Watched the second half of the women's BE tournament last night before attempting to watch the men. The #7 team put up a spirited effort against an all-round better #2 Creighton team. Any changes expected on Tony B's staff? Can he/they survive another seventh place finish?
The women
- Thread starter MBF72
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I’d say absent scandal he will. Guessing we don’t have the $$$ it would take to significantly upgrade and I doubt we have the NIL to make an impact either
I doubt theres much NIL in Big East women’s basketball aside from UConn. More of an excuse than anything else.
I hate putting the women's team on a lower pedestal, but honestly the University has much bigger fish to fry concerning the practice facility, NIL and focusing on ways to keep the men's team relevant and sustainable.
Tony B is a good coach. We have extremely limited resources available for his team, and frankly the success we have had with him dwarfs anything we had with previous coaches. I couldn't imagine them even contemplating Tony's job security and whether it's run its course.
Tony B is a good coach. We have extremely limited resources available for his team, and frankly the success we have had with him dwarfs anything we had with previous coaches. I couldn't imagine them even contemplating Tony's job security and whether it's run its course.
Can Tony B. get a cheaper coach who may hit a flash in the pan and use the money for mens. at this point im not sure what the point keeping him is?
This is where NIL is going to create more of a divide with programs in the SEC and B10 (and some select teams like UConn and ND) and the rest of the pack. The rest of the BE and other programs will have zero NIL so the National Championship will have the same schools competing every year from the quarter finals on.
There is absolutely nil in BE women beyond UConn.
I don’t follow the women’s game closely but I feel like this is the case every year anyway.
I don't either, but there are a finite number of teams that actually draw thousand's of fans and there is no TV money per se for the women. What's the return for investing in a player when you have hardly any revenue?
Bembry only left because she wanted to pursue a major at Georgetown.
Tony Bozzella did not want to lose her but contacted Georgetown to help facilitate the move.
No choice as the men drive the bus, but the way I look at it, Geno has a layup to win the league every year and get a great seed until he retires and like you said, travel less in the meantime. I have to think it will be hard for UConn to replace him too and it's a good landing spot for the women's team long term.
Two serious considerations for the post-Geno era are Shea Ralph who has turned Vanderbilt around in her third year, and Princeton's Carla Berube. Each, not surprisingly, is a UCONN grad. The three current assistants, excluding Chris Dailey, have been unsuccessful in previous head coaching stints.
Actually, women's basketball may have been the straw that broke the camels back on our staying in the American. When Aresco did the mediocre American media deal one of the things he gave up was UConn tier 3 rights including our women's basketball games which are all broadcast on SNY unless they are carried nationally. Women's fans complained loudly about having to see women's games on ESPN plus, mostly because they're largely seniors and don't like change much and streaming television even less.
The move to the big east hasn't been great for women's basketball, but as you point out they bump up their net rankings by playing what is typically one of the tougher schedules in the country in the preseason.
The break-up of the Big East had a great effect on Women's Basketball. In 2012-13, the conference featured UConn and Notre Dame, the two National finalists, plus Louisville and Syracuse; a pair of top 25 programs. DePaul, Villanova and South Florida were also solid teams that year.
Of those programs, only South Florida ended up in the American with UConn and I'll maintain that being in the American was the start of the slide from perennial champions to contenders. The sport as a whole has caught up with UConn and I think the AAC dulled its edge a bit. That may well have happened in the Big East had UConn thrown in with the BB onlies because, again, the better programs left for "greener" pastures.
In seven years in the AAC, the UConn women didn't lose a conference game. 118 regular season (three 18-0 and four 16-0 seasons) and 21 conference tournament games. Since returning to the BE, they are 70-3 (18-0/16-1/18-2/18-0) and are 12-0 in BET games. FWIW, in that 2012-13 season they lost two league games (to ND).
I don't know how much it matters but I do think the Big East is a better league (even more so after the last round of realignment) and is better preparation for UConn's real season.
FWIW, Connecticut women's basketball won four national championships in the American.
I think to some extent the women’s game has changed at the top and while UConn is a top 10 team they are not able to keep up with the top teams like South Carolina, LSU and Stanford. Some of it is that their top players have suffered devastating injuries but a lot of it is that these other teams are more athletic.
So when it entered it had Brianna Stewart, Morgan Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. That trio won four national championships, so pretty tough to compare any other class with them. That said, when they join the big east they had Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Aubrey Griffin as freshman joining Evina Westbrook, Olivia Nelson Ododa and Christyn Williams. Not too shabby.
Seems as if whether UCONN women are in AAC or BE, that is only a necessary prop as a team needs to be somewhere so it can play big national games and compete in the post season. Actually, have wondered if playing in the BE with its small high school-like gyms and paltry crowds hurts UCONN. Of course while Geno is at the helm, the Geno-factor trumps that, but after..... It has got to be a pitch by LSU, South Carolina, Stanford to show a recruit the arenas where those teams play every night.
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