bill dazzle
Craft beer and urban living enthusiast
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I Root For: Vandy/Memphis/DePaul/UNC
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RE: Should Cincy join UConn in the Big East?
(07-02-2019 11:35 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: (07-02-2019 08:16 PM)bill dazzle Wrote: (07-02-2019 03:10 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: (07-02-2019 02:43 PM)colohank Wrote: There has to be more than a common interest and competency in one major sport to sustain a conference. Ideally, an affiliation would also comprise a group of like-minded peer institutions which share a distinct geography. Though its basketball history and aspirations align with those of other NBE members and the school is situated within the existing footprint, UConn is a cultural outlier -- a public state flagship in a flotilla of small, private, and largely catholic universities.
UConn was in bed with many of those schools before and chose divorce. It'll be interesting to see how a second marriage to the same partners works out.
Cincinnati is an even bigger public research university. There's no way it would or should be aligned with the NBE. We'll continue, however, to enjoy the annual Crosstown Shootout or whatever it's called.
UConn did not leave the basketball schools; the C7 decided to leave the football schools, then purchased the Big East name and branding. UConn remained in what was, legally, Big East Football.
UConn, by itself, is a cultural outlier no matter conference it ultimately belongs to (BE/AAC/B1G/ACC/etc.); it is not really in the same grouping at Syracuse/BC/Rutgers only because those institutions have had D1/FBS football for a significantly longer duration of time. The interesting thing about institutional-fit for UConn is there are very few institutions like it. It has a $450 million endowment with 30,000 students and a top-60 national ranking. In the B1G, they would be the second smallest university, only to Northwestern (a private school). They would have, by a substantial margin, the lowest endowment in the entire league (where all the B1G schools have endowments in the billions). If you look at the ACC, they would also have the smallest endowment by a significant margin. Since there are a number of private institutions in the ACC, their enrollment numbers would actually be very similar. But, again, their football program lacks history, sustained success and the football-block (Clemson, FSU, Miami, VT, etc.) would most definitely have blocked them long-term. The fact that they have little-to-no football history is another huge barrier. If you look within the American, many of the schools are metropolitan universities, with a mixture of private/public schools with one lone additional Northeast institution (Temple). Regionally and endowment-wise, the University of Delaware has double the endowment that UConn has, and even the University of Vermont has a greater endowment (but, both schools have fewer students). Both schools are also also top-100 national universities - but neither have the brand or reputation that UConn does.
In the Big East, UConn now belongs to the top non-football conference in the country, which much better aligns with the long-term goals and objectives of its athletic department, and shares membership with a number of geographic and historical rivals. Additionally, much like the C7, UConn now gets to control its own destiny and future with athletics, not letting other conferences and institutions dictate its direction.
UConn may not be a Private school, but it is very much a like-minded fit within the Big East (and a much better fit than it was in the American); it is basketball-focused, with a strong NE presence and was a founding member of the league 40 years ago (as a non-football member).
An extremely well-thought and written post. I agree with about 95 percent of this. And rarely do I agree to that extent with a post of this number of points. Well done, GW11.
But this line made me take pause:
"UConn now belongs to the top non-football conference in the country."
How does one define "top non-football conference"?
I would think that many folks who know their stuff might contend the Big West is every bit as "top non-football league" as the Big East. The Big West offers significant baseball, Olympic sports, academic prestige, enrollments and endowments.
I'm not suggesting the Big West IS the "top non-football conference" in the nation. But I will not let my bias toward the Big East (which I am biased toward and admit) blind me to the noteworthy elements of the Big West.
You are known to be a bit overly pro-Big East so I have to note this. Having said this, you do a fine job of giving other leagues credit and you might appreciate my respect for Marquette. But I call it like it is and try to do so respectfully. Your one comment seemed a bit excessive.
But, again, a well made post overall. And I'm with you.
Appreciate the kind words, Bill.
The Big East being labeled the top non-football conference in the country comes from the financial value placed upon it by the market, as well as its national exposure from the main networks. No other non-football conference comes close to its television payouts or even exposure on national television. You reference the Big West, which is a strong non-football conference as well - winning multiple national championships in sports like volleyball, baseball, softball and soccer. However, despite this success, the Big West is not earning multi-millions per member in television payouts annually, nor to they get the same type of exposure that the Big East does. Additionally, no other non-football league has revenue-sport scheduling agreements with power conferences (B1G and Big 12).
Ah. This makes full sense.
Agree 100 percent.
Thanks for the clarification, GWII.
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