UConn is about to lose its identity crisis. Storrs, Connecticut may be on the verge of becoming lively again on the hardwood.
And in a sense, all will be right with the world. Okay, not all, but a little more will be right with the world than a week ago.
For once, conference realignment will break in a way that makes sense, although not without complications. But those appear to be relatively minor in terms of their ability to be worked out, as a move back to the Big East in basketball and most other sports for the school is imminent.
Since leaving the Big East, UConn has become irrelevant on the hardwood with the men. Sure, the Huskies won a surprise national championship in 2014, their first year in the conference after the Big East split. But that looks more and more like a case of lightning in a bottle, as since then they have become no better than about the fourth-best program in the American Athletic Conference, one they should theoretically win, or contend to win, every year based on the membership. Instead, Cincinnati has grabbed that mantle, with SMU and Houston also there at times, the latter very much so at present. You wouldn’t be wrong to say that Temple and Wichita State are at least right there with them, if not ahead, and Memphis could be ready to at least catch them.
As this happened, attendance slid significantly, dipping below 9,000 per game each of the past three seasons after consistently topping five figures for years. Even in the 2012-13 season, when they were ineligible for postseason play, attendance averaged 10,728 per game. Gampel Pavilion hasn’t been the same of late.
Simply put, UConn does not fit in the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies have probably been the biggest loser of all schools in the rounds of conference realignment over the past decade or so, falling from a national power to an irrelevant program in a conference that is nowhere near the level of the one they used to annually contend for championships in. All of this for a football program that has never been relevant.
In the American Athletic Conference, the Huskies have struggled away from home, logging lots of air miles as the team furthest from the conference’s geographic center. This season, they were 1-8, winning only at East Carolina. They have had an especially hard time with road games at the outposts in Tulsa and Texas, having won just once in those states; that and many other challenges they have faced was especially well-covered over a year ago in a blog post that talked about whether or not firing Kevin Ollie would be a game-changer. The athletic department is also running a $40 million deficit this year, and that’s without adding in that they will almost certainly end up paying at least some of the nearly $10 million Ollie is owed.
The Huskies have not played many familiar opponents even in non-conference games since their Big East departure. Whereas Syracuse has played several former Big East schools such as Georgetown, St. John’s and Villanova and more recently the Huskies, UConn has not even played the likes of Boston College, Providence or UMass, or even St. John’s or Seton Hall – opponents in their general geographic area and that their fan base is familiar with. It goes beyond that, though: they haven’t even played one of the other Connecticut schools in a non-conference home game since they hosted Sacred Heart in December 2015.
This move makes too much sense. The Huskies will be back in familiar territory on the hardwood in terms of who they play, and that alone should goose fan interest. It should help recruiting, as they will be in a better basketball conference and playing teams they should be playing. It would provide significant travel relief as well, as they would have three opponents they could travel to by bus for road games while having none right now (Temple is a stretch). And it’s all happening at a time when there is some new energy around the program with Dan Hurley leading the way, although his first season started well and then fell apart. It was, however, year one, and perhaps one more sign that the Huskies are not in a good conference for them.
If UConn’s return to the Big East leads to a resurgence, that can help the Big East as well. One thing is for sure – the Big East Tournament will get better since UConn fans have been known to pack Madison Square Garden. They even did that during the national title run in 2014, when they won two big games there in the regional rounds to reach the Final Four. The Big East has fared a lot better than many thought after the split, but adding UConn should only help.
That UConn has fallen into irrelevance in recent years tells you how remarkable it is that they became a powerhouse given that the school is in the middle of nowhere. It also tells you the power of having a major conference that makes sense to help with recruiting, something they have lacked in the American Athletic Conference. There, they have had few familiar rivals, geographic disadvantages and then tried to sell recruits on getting to play the likes of East Carolina, South Florida and Tulane. With that, it’s not all that surprising that they were not getting one big-time prospect after another in recruiting like they did at the height of their run under Jim Calhoun.
The Huskies are certainly not near the place they were when they left the Big East in 2013, but there is hope of a resurgence. Having Hurley is a start, but being in familiar territory should also help with recruiting, and that would be one more step in that direction. It never hurts to get rid of an identity crisis in any context in life.
