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UConn Basketball: Impact of Huskies rejoining the Big East Conference

By Brian Rauf

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts as the Connecticut Huskies bench celebrates after the Huskies rebound 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: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts as the Connecticut Huskies bench celebrates after the Huskies rebound 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) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Christian Vital #1 of the Connecticut Huskies takes the ball down the court in the second 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: Christian Vital #1 of the Connecticut Huskies takes the ball down the court in the second 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 (and other sports) move back to the Big East is welcome news for college basketball fans, but what impact will it have for all parties involved?

UConn Basketball are reportedly set to move back to the Big East following the 2019-20 school year, with a formal announcement expected to come this week.

UConn was an original member of the Big East in 1979 but ended up moving to the American Athletic Conference following conference realignment in 2013, which saw the Big East abolish the football portion of the conference. Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville – and Notre Dame in a non-football capacity – left for the ACC with the Huskies, who have a relatively small football program compared to those four programs, settling for the American.

That round of realignment was entirely driven by football and the lucrative money that comes with playing in one of the Power 5 conferences. However, it was much maligned by college basketball fans as it broke up what was the best hoops conference at the time.

Since the move, UConn officials, alumni, and fans have clamored for a similar move to a power conference, but that hasn’t happened and didn’t seem to be on the horizon. Basketball – not football – is school’s marquee sport, and the football program hasn’t been anywhere near productive or profitable enough to warrant any such move now or ever.

The Huskies were one of the Big East’s marquee basketball programs, winning three national titles (1999, 2004, 2011) and making four Final Fours under former head coach Jim Calhoun as members of the conference. As they toiled in what fans came to view as (relative) national irrelevancy to their glory days, the school’s desire to re-join the Big East became much stronger.

Now, it’s just a formality until the move becomes official. It’s happening.

What does it mean for UConn, for the American, and for the Big East?