to just see the home team like you have with more dedicated fan bases elsewhere.

The good news for Temple is that it really doesn't matter where we are listed because our coaches never seem to leave

Going forward to 2014:

1. UConn - Stronger historically then #2
2. Memphis - Better arena situation then #3
3. Cincinnati
4. Temple
5. SMU