Busting Brackets
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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) /
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HARTFORD, CT – MARCH 11: A detail of Vance Jackson #5 of the Connecticut Huskies’ shoes during the semifinal round of the AAC Basketball Tournament at the XL Center on March 11, 2017 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CT – MARCH 11: A detail of Vance Jackson #5 of the Connecticut Huskies’ shoes during the semifinal round of the AAC Basketball Tournament at the XL Center on March 11, 2017 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Winner: UConn’s identity

UConn is a basketball school, point-blank period.

It’s what they’re most known for, both on the men’s and women’s side, and it’s what the fan base and boosters care the most about. Moving to the American hurt that identity.

The Huskies were expected to prop up the validity of the AAC as a basketball conference, which they did originally by winning the national championship in 2014, but the American hurt the program more than the program helped the American.

Recruiting was a struggle and the program largely dropped out of the spotlight playing in a mid-major conference (although the AAC is largely considered to be the best mid-major conference). Prospects in the Northeast mostly wanted to stay and play other teams in the region (most of the AAC’s teams are in the South and Midwest) and it was harder to convince top-end players to turn down power-conference offers to play in the American.

In reality, the move was about making UConn’s football program more viable. They moved from the FCS ranks to the FBS in 2000 as a member of the Big East and made the Fiesta Bowl in 2010, but didn’t experience much success outside of that – and haven’t since. The program actually loses money for the school.

Making the move back to the Big East, which doesn’t have football, shows that the school is getting back to its roots as a basketball school and embracing their identity instead of trying to be something else.