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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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ST. PETERSBURG, FL – MARCH 23: The UConn Huskies celebrates as head coach Jim Calhoun holds up the trophy after the NCAA Championship game against Duke University Blue Devils at the Tropicana Field on March 23, 1999 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Huskies defeated the Blue Devils 77-74. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – MARCH 23: The UConn Huskies celebrates as head coach Jim Calhoun holds up the trophy after the NCAA Championship game against Duke University Blue Devils at the Tropicana Field on March 23, 1999 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Huskies defeated the Blue Devils 77-74. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Impact on UConn

This move is better fit for UConn geographically, but it is really about restoring the Huskies to the national standing they had while being members of the Big East.

UConn did win a national championship as members of the American under Kevin Ollie in 2014, yet that was with a roster consisting of players that had committed under Calhoun while the program was still in the Big East.

Since then, the basketball program has gradually gone downhill. They only have one NCAA Tournament appearance in the five years since (2016) and have gone three straight seasons without a winning record.

Recruiting struggles have played a role in that. It has been harder for them to attract the level of talent they had previously. They are no longer playing in big games on a consistent basis in the American, have no traditional longstanding rivalries to pitch recruits on being a part of as they had in the Big East, and players from the school’s recruiting base in the Northeast don’t get to play as many games in front of friends and family (sometimes UConn travels halfway across the country to play Wichita State, Tulsa, Houston, etc.).

The women’s basketball and football programs haven’t been affected by the move, either. Heck, Geno Auriemma’s women’s team has not lost a conference game since joining the American and would probably like a step up in competition.

On the flip side, the football program hasn’t had a winning season since joining the AAC, has only won more than three games once, and has become one of the worst programs in the sport. And that’s what this is about. The school is done sacrificing its basketball program in an effort to become relevant in football.

It just hasn’t worked for UConn. The women’s program will dominate no matter where it plays, the prestige of the men’s program has diminished along with the on-court product dropping, and the supposed benefits from football have been non-existent (remember when they made the Fiesta Bowl as members of the Big East in 2010? Feels like a lifetime ago.).

The football program will have to find a new conference or play as an independent, something the school is still working through. But, with no real positives coming from that program, UConn is willing to deal with uncertainty in that area for the restoration of men’s basketball.