TheLesterLee
It is being reported that UConn is returning to the Big East which means one thing and one thing only: BIG EAST basketball BACK.
The Big East was one of the most important conferences in college basketball. If you live in New York, the Big East is really the only relationship you had with college basketball and the end of the year tournament at Madison Square Garden was more competitive than any Knicks game.
Then UConn joined the new American Athletic Conference and the once dominant powerhouse in college basketball won one National Championship in 2014 before falling completely off the face of the planet.
Connecticut was 16-17 last season. They have only been in the NCAA Tournament once in the last five years. They stink.
By joining a conference with schools like East Carolina and Tulane, UConn lost it’s cultural and geographical relevance.
Instead of dramatic matchups with Syracuse and Villanova, schools that they’ve developed rivalries with for decades, they tried to make a rivalry with UCF happen.
Who gives a shit about UConn vs. UCF? (Hint: no one).
They also moved to a conference that essentially wiped them off television. Believe it or not, ESPN wasn’t racing to air South Florida vs. SMU games. Moving to the AAC turned UConn into ghosts.
“Back in my day”, Connecticut games were on ESPN seemingly every single night. So frequently that I considered going there just to attend a basketball juggernaut. (I didn’t go because I didn’t fill out the application in time. I am a Kanye album).
What basketball recruits want to play for a school that was good when they were in elementary school? Returning to the Big East is going to restore Uconn back into a national powerhouse.
Let’s goooooo. Big East Basketball BACK.
