UConn to the Big East? Rumors and Discussion Thread...

[xusandy]

Interesting thread re Dayton and VCU to the AAC. Both moves possible I suppose, but neither one should concern the Big East schools at all. VCU is a fit for us only because of basketball, and Dayton's small media market and proximity to the Cincinnati (Xavier) market pretty much rule them out. I've said it before and I'll say it again here -- there's only ONE school out there that "fits" with us on virtually every level, and that's St. Louis. They're Catholic, have strong academics in a "values oriented" framework, would create a nice geographical bridge to Creighton for scheduling purposes, have a very big media market, have had a generally strong athletic program over the years with no football (St. Louis soccer has been especially strong historically), and they have already committed to spending $$ to upgrade their facilities.

The only weakness for St. Louis as a Big East candidate is their lack of national prominence in basketball. But so what? How long would it take them to attract a great coach and become competitive if they were in our league? Not very long I suspect. And as several of you have pointed out, for expansion to make sense, you need to believe you'll be happy with the addition 10 or 20 years from now.

So would an 11 team Big East be worth considering? You could still have a 20 game complete round robin in basketball, and I don't think any other sport would have scheduling problems because of the addition. And finally, does this mean that adding St. Louis would be a good idea? Well maybe (entry fee to current members, bigger media footprint for FOX), but IMHO -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[alduflux]

The only weakness for St. Louis as a Big East candidate is their lack of national prominence in basketball. But so what?

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the Big East brand is built on basketball. The Big East should not take on a "project" program. Build the basketball program, then get the invite. The Big East doesn't need to add another DePaul right now.

I agree with you on all the other points regarding St. Louis.

[pc5151]

Agree on all points regarding St Louis and I think their program is already heading in the right direction. Travis Ford has a top 50 and top 100 recruit coming in next year as well as three solid transfers. He has a top 20 kid signed for 2018 too. The top 50 kid for 2017 and top 20 in 2018 are St Louis kids, showing he is recruiting very well locally in an area that produces a lot of talent. I also agree that they should get back to that level in the A10 first before being considered for the Big East.

[EMT]

Why are we after a middle of the road AAC team?

Full meltdown mode at the Boneyard......

https://the-boneyard.com/forums/uconn-m ... ketball.3/

[Toronto Rapture]

Why are we after a middle of the road AAC team?

Full meltdown mode at the Boneyard......

https://the-boneyard.com/forums/uconn-m ... ketball.3/

That thread about Rothstein calling this year's ACC the best league in the history of the sport sticks out. Is he affiliated with the ACC or something? Whats his agenda? Seems like a grandiose statement, specially considering that we don't know how many ACC schools will end up in the tourney. What a douche.

I hadn't realized the ACC tourney will be in Brooklyn this year(?). They must really have a hate on for the BE.

[Bill Marsh]

Previously posted:

Downtown Zag Nation – The Gonzaga Bulletin - April 17, 2014

2. As we head into the The Summer of Conference Realignment, Part 2: One Year Later, it’s becoming clearer that GU isn’t going anywhere.

But Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth says it’s not his fault. When the Big East Conference reformed in July 2013, he had GU Athletics ready to move to the new Big East along with the other “Catholic Seven” schools. He recognized that GU would be a perfect fit in every way with the other private, Catholic, similar-size, liberal arts schools from that conference.

One single problem threw a wrench in the gears: geography. As much as a program can request to join a conference, it eventually has to be invited by the conference, Roth said.

Unfortunately for GU, the Big East programs were not willing to fly their sports teams five or six hours to Spokane dozens of times every year, even if Roth was.

Roth says he likes to say that the only way GU would be accepted into the Big East is if teleportation is invented.

Anytime teleportation enters a discussion of conference realignment, things aren’t looking good.

GU looks to be stuck in the ho-hum WCC. While it won’t do us any favors in terms of men’s or women’s basketball, at least the Zags won’t be constantly flying to the Northeast for every away game. That might qualify as low-level silver lining.

"Dozens of times every year"???

What BE school would be flying its teams to Spokane dozens of times every year? The exaggerations on this topic are really crazy.

[EMT]

Previously posted:

Downtown Zag Nation – The Gonzaga Bulletin - April 17, 2014

2. As we head into the The Summer of Conference Realignment, Part 2: One Year Later, it’s becoming clearer that GU isn’t going anywhere.

But Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth says it’s not his fault. When the Big East Conference reformed in July 2013, he had GU Athletics ready to move to the new Big East along with the other “Catholic Seven” schools. He recognized that GU would be a perfect fit in every way with the other private, Catholic, similar-size, liberal arts schools from that conference.

One single problem threw a wrench in the gears: geography. As much as a program can request to join a conference, it eventually has to be invited by the conference, Roth said.

Unfortunately for GU, the Big East programs were not willing to fly their sports teams five or six hours to Spokane dozens of times every year, even if Roth was.

Roth says he likes to say that the only way GU would be accepted into the Big East is if teleportation is invented.

Anytime teleportation enters a discussion of conference realignment, things aren’t looking good.

GU looks to be stuck in the ho-hum WCC. While it won’t do us any favors in terms of men’s or women’s basketball, at least the Zags won’t be constantly flying to the Northeast for every away game. That might qualify as low-level silver lining.

"Dozens of times every year"???

What BE school would be flying its teams to Spokane dozens of times every year? The exaggerations on this topic are really crazy.

Is it....maybe take the S off of dozens? Big East fields 19 sports between men's and women's. Not sure I'd go to Gonzaga if every away game was a cross county flight either.... The travel arguably killed BC sports.

[Bill Marsh]

Downtown Zag Nation – The Gonzaga Bulletin - April 17, 2014

2. As we head into the The Summer of Conference Realignment, Part 2: One Year Later, it’s becoming clearer that GU isn’t going anywhere.

But Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth says it’s not his fault. When the Big East Conference reformed in July 2013, he had GU Athletics ready to move to the new Big East along with the other “Catholic Seven” schools. He recognized that GU would be a perfect fit in every way with the other private, Catholic, similar-size, liberal arts schools from that conference.

One single problem threw a wrench in the gears: geography. As much as a program can request to join a conference, it eventually has to be invited by the conference, Roth said.

Unfortunately for GU, the Big East programs were not willing to fly their sports teams five or six hours to Spokane dozens of times every year, even if Roth was.

Roth says he likes to say that the only way GU would be accepted into the Big East is if teleportation is invented.

Anytime teleportation enters a discussion of conference realignment, things aren’t looking good.

GU looks to be stuck in the ho-hum WCC. While it won’t do us any favors in terms of men’s or women’s basketball, at least the Zags won’t be constantly flying to the Northeast for every away game. That might qualify as low-level silver lining.

"Dozens of times every year"???

What BE school would be flying its teams to Spokane dozens of times every year? The exaggerations on this topic are really crazy.

Is it....maybe take the S off of dozens? Big East fields 19 sports between men's and women's. Not sure I'd go to Gonzaga if every away game was a cross county flight either.... The travel arguably killed BC sports.

Nope.

The Big East actually sponsors 22 sports (10 men's, 12 women's), but that doesn't mean that every member participates in every sport or is required to.

Not every sport sponsors a schedule of regular competition. A number simply sponsor a championship tournament at the end of the season with no schedule of competition between member teams during the season. Each team's sets its own schedule of competitions with whomever they choose.

Let's use Creighton as an example. They compete in the Big East for only 13 sports (6 men's, 7 women's). Here's their list:

WOMEN's - MEN's
basketball - basketball - regular schedule
soccer ------ soccer - regular schedule but not home/home with every opponent
softball ----- baseball - regular schedule but not home/home with every opponent
volleyball --------------- regular schedule but not home/home with every opponent
x-country --- x-country - championship meet only
golf ---------- golf - championship tournament only
tennis ------- tennis - championship tournament only

So, only 7 of Creighton's 13 teams travel for a regular schedule of inseason competitions. And in most, they don't travel to every other member.

We're not talking about a dozen or even close to it. Basketball is the only sport that schedules home & home with every opponent in the league. If Gonzaga were to participate at a level similar to Creighton, the actual number of trips to Spokane annually for all teams would be 5 or 6 at most. Not dozens. Not even one dozen. Maybe half a dozen.

But we don't know that Gonzaga would participate in the Big East in the same sports as Creighton. The Big East sponsors other sports like indoor & outdoor track, swimming & diving for which conference competition consists only of a single championship meet. All of that would have to be worked out.

As currently contructed, the Gonzaga competes in 14 sports sponsored by the BE + rowing, which is not sponsored by the BE. They offer 12 of the same sports as Creighton but not softball. So, one less sport which might require some treams to travel west. They also offer both men's & women's track/field, which do not require anyone to travel to Spokane.

Bottom line is that the travel burden is greatly exaggerated. I have yet to have anyone explain to me how teams 50-100 years ago could manage 6-8 hour bus and/or train trips or longer, but can't manage 6-8 hour plane trips.

[Schickrateez]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at the idea of UD, VCU, SLU or any other school currently in the A-10 jumping ship to the AAC. I mean, why exactly would any of those schools leave the A-10 for the AAC? First off, the A-10 and AAC are pretty equal as far as basketball goes. Second, the AAC is a hodge-podge of schools that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's not a shot at the AAC, but it was created out of necessity because a lot of those schools needed a home, and needed one quickly. Third, UD, VCU, & SLU are all "basketball only" schools at the moment. Why on Earth would they want to jump into a conference that is focused on football success. There is a pretty good case study available on what happens when basketball only schools mix with football schools, and I think everyone knows it doesn't end well. Fourth, I think it's pretty well understood that the "marquee" names in the AAC, the schools you'd want to be in that conference if your school joined it, are trying to get out as quickly as possible. Who wants to be in the AAC when Cincinnati, UCONN, etc don't even want to be in it? I feel pretty confident in saying this, none of the schools discussed (UD, VCU, SLU) are leaving the A-10 for the AAC.

[EMT]

Last edited by Bill Marsh on Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:38 pm, edited 5 times in total.