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Post by DFW HOYA on Jun 22, 2019 19:04:33 GMT -5
I agree with Ray about HC moving up to FBS being a pipe dream. That would mean adding 25 football scollies, and probably an additional 25 scollies for the women because of Title IX. Not happening. Schools rarely move without some significant momentum behind it. Marshall moved to I-A after winning two I-AA titles, while Butler would have never been on the Big East radar without back to back Final Four appearances. HC is a lot like Rice--small, selective, a sports tradition, but not a consistent winner and playing in a cavernous stadium that is never full and doesn't give it an advantage. For all it has going for it Rice isn't getting a call to the AAC. Winning five or six straight PL titles, long runs in the playoffs, and crowds of 15-20,000 at Fitton Field might put HC in a position to make a case for an upgrade down the road, but it's not going to be an candidate now.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 19:09:59 GMT -5
UConn is going to be stuck playing as an independent. Let's be serious -- they will be thrilled to be back in Big East hoops but the ultimate goal is still an ACC invite. If hoops becomes a national power again as a result of BE membership, the odds of this occurrence increase, even with football stuck in no mans land for the foreseeable future.
UConn football will wallow as an independent in the wilderness for years. The program will further decline and fans will desert it. It will be far less attractive than it had been when P5 leagues last took a pass on the school. The decision to move nearly all its sports to the Big East is confirmation that UConn administrators have given up any hope for a P5 invite.
If that's the case then they should drop football back down to FCS. Were talking about UConn here. They're not going to give up on P5 membership. But if it doesn't happen, dropping down might not be a horrible option. It's not like they would be the only FCS school in the state with a 40,000+ seat stadium:)
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 19:11:50 GMT -5
I agree with Ray about HC moving up to FBS being a pipe dream. That would mean adding 25 football scollies, and probably an additional 25 scollies for the women because of Title IX. Not happening. Schools rarely move without some significant momentum behind it. Marshall moved to I-A after winning two I-AA titles, while Butler would have never been on the Big East radar without back to back Final Four appearances. For all it has going for it Rice isn't getting a call to the AAC. They might next week.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 19:13:13 GMT -5
There are probably a dozen Division I schools that CURRENTLY DONT SPONSOR FOOTBALL that would get invited to an FBS conference before Holy Cross.
Just a little bit of perspective.
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Post by sader1970 on Jun 22, 2019 19:16:47 GMT -5
I wonder how often or if UConn and UMass folks talk, especially about football. Dropping back to D-IAA would be politically less painful if they both took the leap back together. I wonder if there would be any interest in resurrecting a New England league for football? UMass, UConn, URI, UNH, Maine, Bryant, Sacred Heart, HC, others? Would sure help travel-wise and might build some true rivalries. Just spitballing here, folks.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 19:23:55 GMT -5
I wonder how often or if UConn and UMass folks talk, especially about football. Dropping back to D-IAA would be politically less painful if they both took the leap back together. I wonder if there would be any interest in resurrecting a New England league for football? UMass, UConn, URI, UNH, Maine, Bryant, Sacred Heart, HC, others? Would sure help travel-wise and might build some true rivalries. Just spitballing here, folks. Definitely a possibility. America East football could definitely happen. Especially since Stony Brook and Albany, both of whom were orginally expected to become full CAA members, have apparently put that on hold. Plus now that Idaho has moved down from FBS indy no-mans land to the Big Sky, I think the notion that you cant move down from FBS to FCS without losing face has been dispelled. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see UMASS move back down. UConn as well if other posters are correct that they've "given up" on P5 dreams completely.
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Post by timholycross on Jun 22, 2019 19:32:06 GMT -5
I’ve been promoting this for UConn’s future for a long time - it’s the right move - I think they’ll try and convince the AAC to keep them for football only - otherwise the league gives up any NY-Boston media exposure - if they play hardball they might go to the MAC or independent for a couple of years and wait for an opportunity the aac is invisible in the Northeast, they will not miss UConn at all save for women's basketball.
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Post by efg72 on Jun 22, 2019 19:36:40 GMT -5
That sound we hear in southern New England right now is not thunder but Fr. Brooks rolling over in his grave. Not all that bad a thought—while he loved the school and all of his hopeful possibilities, he very well took decisions to weaken it at the same time he once told me while speaking with him and EBW I was ignorant to question his decision around the Big East- my retort, which brought a smile from my sponsor EBW, father in our classroom you told us only ignorant people refer to others as ignorant. that was then and now is now but not sure he was wrong in his original thinking that only ignorant people call others ignorant Obviously not a fan of our former President who allowed his ego to prevail, IMHO someday a miracle might strike and we will recover from his destructive decisions- for those that attended EBWs funeral mass we might never recover from his arrogance
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Post by CHC8485 on Jun 22, 2019 20:14:57 GMT -5
I don't get it from the current membership perspective. As a state land grant university among 10 private schools, 9 of them Catholic and with a current enrollment ~ 33% higher than the next largest school in the Big East (UConn 31,700; DePaul 23,800) UConn just seems like a bad fit. A bit like BU in the PL. But if it happens, an 11 team conference seems so sloppy and unbalanced from a scheduling standpoint. Hmmmm .... if only there were another Catholic school ...
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jun 22, 2019 20:24:01 GMT -5
Dayton & St. Louis.
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Post by CHC8485 on Jun 22, 2019 20:32:54 GMT -5
UConn will need a travel partner!
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 20:45:23 GMT -5
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 20:47:49 GMT -5
I don't get it from the current membership perspective. As a state land grant university among 10 private schools, 9 of them Catholic and with a current enrollment ~ 33% higher than the next largest school in the Big East (UConn 31,700; DePaul 23,800) UConn just seems like a bad fit. A bit like BU in the PL. But if it happens, an 11 team conference seems so sloppy and unbalanced from a scheduling standpoint. Hmmmm .... if only there were another Catholic school ... A bad fit on paper but you have to remember they were a FOUNDING MEMBER with 25 years of sports history with the league's other founding members. A little different than the Big East going out and inviting VCU...
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Post by CHC8485 on Jun 22, 2019 20:55:15 GMT -5
Or Creighton???
And true enough they were a founding member, but I also forgot to add ... and plays FBS football, the beast that killed the original Big East.
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Post by hchoops on Jun 22, 2019 21:00:30 GMT -5
Not a done deal yet Wonder if any old animosities may prevent UConn from getting the Big East votes ?
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Post by Ray on Jun 22, 2019 21:06:43 GMT -5
Not a done deal yet Wonder if any old animosities may prevent UConn from getting the Big East votes ? Not a done deal, agreed. Let’s not be naive though. If the current membership wasn’t on board, that would have been clarified before these negotiations started. If they made it this far, the conference has the votes to approve.
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Post by rf1 on Jun 22, 2019 21:09:40 GMT -5
An 11 team conference is perfect for the Big East. It allows for a round robin H&H 20 game schedule for its premier sport of basketball. It would mirror the trend where most power conferences have or plan to go to a 20 game league schedule.
UConn going to the Big East effectively kills St Louis, Dayton and any other school's pipe dreams about getting an invite to the league.
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Post by hchoops on Jun 22, 2019 21:21:02 GMT -5
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Post by Ray on Jun 22, 2019 21:26:40 GMT -5
Yeah, it’s good for UConn. Groundbreaking analysis by Zag there.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 22, 2019 21:27:49 GMT -5
Not a done deal yet Wonder if any old animosities may prevent UConn from getting the Big East votes ? Not a done deal, agreed. Let’s not be naive though. If the current membership wasn’t on board, that would have been clarified before these negotiations started. If they made it this far, the conference has the votes to approve. Whose to say there was a beef specific to UCONN amongst the non-football members? The biggest issue was the fact that in order to maintain an FBS conference, a minimum of 8 full-time football-playing members were needed. As a result, the Big East was forced to expand and add schools like South Florida. TCU was admitted as well for a hot second but signed on with Bug XII before ever competing. Prior to the split, SMU, East Carolina and Tulane were slated to join IIRC. This made the Catholic schools upset hence why they left the football schools to form their own conference.
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Post by gerry on Jun 22, 2019 21:50:15 GMT -5
With the NEC, Patriot, and A-10 all sponsoring football, there is no way those conferences are going to allow their full members leave their respective football conferences to create a "New England Football Conference" regardless of how much sense it would make financially
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 22, 2019 22:01:50 GMT -5
I wonder how often or if UConn and UMass folks talk, especially about football. Dropping back to D-IAA would be politically less painful if they both took the leap back together. I wonder if there would be any interest in resurrecting a New England league for football? UMass, UConn, URI, UNH, Maine, Bryant, Sacred Heart, HC, others? Would sure help travel-wise and might build some true rivalries. Just spitballing here, folks. How often do UConn and UMass talk? They are in a weekly support group together. One week UConn brings the boxes of tissues and the next week UMass does. I love your thought of a New England FB conference, up until realizing it would mean leaving the PL. Holy Cross fan: The PL stinks, the PL stinks. Get us out of the PL. TPTB: OK, we heard your 25 year chorus, we're leaving the PL and joining up with Bryant, Sacred Heart and the nearby State U's. Holy Cross fan: Oh, well uh, let's not be hasty now. Does the PL really stink?
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Post by bison137 on Jun 22, 2019 22:21:18 GMT -5
With the NEC, Patriot, and A-10 all sponsoring football, there is no way those conferences are going to allow their full members leave their respective football conferences to create a "New England Football Conference" regardless of how much sense it would make financially There is no A-10 football league. If you mean the CAA, that league includes Maine, UNH, and URI - but only in football. Others in the CAA for football only include Villanova, Stony Brook, Albany, and Richmond. Of the A-10 schools that play football, only UMass is in the FBS. The others are Fordham, Richmond, Davidson, Dayton, Duquesne, and URI.
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Post by gerry on Jun 22, 2019 23:06:57 GMT -5
My mistake....I get the A10 and CAA confused because they changed charters. Regardless, the NEC is not letting Sacred Heart and Bryant and the Patriot is not letting Holy Cross damage their own football leagues
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Post by timholycross on Jun 22, 2019 23:37:31 GMT -5
I wonder how often or if UConn and UMass folks talk, especially about football. Dropping back to D-IAA would be politically less painful if they both took the leap back together. I wonder if there would be any interest in resurrecting a New England league for football? UMass, UConn, URI, UNH, Maine, Bryant, Sacred Heart, HC, others? Would sure help travel-wise and might build some true rivalries. Just spitballing here, folks. I think if they dropped down there's a more likely chance of the CAA going to 14 teams and 2 divisions. You'd have 5 New England state universities, plus Stony Brook and Albany.
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