Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Winners and losers from UConn’s move back to Big East

By Brian Rauf

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley high-fives Tarin Smith #2 of the Connecticut Huskies after the the Huskies won 83-76 over Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley high-fives Tarin Smith #2 of the Connecticut Huskies after the the Huskies won 83-76 over Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 7
Next
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Alterique Gilbert #3 of the Connecticut Huskies talks with Christian Vital after Vail injures his eye in the first half of the game against Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Alterique Gilbert #3 of the Connecticut Huskies talks with Christian Vital after Vail injures his eye in the first half of the game against Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

UConn Basketball has now officially moved to the Big East with the rest of the athletic program. Who are the biggest NCAA Basketball + others winners and losers of the move?

The UConn Board of Regents approved the school’s reported move – driven by UConn Basketball – to the Big East starting with the 2020-21 school year on Wednesday, and it will become official on Thursday.

The Huskies are coming off three consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the mid-1980’s and many associated with the school have blamed the program’s recent decline on the fact that they play in the American Athletic Conference.

A founding member of the Big East in 1979, UConn joined the AAC prior to the 2013-14 season as part of conference realignment across the country, moves that were almost entirely driven by football and the money playing in a power conference can provide an athletic program.

The Big East famously split up during realignment with basketball-only schools forming the “New Big East” and UConn’s lackluster football program is one of the things that kept them from receiving a power conference invite.

Now, heading back, the Huskies will return to being one of the signature programs in one of college basketball’s best conferences. That benefits the program in a major way from both a prestige and recruiting standpoint, and the re-addition of a top 10 all-time program further increases the Big East’s profile.

Who else benefits from this move, and who does it really hurt? Here are the three biggest winners and three biggest losers from UConn re-joining the Big East.