The Big East Died on Tuesday

[MaxwellCuse]

and it is time "Time for UCONN to fly" according to New London Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro. Is Mike being a bit overly dramatic? Or does he have a point? And is there anyplace for UCONN to land if they do decide to fly? (I doubt it)

http://www.theday.com/article/20120704/SPORT01/307049954

Tough times for all who have been left behind...Connecticut, Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati and USF. My best to our soon-to-be-ex-conference mates. Glad we're not you.

 

[omniorange]

Love the note at the end.

Over on the UConn site they have been calling the strategy "Beg Harder" for months now.

I'm just glad it's not us. Thank you TGD (and ESPN).

Cheers,
Neil

 

[44PRIDE]

Honestly, the best thing that can happen for the Have-Not's is the formation of a 24 team football only super-conference made up of the "best of the rest". Create four separate 6 team divisions based on geography...East, Midwest, South and West. The winners of each division face each other in a 4 team playoff.

Each team can maintain their current conference affiliations for all other sports.

 

[Noexcuse]

Without a doubt the remaining teams in the Big East need to schedule better OOC. Problem is they will likely be playing those teams on the road. Big East teams should try and do what Syracuse did. Line up a series of games at Met Life and add in Yankee Stadium, RFK and the Linc.

 

[NKR1978]

and it is time "Time for UCONN to fly" according to New London Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro. Is Mike being a bit overly dramatic? Or does he have a point? And is there anyplace for UCONN to land if they do decide to fly? (I doubt it)

http://www.theday.com/article/20120704/SPORT01/307049954

Tough times for all who have been left behind...Connecticut, Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati and USF. My best to our soon-to-be-ex-conference mates. Glad we're not you.

I felt bad for Storrs at first. But theory idiot fans, for the most part, don't have any respect for our history and tradition. They don't realize or accept that Pitt, wvu and Syracuse were the only Big East schools that could have ever been considered for a national championship. And because of their ignorance, I look forward to seeing their whither on the vine.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

[dasher]

I felt bad for Storrs at first. But theory idiot fans, for the most part, don't have any respect for our history and tradition. They don't realize or accept that Pitt, wvu and Syracuse were the only Big East schools that could have ever been considered for a national championship. And because of their ignorance, I look forward to seeing their whither on the vine.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

Agree 100%. And some pretend to come here and be friends.

 

[All4SU]

Funny that he uses the phrase, "You can yearn for the good old days..."

Well, in the good old days, -- you know, anything over 12 years ago --UConn didn't even play D1 football.

 

[All4SU]

I don't fell sorry for UConn one bit. They waited years before finally jumping into the D1 pool. They had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate a commitment to big time football and they waited too long. They had a guarantee BCS-level entry into a conference -- which is singular -- and have expressed nothing but a feeling of entitlement through it all. Too bad, so sad, UConn.

 

[Scooch]

Why the hell would UConn be worried about playing for a national title?!

Talk about delusional.

 

[All4SU]

They can want to fly all they want. They have no options right now.

 

[Moontan]

It wasn't a good day for a bunch of schools. Still, they have some hope. They simply need to be "the best of the rest". Go 11-1 (12-1 after winning the NNBE championship at the airport field), with a big OOC win (which will likely have to be on the road) and you can get into a Bowl of Relevance.

Bevo's inevitable expansion to 12 will likely add Louisville and BYU (unless the PAC strikes first). BSU and Cincy are the other contenders.

The Scarlet Knights have hopes for the B1G and the ACC. The B1G would appear to be the last to expand beyond 12, unless ND came a calling. Rutgers has the least athletic achievement in the history of college athletics... which may hurt their aspirations. While weak, they're still somewhat of a brand name, solely due to longevity.

Yukon's only play is the ACC. The ACC won't move unless ND bites or there's a defection.

Cincy hopes for a Bevo bid.

USF will bite on a Bevo bid, but hopes to slide into an ACC opening due to an unlikely FSU defection.

One wonders what would happen to the NNBE post further conference expansion. If Louisville, Cincy, and one (or more) of USF, Yukon & Rutgers leave... what will happen? Will the non-NE members look elsewhere? Will the NNBE football "conference" simply fold?

I don't see Yukon dropping to FCS status. Again, I believe their best bet is to consistently win the NNBE (over BSU) and be ready for any Big Five* opening.

* yes, I realize that there already is a Big 5 (Philly hoops).

 

[Toga]

UConn

 

[texascpa]

Funny thing is you could replace UConn with Rutgers and the article would still be accurate...and funny.

 

[omniorange]

Funny thing is you could replace UConn with Rutgers and the article would still be accurate.

Yep, just replace "get on the phone with the ACC" to "get on the phone with the BiG".

I'm not getting any satisfaction out of their plight since I keep thinking it could have been us in that situation. Well, I'm getting a little bit of satisfaction with Rutgers situation but mainly because their fanbase was insufferable a couple summers back with Big Ten expansion.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[SouthCampusHero]

Hello-o-o-o! Are you down there UConn-on-on-on. I'll call Boston College to get you out of your hole-ole-ole.

 

[texascpa]

Yep, just replace "get on the phone with the ACC" to "get on the phone with the BiG".

I'm not getting any satisfaction out of their plight since I keep thinking it could have been us in that situation. Well, I'm getting a little bit of satisfaction with Rutgers situation but mainly because their fanbase was insufferable a couple summers back with Big Ten expansion.

Cheers,
Neil

Or the SEC according to some of the disillusioned posters over at the Rutgers board.

 

[Guinness]

I don't take any pleasure in this. It could have been us. And should the ACC not rebound it could still be us.

 

[billsin01]

I don't take any pleasure in this. It could have been us. And should the ACC not rebound it could still be us.

Yup, a couple points should be mentioned while everyone expresses how much UConn and RU blow:

-- Does anyone really think the ACC will look the same 5 years from now as it does today? Really? No defections? No expansion?

-- Remember when BC left and there were doomsday predictions all over the place about how they were going to thrive? Well, they now suck at hoops and football. Is it really crazy to think that UConn and RU still -- despite the conference set-up -- have better football teams than we do for the next five years? And while we're at it, we still have a ways to go to catch l'ville and usf.

-- I don't get fans here -- you do realize that the vitriol expressed for UConn and RU here is a good thing, right? I mean, it's fun to have a regional rival. The best case scenario for northeast football as a whole is to have legit programs around. I mean, we didn't develop a huge rivalry with g'town and uconn and nova in hoops b/c they sucked. It's b/c it was a big, meaningful game with a team in relative proximity to the dome.

I don't know. I get where people are coming from but I do think it's naive to think we're suddenly a "have" in college football (as I've seen expressed here often).

 

[omniorange]

-- Does anyone really think the ACC will look the same 5 years from now as it does today? Really? No defections? No expansion?

While I rarely say never, I don't see the ACC having any defections over the next 5 years. And I only see them expanding if ND wants to join, which isn't likely in that time frame either.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Moontan]

While I rarely say never, I don't see the ACC having any defections over the next 5 years. And I only see them expanding if ND wants to join, which isn't likely in that time frame either.

I concur.
The ACC has run out of natural peers (with which to expand).

 

[SUinNYC]

I don't take any pleasure in this. It could have been us. And should the ACC not rebound it could still be us.

I'm with you. There's an expression "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

I think that applies here. We are fortunate to be out of that situation. Very fortunate. And we might not have seen the last of UCONN. They are a more attractive expansion candidate than Rutgers.

 

[SUalldway]

I felt bad for Storrs at first. But theory idiot fans, for the most part, don't have any respect for our history and tradition. They don't realize or accept that Pitt, wvu and Syracuse were the only Big East schools that could have ever been considered for a national championship. And because of their ignorance, I look forward to seeing their whither on the vine.

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Uconn is drowning. No one is going to toss them a life-line. They have the most arrogant fans ever encountered.

 

[tipphill]

Uconn is drowning. No one is going to toss them a life-line. They have the most arrogant fans ever encountered.

no---rutgers are and they are stupid as well

 

[Bayside44]

BC made bad coaching decisions, which sunk their ship - not the conference move. When they first went over they did well. Not sure why they canned Skinner (he seemed like a good player's coach) and the football coaching moves have been explained away.

Not sure UConn can do much on the hoops side in a post Calhoun world. RU seems to be recruiting ok in football still but that's going to wither quick - even though their new HC is a very decent and good guy .

 

[OrangePA]

So that means that all of college football died - other than the five conferences?

I think that's a bit alarmist.

If the conference plays better it will get a bowl tie-in.