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Column : How much longer does UConn have to suffer in the AAC?
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Bearcat2012 Offline
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Column : How much longer does UConn have to suffer in the AAC?
https://www.theday.com/sports-columns/20...onn-in-aac


How much more of this are we going to take?

How much more time is UConn going to spend in the American Athletic Conference before realizing that, even with well-meaning people and successful teams, the American’s wheels spin furiously but with no traction?

How long till we have earnest conversations with each other questioning the long term viability of football and whether there’s a legitimate chance of rejoining the Big East to save basketball?

They played for the national championship in college football Monday night. Georgia vs. Alabama, two teams that lost to Auburn. Except that War … Damn … Eagle (Auburn) lost to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl last week. That’s undefeated UCF of the American. That didn’t get a sniff of the playoffs.

So when, exactly, do you think the American will get a seat at the table if an undefeated team that beat the team that beat The Teams is still an afterthought?

We can lament the unfairness of it all and unburden ourselves with rhetoric till we hyperventilate. All moot. Because why would the Power Five want to share anything with anybody else? They seem to be doing just fine, no?

Heck, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby all but mocked UCF the other day when he was quoted as saying beating Auburn once isn’t the same as preparing to play the likes of Auburn every week. And there it is. Poof. The American’s undefeated team? Dismissed like a caller to Mike Francesa.

So is there anyone out there who can provide some evidence this is going to change?

Meanwhile, UConn sports, through bad leadership and some external circumstances, are suffering. Clearly, UConn poohbahs have made bad decisions. Bob Diaco was a disaster. Kevin Ollie needs an offensive coordinator. We get that. And the AAC is making it worse.

No one’s saying the AAC isn’t respectable in football and men’s basketball. Two things, though: The Power Five doesn’t care and doesn’t need to; and quality competition doesn’t move the needle in Connecticut as much as sex appeal.

The AAC has some good basketball teams in Wichita State, Cincinnati and SMU. But when you grow up on The Big East — whose geography and rivalries resonate with fans from Stamford to Stonington — it’s hard to get even the most ardent UConn fans excited about Tulane and East Carolina.

That’s kind of the deal. AAC people get irritated at the criticism. It’s no reflection on them or their teams. It’s just that nobody in Connecticut has any frame of reference whatsoever to what the league’s selling. Come see the Huskies play … Tulsa?

Look at it this way: The three biggest names in New England college basketball — UConn, Providence and Boston College — played home games this past Saturday afternoon. When’s the last time UConn played the least desirable game to watch? Providence played nationally ranked Xavier and BC played Wake Forest. Meanwhile, UConn played East Carolina before more than 8,000 empty seats at the XL Center.

There is no joy in these words. The AAC has some nice people. The mere suggestion that UConn drop football is disrespectful to Randy Edsall, a good man for whom my son would play any day. And I have no idea about exit fees, bad blood or whether the Big East would take UConn back in the first place.

This much I do know, however: I’ve talked to a few donors in recent weeks who can’t take much more of this. They see the same thing as I do, the power structure failing to take the AAC seriously. UConn’s bad hires affecting the current product. And the need to begin some uncomfortable conversations.
01-09-2018 10:33 AM
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Column : How much longer does UConn have to suffer in the AAC? - Bearcat2012 - 01-09-2018 10:33 AM



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