(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 09:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  He was talking about schools that sponsor basketball programs. Cincy's the next-closest basketball-playing school in the AAC.

That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I grew up watching Georgetown vs St Johns Big East games before there was a ton of college basketball on tv...it was very rare in the early 80's unlike today with cable tv. Younger fans simply don't understand how college sports was before ESPN took over.
I first heard of UCONN in the 90's when Iowa beat them in a Hawaii tournament and afterwards people were telling us that Iowa pulled a huge upset!! We were all saying, "Who's UCONN?" Not derisive. We honestly didn't know who they were.

(04-13-2018 01:08 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I grew up watching Georgetown vs St Johns Big East games before there was a ton of college basketball on tv...it was very rare in the early 80's unlike today with cable tv. Younger fans simply don't understand how college sports was before ESPN took over.
I first heard of UCONN in the 90's when Iowa beat them in a Hawaii tournament and afterwards people were telling us that Iowa pulled a huge upset!! We were all saying, "Who's UCONN?" Not derisive. We honestly didn't know who they were.

If you think hoops in the early 80's was rare on TV, imagine what it was like in the 50's and 60's when I first started following the sport. Before the classic UCLA-Houston game in the Astrodome (I think around 1968) what there was was very local in scope. Love 'em or hate 'em, ESPN changed sports in a cosmic way.

I grew up without any college allegiances, since there really wasn't much in the way of big time sports in or near New Jersey. If you wanted to find the score of a UConn game in the papers (which was about the only way to find it) you had to look really hard. If the NY Times had it, it was given about the same coverage as the Slippery Rock game. No joke - for some unknown reason Slippery Rock had almost a cult like following in the area.

We lived in a different world then.

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 09:57 AM)Bogg Wrote:  He was talking about schools that sponsor basketball programs. Cincy's the next-closest basketball-playing school in the AAC.

That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

(04-13-2018 01:28 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:08 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I grew up watching Georgetown vs St Johns Big East games before there was a ton of college basketball on tv...it was very rare in the early 80's unlike today with cable tv. Younger fans simply don't understand how college sports was before ESPN took over.
I first heard of UCONN in the 90's when Iowa beat them in a Hawaii tournament and afterwards people were telling us that Iowa pulled a huge upset!! We were all saying, "Who's UCONN?" Not derisive. We honestly didn't know who they were.

If you think hoops in the early 80's was rare on TV, imagine what it was like in the 50's and 60's when I first started following the sport. Before the classic UCLA-Houston game in the Astrodome (I think around 1968) what there was was very local in scope. Love 'em or hate 'em, ESPN changed sports in a cosmic way.

I grew up without any college allegiances, since there really wasn't much in the way of big time sports in or near New Jersey. If you wanted to find the score of a UConn game in the papers (which was about the only way to find it) you had to look really hard. If the NY Times had it, it was given about the same coverage as the Slippery Rock game. No joke - for some unknown reason Slippery Rock had almost a cult like following in the area.

We lived in a different world then.

Fun fact: ESPN was actually originally created to cover the New England Whalers, Bristol Red Sox, and UConn Huskies. It was meant to be a Connecticut cable sports channel and it sort of exploded into something that nobody ever could have imagined at that time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ESPN#Origins

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

I'm sure you meant to say that the AAC is actually CUSA with a new name. That's not meant disparagingly. CUSA was a pretty respectable conference in its day.

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

The BE absolutely was a powerhouse in the late 80's. Six of nine teams in the league made the Final Four from 1985-89 and UCONN wasn't one of them. Let me know the next time a league has 67% of it's membership in the Final Four over a five year period. Five of those teams Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall remain in the BE today ( Syracuse was the other team). The Big East name is exactly where it belongs.

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"

Just because you're a founding member does not mean that you weren't gifted a golden ticket. My counterexample would be Northwestern.

However I wouldn't consider UCONN to be "gifted a golden ticket" in basketball. Yes it's true they were founding members alongside schools that had more resources and richer history, but UCONN had to work their asses off to make a name in Big East basketball.

With that said I think they were gifted a golden ticket in football. Has there ever been another example where a CFA/AQ/P5 league made an agreement with a DI-AA school to move up and join them? The only other I can think of is Villanova, but they didn't execute and if they had I'd say that's a golden ticket too.

(04-13-2018 01:57 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

I'm sure you meant to say that the AAC is actually CUSA with a new name. That's not meant disparagingly. CUSA was a pretty respectable conference in its day.

Exactly. We were all CUSA except for Uconn (big East) Navy (Indy, Patriot) Temple (A-10) and Wichita St (MVC)

(04-13-2018 02:10 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:57 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

I'm sure you meant to say that the AAC is actually CUSA with a new name. That's not meant disparagingly. CUSA was a pretty respectable conference in its day.

Exactly. We were all CUSA except for Uconn (big East) Navy (Indy, Patriot) Temple (A-10) and Wichita St (MVC)

So 25% of the league was never in CUSA. Then you also have to consider that only a couple of those teams never even shared a CUSA league with the some of the other AAC schools. For instance---SMU and Tulsa never spent a day sharing CUSA with Cincy and USF. Though its often chided for being the new CUSA--it really is a pretty new and unique league despite the liberal use of recycled parts.

I think all the poster was saying is that the old Big East corporate charter is actually held by the AAC---it just has a new name.

The AAC is technically the Big East Football league (not the entire conference).

The football-playing members of the old Big East, along with several other schools, formed the American Athletic Conference, which retains the old Big East's charter and structure. However, both conferences - the Big East and the AAC - claim 1979 as their founding date. As part of the separation agreement, the basketball schools were able to retain the basketball records while the football schools retained the football records respectively.

(04-13-2018 02:07 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"

Just because you're a founding member does not mean that you weren't gifted a golden ticket. My counterexample would be Northwestern.

However I wouldn't consider UCONN to be "gifted a golden ticket" in basketball. Yes it's true they were founding members alongside schools that had more resources and richer history, but UCONN had to work their asses off to make a name in Big East basketball.

With that said I think they were gifted a golden ticket in football. Has there ever been another example where a CFA/AQ/P5 league made an agreement with a DI-AA school to move up and join them? The only other I can think of is Villanova, but they didn't execute and if they had I'd say that's a golden ticket too.

Even in basketball, I don't think any member benefitted more from becoming a part of the Big East than UConn. Prior to that, they were strictly a New England school kind of lost in the sea of northeast hoops. For many years leading up to the BE, they played in the Yankee Conference, against Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. They fit well in that company, winning as often as anybody. But virtually unknown outside New England.

If Dave Gavitt had invited UMass instead of UConn, the Huskies might still be playing at that level. But he didn't, and eventually UConn capitalized on his decision. That's not a knock on UConn. Not everybody takes advantage when good fortune comes their way. UConn did, and that's to their credit.

Now their challenge is to make sure they don't fritter away the reputation they earned in the Big East. Now, as my mother in law was fond of saying, they need to bloom where they are planted and not waste effort trying to find another conference that will do for them what the Big East once did. IMO, they will only find such a conference once they stop looking so hard.

(04-13-2018 02:05 PM)hoops22 Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

The BE absolutely was a powerhouse in the late 80's. Six of nine teams in the league made the Final Four from 1985-89 and UCONN wasn't one of them. Let me know the next time a league has 67% of it's membership in the Final Four over a five year period. Five of those teams Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall remain in the BE today ( Syracuse was the other team). The Big East name is exactly where it belongs.

It is interesting to note that schools like Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, St John's, and Seton Hall all couldn't compete from the 90's to 2014 against schools like UConn, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia, etc. Now that those powerhouses are gone, Villanova is on fire again. The rest of the new Big East, though, is not nearly as good as the Big East was when it had the football schools nor as good as it was in the 1980's.

They can call it the Big East, but schools like Butler, Creighton, and Xavier are indicators that this isn't your father's Big East. Your papa's Big East was legit.

(04-13-2018 02:07 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"

Just because you're a founding member does not mean that you weren't gifted a golden ticket. My counterexample would be Northwestern.

However I wouldn't consider UCONN to be "gifted a golden ticket" in basketball. Yes it's true they were founding members alongside schools that had more resources and richer history, but UCONN had to work their asses off to make a name in Big East basketball.

With that said I think they were gifted a golden ticket in football. Has there ever been another example where a CFA/AQ/P5 league made an agreement with a DI-AA school to move up and join them? The only other I can think of is Villanova, but they didn't execute and if they had I'd say that's a golden ticket too.

UConn wasn't entirely given a golden ticket in football because it had earned its keep for the conference in basketball as a founding member. Sometimes you have to throw a school a bone if they are making you money.

That said, UConn football is a far cry from what is was a mere 8 years ago. We are lucky we got the call up as we aren't currently earning our keep in football for any FBS conference.

(04-13-2018 02:10 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:57 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

I'm sure you meant to say that the AAC is actually CUSA with a new name. That's not meant disparagingly. CUSA was a pretty respectable conference in its day.

Exactly. We were all CUSA except for Uconn (big East) Navy (Indy, Patriot) Temple (A-10) and Wichita St (MVC)

I don’t say it as an insult. The original CUSA was a strong conference and so was CUSA 2.0.....

(04-13-2018 03:46 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 02:05 PM)hoops22 Wrote:  

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect
3) The only school to win multiple national championships in the old Big East was UConn (Villanova's last two are in a league "called" the Big East, but the AAC is actually the old Big East with a new name)
4) Since we are out of the old Big East, I am worried that the next generation of fans will forget our past. However, the new Big East wouldn't guarantee anything. Look at Georgetown - they are also now a shell of their former selves.

The BE absolutely was a powerhouse in the late 80's. Six of nine teams in the league made the Final Four from 1985-89 and UCONN wasn't one of them. Let me know the next time a league has 67% of it's membership in the Final Four over a five year period. Five of those teams Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall remain in the BE today ( Syracuse was the other team). The Big East name is exactly where it belongs.

It is interesting to note that schools like Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, St John's, and Seton Hall all couldn't compete from the 90's to 2014 against schools like UConn, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia, etc. Now that those powerhouses are gone, Villanova is on fire again. The rest of the new Big East, though, is not nearly as good as the Big East was when it had the football schools nor as good as it was in the 1980's.

They can call it the Big East, but schools like Butler, Creighton, and Xavier are indicators that this isn't your father's Big East. Your papa's Big East was legit.

Yeah and of the six teams you mentioned, only Syracuse and W. Virginia made the tournament this year, while all three new teams in the current BE did, including No.1 seed Xavier. The league was better this year with the new teams then it would have been had everyone stayed. And I'm not trying to rub anything in, but if you take away the one year when you won with Calhoun's BE players, Xavier, Butler and Creighton have all been better then UCONN every single year since the split.

The whole "The AAC is actually the Big East, the NBE just bought a name" thing is dumb, and is mostly just insecurity coming from fans of the former football schools (and yes, UConn fans are the worst of the lot in this regard) caught off-guard by the fact that the conference didn't actually fall apart without them. For certain people it's tough when your "center of the universe" bubble gets popped. The current Big East took with it the Big East basketball history (legally speaking - they got the basketball records and the AAC got the football records) 7 of the 10 full members of the conference at that time, and all the trappings of "Big East Basketball" including the name and the tournament (which is really the single biggest piece of the conference identity). The AAC needed to technically retain the charter in order to keep the AQ bid to the tournament, which they wouldn't have been eligible for otherwise (and I believe there was a brief period where the C7 would have had the supermajority required to put the nuclear option on the table to threaten the new football schools with). The current Big East is still the Big East, just in a different form.

As far as a golden ticket, an invite to Big East Football wasn't a golden ticket at that point so much as a calculated gamble. UConn didn't upgrade football with the intent of spending eternity there, they knew as far back as the nineties that a split between the football and non-football schools was coming and UConn wagered on football hoping it would keep them playing basketball with Syracuse, BC, Pitt, etc rather than potentially winding up in an A10 equivalent. However, when choosing between remaining with the Big East football schools or the Big East basketball schools, I don't think they imagined that "Conference USA expands with UConn and Temple" was what was lurking behind door number 3. They made a wager, they (so far) lost, but at the time they upgraded it was known there was an expiration date on Big East football. It's more like a golden leg weight at this point.

(04-13-2018 05:00 PM)Bogg Wrote:  As far as a golden ticket, an invite to Big East Football wasn't a golden ticket at that point so much as a calculated gamble. UConn didn't upgrade football with the intent of spending eternity there, they knew as far back as the nineties that a split between the football and non-football schools was coming and UConn wagered on football hoping it would keep them playing basketball with Syracuse, BC, Pitt, etc rather than potentially winding up in an A10 equivalent. However, when choosing between remaining with the Big East football schools or the Big East basketball schools, I don't think they imagined that "Conference USA expands with UConn and Temple" was what was lurking behind door number 3. They made a wager, they (so far) lost, but at the time they upgraded it was known there was an expiration date on Big East football. It's more like a golden leg weight at this point.

A calculated gamble? UCONN had to go to Indy first, but their membership in an AQ league was guaranteed in October of 1997. To my knowledge DI-AA -> CFA/AQ/P5 has never happened in any other situation. Another golden ticket was the investment by the state of Connecticut. Rentschler Field cost $135M in 2018 dollars and $54M in 2018 dollars for the Burton Family Football Complex. Plus The Rent could have cost more if it wasn't for the third Golden Ticket: Pratt & Whitney donated the land. The state didn't foot the entire bill for UCONN's facilities, but it took a big portion (namely the entire stadium). That is unheard of. Particularly unheard of for a DI-AA program in transition. AQ Status and $200M in facilities investment is a GOLDEN TICKET.

I'm sorry you don't like the situation you're in now, but realize that UCONN could have had it a LOT worse.

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/nyreg...tball.html

(04-13-2018 05:30 PM)McKinney Wrote:  A calculated gamble? UCONN had to go to Indy first, but their membership in an AQ league was guaranteed in October of 1997. To my knowledge DI-AA -> CFA/AQ/P5 has never happened in any other situation. Another golden ticket was the investment by the state of Connecticut. Rentschler Field cost $135M in 2018 dollars and $54M in 2018 dollars for the Burton Family Football Complex. Plus The Rent could have cost more if it wasn't for the third Golden Ticket: Pratt & Whitney donated the land. The state didn't foot the entire bill for UCONN's facilities, but it took a big portion (namely the entire stadium). That is unheard of. Particularly unheard of for a DI-AA program in transition. AQ Status and $200M in facilities investment is a GOLDEN TICKET.

I'm sorry you don't like the situation you're in now, but realize that UCONN could have had it a LOT worse.

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/nyreg...tball.html

Again, all this was done knowing that the AQ league you keep referencing was going away and they'd have to make a move - it wasn't a golden ticket, it was a limited amount of runway. Buying a house you can't afford on an interest-only mortgage with a massive balloon payment that comes due ten years in doesn't mean your broker gifted you a mansion for cheap. Their "golden ticket" got them a bankrupt athletic department and a conference affiliation that's undesirable to the fans. It's not a golden ticket if you look back and go "Wow, they'd really have been better off if none of that had ever happened".

(04-13-2018 01:48 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-12-2018 02:00 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:41 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:34 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(04-11-2018 10:20 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  That's odd, I seem to remember ECU beating UConn in basketball

I seem to remember Radford beating Georgetown in basketball, too. What is your point?

My point is the previous poster trying to disparage ECU by making the joke that we don't sponsor basketball. Did you read the thread?

He's probably too young to remember that before the Big East gifted UConn with a golden ticket to that league nobody knew that UConn played basketball (or anything else) either. And he's probably afraid that now that they are out of the Big East, it won't be long before the next generation of fans won't know that they do now.

I love your analysis of me based on me merely pointing out that Georgetown choked to Radford. Anyway, I am not young, so let us look at the facts:

1) UConn was a founding member of the Big East. Nobody "gifted UConn with a golden ticket"
2) The Big East was really good in the 80's with solid seasons from most members (notably Georgetown's championship in 1984 and Villanova's in 1985). However, the Big East wasn't TRULY great until UConn came along in the 90's and started winning like crazy in the age of ESPN and national coverage. That is what earned the league its long-term respect

You are completely correct about (1). UConn was a founding member of the Big East, nobody gifted you anything, you were there at ground zero.

You are completely incorrect about (2). The "Golden Age" of the Big East was the 1980s, and the Big East was universally acknowledged as a great, top conference during that time. From 1982 - 1989, an eight year period, the Big East had 2 national titles, 4 national runner-ups, and 8 Final 4 appearances. That's humongous performance.

The 1990s were basically a fallow period, with only two Final 4 appearances for the conference the entire decade, Syracuse in 1996 and then UConn in 1999. But then the Big East went three seasons after that with no Final 4 teams. For 13 straight seasons, 1990 - 2002, the Big East had only two Final 4 appearances. FALLOW.

The conference then surged again, thanks in part to the expansion with football schools, and had another "Golden Age", from 2003-2012, capped by titles by Syracuse in 03, and UConn in 04 and 11, and Final 4 appearances by other schools (Georgetown, Villanova, UConn, WVU, Louisville).

But the notion that the Big East didn't hit its strike until UConn did is pure malarkey.

(04-13-2018 05:45 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Again, all this was done knowing that the AQ league you keep referencing was going away and they'd have to make a move - it wasn't a golden ticket, it was a limited amount of runway. Buying a house you can't afford on an interest-only mortgage with a massive balloon payment that comes due ten years in doesn't mean your broker gifted you a mansion for cheap. Their "golden ticket" got them a bankrupt athletic department and a conference affiliation that's undesirable to the fans. It's not a golden ticket if you look back and go "Wow, they'd really have been better off if none of that had ever happened".

Maybe it's a case of "the grass is always greener", but my guess is every team that's ever transitioned to FBS would've loved to be in UCONN's situation of $200M investment (at relatively low cost to the university) and AQ status (even in a dying league).

I don't know how it's bankrupted your department either. Unless I'm mistaken y'all had a decade of major conference football TV money and leased The Rent from the state for dirt cheap.

Y'all really think you'd be "better off" if none of that happened? You think you'd be better off if you were playing FCS football in that dump of a venue Memorial Stadium? Well but at least you'd be in Big East basketball!