POLL - UConn basketball: Good for the Big East or bad

[Piratz]

For the most part this thread contains many good points on both sides. Healthy debate sans the name calling and snide remarks is always an enjoyable read.

I have made my opinions clear but must admit the 70-30 split pro UConn surprised me a little. I thought it would be higher. More like min 80-20.

I do know most every media person and administrator at SHU that I have spoken to is strongly in favor of the move as it pertains to the Hall. But clearly the fan base, at least here doesn't share that same conviction.

I think a lot of the dissension is the perceived risk UCONN will flip the apple cart because the BE has built itself into a great, cohesive league with like-minded schools. Now comes the state behemoth with a football program... Deja vu?

The difference to me is UCONN’s football program is a program in name only. This is not like the caliber of FB programs of the old BE.

 

[hallgrad80]

One of the unknowns for the BE is the results of the NCAA investigation into UConn’s men’s basketball program which has been dragging on since UConn was notified of the investigation in January , 2018. That’s a year and a half ago and still no decision by the NCAA . I would hope that the BE has done its due diligence and has a complete understanding of what the facts are , what the violations are and what penalties may be levied by the NCAA . That information should be available from UConn as it hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation into the alleged violations and its findings were the basis for terminating Ollie for cause. The last thing the BE needs is being blindsided by headlines detailing serious violations by its newest member .

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

I don't want to increase revenues, I would want to increase gross profits. Start charging for minor sports comes with added expenses. With virtually no attendance now when it's free, that's a recipe for disaster.

Ok, then what’s your idea to increase gross profits? Bottom line is we need more money so what would you do to get that!?

 

[Halldan1]

We used to call this a real case of rabbit ears.

You make a PUNK statement you're going to get called out. Live with it or defend your comment.

 

[TomD82]

Perfect fit for the FCs league with Maine, Richmond, JMu etc....

Good point and don't forget Villanova football is in that league too. UConn must be in complete denial for football.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

Good point and don't forget Villanova football is in that league too. UConn must be in complete denial for football.

I would think they’d make even less and their attendance would tank even more as an independent in football. They’re apparently hemorrhaging money as it is now.

 

[TomD82]

Part of its charm.

From the Storrs campus:
30 miles to Hartford
50 to Providence
70 to Boston
140 to NYC

When in the old BE it was pointed out how something like 50,000 UConn alumni are within 3 hours of Storrs. My wife went to URI I have been there, Temple, games at Fordham and A10 tournaments. It is has been basically irrelevant that Temple and Fordham are located close to major cities. And nobody can say Temple is in a nice area compared to almost anywhere.

 

[TomD82]

Valid point. But, if you ask posters like radecicc with the current football of UConn and Rutgers they have to keep spending and wind up losing more. It's a race to the bottom and under Ash at RU some can say it is heading in that direction even with the financial support of the B1G.

 

[truth_KB]

When in the old BE it was pointed out how something like 50,000 UConn alumni are within 3 hours of Storrs. My wife went to URI I have been there, Temple, games at Fordham and A10 tournaments. It is has been basically irrelevant that Temple and Fordham are located close to major cities. And nobody can say Temple is in a nice area compared to almost anywhere.

Not looking to start an argument/fight; but maybe be a little more careful/current with your geography and Temple insights. My firm has made >$100 mm since 2012 by investing in the "Temple Turnaround" real estate process. North Philly has been one of the best real estate turnarounds in history. We bought streets for <30% of value that we are now probably going to flip for >500% of investment.

But I digress, with everything that these people are doing HSBE https://harrisblitzer.com/ in Philadelphia/Newark (our landlord at the Rock) , I think Temple would have been a better addition to our BE basketball than UConn. I have millennial kids and now some grand kids (which is why I am awake now), so I am probably discounting history; but perhaps there is something to be said about looking towards the future? Good night.

 

[statenman]

Dan,
It’s a bit much to assume that UConn will be a top 10 team again based on their history and annoying fans. They have a better chance now to make noise, but they had the opportunity to dominate the AAC and they didn’t even come close to doing that.
If everything goes well they will more likely reach the same level of success that Ed Cooley has achieved. But getting to where they were for decades under a brilliant coach that knew how to cheat, and getting paid 8 million less (than they were at that time) while still playing football .... is expecting too much imo.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

Valid point. But, if you ask posters like radecicc with the current football of UConn and Rutgers they have to keep spending and wind up losing more. It's a race to the bottom and under Ash at RU some can say it is heading in that direction even with the financial support of the B1G.

I like Ash as a coach. His team gave fits to Michigan state, penn state, northwestern, and Wisconsin at the end of the year. His team didn’t have the talent and zero QB play, but he got them to compete. With some QB play they would have shocked a couple of those teams. They were not the same team that lost to Kansas earlier in the year. He coached his players up as good as anyone could.

 

[seton1996]

Dan,
It’s a bit much to assume that UConn will be a top 10 team again based on their history and annoying fans. They have a better chance now to make noise, but they had the opportunity to dominate the AAC and they didn’t even come close to doing that.
If everything goes well they will more likely reach the same level of success that Ed Cooley has achieved. But getting to where they were for decades under a brilliant coach that knew how to cheat, and getting paid 8 million less (than they were at that time) while still playing football .... is expecting too much imo.

While UConn has been bad, and overall the AAC is a bad conference mainly because of its disjointed/spread out members, it has a decent amount of top teams in basketball - Cincy and Houston have been good, also have Witchita St and UCF been good lately

 

[SPK145]

Ok, then what’s your idea to increase gross profits? Bottom line is we need more money so what would you do to get that!?

No idea, I'm not a marketing guy, sometimes maybe you just have maxed out your net revenues.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

No idea, I'm not a marketing guy, sometimes maybe you just have maxed out your net revenues.

So just keep doing what we’re doing, try nothing new and complain that alumni don’t donate...status quo, huh? Maybe that’s fine with you but I’d like to think more can be done and we can look to other successful programs and emulate what they do. Think out of the box. We can’t expect different results if we keep doing the same thing.

 

[Halldan1]

Dan,
It’s a bit much to assume that UConn will be a top 10 team again based on their history and annoying fans. They have a better chance now to make noise, but they had the opportunity to dominate the AAC and they didn’t even come close to doing that.
If everything goes well they will more likely reach the same level of success that Ed Cooley has achieved. But getting to where they were for decades under a brilliant coach that knew how to cheat, and getting paid 8 million less (than they were at that time) while still playing football .... is expecting too much imo.

I don't agree but your point is well taken.

UConn (with Calhoun) was a near blue blood program and even after he left they won another national championship. But after that the program suffered so anyone having doubts regarding their ability to regain their former glory is well within their rights.

Personally, i am not a big fan of Hurley's antics and demeanor. It's one of the reasons that he wasn't liked when he played at Seton Hall and now a reason so many don't like him at UConn. But antics aside I think he's a very good coach and an excellent recruiter. He's been on the job 1 year, in a middling conference, and he already is bringing in a top 15 or so recruiting class. On those things I believe that in a couple of years UConn, Nova and SHU will be the flag bearers of the conference with hopefully SJU, Georgetown, Xavier and others close behind.

 

[TomD82]

I don't agree but your point is well taken.

UConn (with Calhoun) was a near blue blood program and even after he left they won another national championship. But after that the program suffered so anyone having doubts regarding their ability to regain their former glory is well within their rights.

Personally, i am not a big fan of Hurley's antics and demeanor. It's one of the reasons that he wasn't liked when he played at Seton Hall and now a reason so many don't like him at UConn. But antics aside I think he's a very good coach and an excellent recruiter. He's been on the job 1 year, in a middling conference, and he already is bringing in a top 15 or so recruiting class. On those things I believe that in a couple of years UConn, Nova and SHU will be the flag bearers of the conference with hopefully SJU, Georgetown, Xavier and others close behind.

When somebody starts a Dan Hurley post here the same 70-30 split knocks him and not just his antics and even more never wanted him as the coach here. Now everybody says at the drop of a hat he will have UConn elite again even Calhoun like results. Everybody wants him in the league now and nobody here has seen more URI games than me.

This time everything must be different to take UConn back. The coach is not dirty like Calhoun, the school will not treat Hurley like Ollie, the BE schools are negotiating from a position of strength not as a non football school in the old BE.

 

[TheHall87]

Hurley's track record so far is solid and it seems he has UConn on the right track. The AAC is a step up from the A-10 with Houston, Cincinnati and Wichita State plus a resurgent Memphis. I'm interested to see if Johnny Dawkins can continue to build something at UCF or if last year was a one-time deal.

This doesn't mean Hurley will be successful. I think his antics might hold him back and they seemed to grow worse last year (although to be fair I didn't see a lot of URI games over the years) but he's well poised to bring UConn back to prominence. Being in the Big East has to help just to alleviate the travel they've had to deal with over the past five or six years. It will be nice for their fanbase to be able to easily get to road games rather than have to go to Florida or Texas.

 

[garyshu71]

Keeping FOX happy and getting another contract is all that matters. If they like it we need to like it. Think about life as an equal to The A10 and their TV situation and money.! Ugh!

 

[IHM Pirate]

Will this help the Big East?Yes.
Will this help SHU? No.
Does the Big East need Uconn?No.
Does Uconn need the Big East? Yes.
Bottom line Uconn is not Uconn without the Big East.

 

[SHUSource]

Not looking to start an argument/fight; but maybe be a little more careful/current with your geography and Temple insights. My firm has made >$100 mm since 2012 by investing in the "Temple Turnaround" real estate process. North Philly has been one of the best real estate turnarounds in history. We bought streets for <30% of value that we are now probably going to flip for >500% of investment.

You’re completely right, of course, but when someone’s concept of Temple is frozen in time from what they knew (or, more likely, heard) thirty years ago, and they’re married to that idea, there’s no reasoning.

But yeah, being thirty miles from Hartford is a big selling point... jeez...

 

[TomD82]

Not looking to start an argument/fight; but maybe be a little more careful/current with your geography and Temple insights. My firm has made >$100 mm since 2012 by investing in the "Temple Turnaround" real estate process. North Philly has been one of the best real estate turnarounds in history. We bought streets for <30% of value that we are now probably going to flip for >500% of investment.

But I digress, with everything that these people are doing HSBE https://harrisblitzer.com/ in Philadelphia/Newark (our landlord at the Rock) , I think Temple would have been a better addition to our BE basketball than UConn. I have millennial kids and now some grand kids (which is why I am awake now), so I am probably discounting history; but perhaps there is something to be said about looking towards the future? Good night.

No problem. I have actually been looking for some qualified opportunity funds to invest in. If your firm does investments in real estate I am sure you are familiar with these under the TCJA.

My posts on the Temple University area was simply that the one poster saying north philly is a nicer area than Storrs CT was just rīdiculus.

 

[TomD82]

You’re completely right, of course, but when someone’s concept of Temple is frozen in time from what they knew (or, more likely, heard) thirty years ago, and they’re married to that idea, there’s no reasoning.

But yeah, being thirty miles from Hartford is a big selling point... jeez...

FWIW, in my original post I stated I have been to Temple recently and other A10 schools. Also been to Philadelphia University. Nice little campus.

 

[CL82]

How would you like to be the UConn head FB coach trying to recruit players when you can’t even tell them what Conference , if any , they’re going to be in and then find out you’re playing Clemson.

Well Edsall is making a $1M a year and only won one game last year, so, yeah, sign me up.

 

[CL82]

FWIW, I think Seton Hall benefits from UConn to the Big East. Regional rival (in that it's a driveable game) and more regional buzz. This is a case where a rising tide floats all boats. UConn and Seton Halls success is good for NE basketball and builds our brands in the great NYC metro recruiting grounds. That's how I see it anyway.

 

[SHUSource]

FWIW, I think Seton Hall benefits from UConn to the Big East. Regional rival (in that it's a driveable game) and more regional buzz. This is a case where a rising tide floats all boats. UConn and Seton Halls success is good for NE basketball and builds our brands in the great NYC metro recruiting grounds. That's how I see it anyway.

I see it that way, too. I don't think there's any reasonable way to disagree.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

FWIW, I think Seton Hall benefits from UConn to the Big East. Regional rival (in that it's a driveable game) and more regional buzz. This is a case where a rising tide floats all boats. UConn and Seton Halls success is good for NE basketball and builds our brands in the great NYC metro recruiting grounds. That's how I see it anyway.

The Big East has to be the only choice, especially for 4 and 5 star recruits, in the NY/NJ metro area!

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

The Big East has to be the only choice, especially for 4 and 5 star recruits, in the NY/NJ metro area!

5 star recruits are going where the money is. That is not changing until the NCAA changes their enforcing habits.

 

[mikewalsh]

Why

I think this is a great move for the Big East and for Seton Hall. UConn with 4 NCAA Championships will strengthen the legitimacy of the conference. Villanova has been pulling the load and now has help, Seton Hall is on the verge of becoming a perennial power. The Big East should be able to negotiate a huge increase in their next TV contract, which will enable all schools to upgrade their program. I'm not concerned about recruiting as the league becomes more attractive to recruits with the addition of UConn. Win, win, win!!!

 

[lloyde dobler]

There will probably be a nice bump if Fox renews, but there’s nothing out there to indicate that it will be huge.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

I think this is a great move for the Big East and for Seton Hall. UConn with 4 NCAA Championships will strengthen the legitimacy of the conference. Villanova has been pulling the load and now has help, Seton Hall is on the verge of becoming a perennial power. The Big East should be able to negotiate a huge increase in their next TV contract, which will enable all schools to upgrade their program. I'm not concerned about recruiting as the league becomes more attractive to recruits with the addition of UConn. Win, win, win!!!

This upcoming season is so important for Seton Hall in more ways than one! LET’S GO PIRATES!!!

 

[HallPirate]

[QUOTE="truth_KB, post: 613063,

But I digress, with everything that these people are doing HSBE https://harrisblitzer.com/ in Philadelphia/Newark (our landlord at the Rock) , I think Temple would have been a better addition to our BE basketball than UConn. I have millennial kids and now some grand kids (which is why I am awake now), so I am probably discounting history; but perhaps there is something to be said about looking towards the future? Good night.[/QUOTE]

It’s hbse. What does real estate have to do with what’s best for the big east? The big east already has nova which covers Philly (not in philly technically but covers the market). As down as uconn has been, it’s still been better than temple.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

[QUOTE="truth_KB, post: 613063,

But I digress, with everything that these people are doing HSBE https://harrisblitzer.com/ in Philadelphia/Newark (our landlord at the Rock) , I think Temple would have been a better addition to our BE basketball than UConn. I have millennial kids and now some grand kids (which is why I am awake now), so I am probably discounting history; but perhaps there is something to be said about looking towards the future? Good night.

It’s hbse. What does real estate have to do with what’s best for the big east? The big east already has nova which covers Philly (not in philly technically but covers the market). As down as uconn has been, it’s still been better than temple.[/QUOTE]
In that same respect though, doesn’t Providence cover the same market UConn does?

 

[HALL85]

I don't agree but your point is well taken.

UConn (with Calhoun) was a near blue blood program and even after he left they won another national championship. But after that the program suffered so anyone having doubts regarding their ability to regain their former glory is well within their rights.

Personally, i am not a big fan of Hurley's antics and demeanor. It's one of the reasons that he wasn't liked when he played at Seton Hall and now a reason so many don't like him at UConn. But antics aside I think he's a very good coach and an excellent recruiter. He's been on the job 1 year, in a middling conference, and he already is bringing in a top 15 or so recruiting class. On those things I believe that in a couple of years UConn, Nova and SHU will be the flag bearers of the conference with hopefully SJU, Georgetown, Xavier and others close behind.

Calhoun was a special and elite coach that elevated UConn to a top 10 national power and they tried to parlay that image into building a FB program which failed miserably. Hurley is not Calhoun but he is a good coach that will compete favorably in the BE.

Speaking of a “Calhoun-type” impact, It will be interesting to see what happens to Syracuse when Boeheim retires. They will never be the same.

 

[Halldan1]

Pete, they're already on a downward slope, even with Boeheim. The move to the ACC was understandable but it has hurt the BB program to date and as you note when Boeheim leaves they better hire an elite up and comer or an established top of the line coach.

 

[HALL85]

Pete, they're already on a downward slope, even with Boeheim. The move to the ACC was understandable but it has hurt the BB program to date and as you note when Boeheim leaves they better hire an elite up and comer or an established top of the line coach.

Agree. They have played their way into the second tier of the ACC. They will still be an attractive program for a coach, but their days as a blue blood are over.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

Pete, they're already on a downward slope, even with Boeheim. The move to the ACC was understandable but it has hurt the BB program to date and as you note when Boeheim leaves they better hire an elite up and comer or an established top of the line coach.

No one immediately following a legend usually does as well as the legend.

 

[lloyde dobler]

It’s hbse. What does real estate have to do with what’s best for the big east? The big east already has nova which covers Philly (not in philly technically but covers the market). As down as uconn has been, it’s still been better than temple.

In that same respect though, doesn’t Providence cover the same market UConn does?[/QUOTE]

No it does not. Hartford and Providence are two totally different media markets.

 

[hallgrad80]

In that same respect though, doesn’t Providence cover the same market UConn does?

No it does not. Hartford and Providence are two totally different media markets.[/QUOTE]

The Hartford / New Haven media market is the 33rd in the country and Providence / New Bedford which is viewed as a separate market is the 53rd .