The UConn Huskies shuffle the conference deck

Okay, so before I get to UConn, I have other exciting news ... The UMKC Roos (Missouri - Kansas City) will move back to The Summit League in 2020. And the Bellarmine Knights (Louisville) will move up to Division I and the ASUN Conference in the same year.

Okay, so our college sports fans probably aren't chomping at the bit for me to write about how I think the UMKC-Oral Roberts game might turn out in a couple of years. But UConn vs. Georgetown ... You might be a bit more interested.

The world of college sports turns on money, the footprint of the fan base, and ability of a school to bring its athletes and general mojo to a conference. This combination doesn't always give us the best rivalries and matchups day to day, however. From a fan and competition standpoint, I don't see Rutgers and Nebraska in the Big Ten, Texas and Texas A&M in separate leagues, and fourteen team mega conferences where some teams go for years without playing each other. 

Ever thought about the impact of Tennessee and Alabama being in separate divisions in the SEC? It led to the "common opponent" scheduling phenomenon by which one team in the East plays one team in the West every year. But it doesn't leave much room for the teams in opposite divisions to play.

And how about ten schools in the Big XII? Too few in my view. But these schools like their turf and didn't think that Houston, Rice, Memphis, Cincinnati, SMU, etc. deserved to be on it. So we get a half-baked conference title game where the top two teams rematch.

But this is what we have, and the NCAA and the institutions did not call me to see what I thought about it when these decisions were made. Some schools are at a big disadvantage because of where they play. Arkansas is a mighty tradition of "Call Those Hogs" football. But it doesn't even seem like a good coaching job these days when it plays in the same division as the Tide, LSU, and Texas A&M.

And then there is football versus non football. UConn is delighted to be headed back to the Big East. If you ask me, this should signal the end of football in Connecticut. The Huskies web site trumpets the news that football has contracted to play Duke in a home and home series in a few years. So apparently UConn football rolls on. But I don't think the world is eager to see Duke and UConn ... at least not in football.

Then there is the American Athletic Conference. As an alumnus of Memphis Law, I love my Tigers. So there may be some bias. But I also think the AAC has had a highly clever marketing philosophy of pitching itself as a "Power 6" conference and entering into a major contract with ESPN (which may have to be renegotiated since its membership is changing with UConn's departure). The league has Navy as a member in football only and Wichita State in all other sports. I would take a hard look at adding Army. If that doesn't work, there are all sorts of schools in Conference USA and the Sun Belt who would love to move to the "Power 6". I read one article that suggested Georgia State because of its large enrollment and Atlanta location. This is a valid school to consider.

The best setup from a fan standpoint is one that positions itself to develop rivalries among league members. This requires those members to be able to schedule games against each other regularly. In other words, 12 members in football playing in divisions. The two winners squaring off in a title game in early December. Basketball, baseball, and all other sports are more flexible because scheduling is not as complicated. The Pac-12 has the ideal arrangement. Its name even matches its number of member schools. 

Conferences develop strength over time with consistency and tradition. That is what drives major rivalries and turns close family members into opponents in the fall and winter months each year. 

So UConn may be thrilled with a return to the rich hoops tradition alongside Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, and DePaul. But this return to the Big East may signal big trouble for its football program, which could become the next FBS independent program in 2020.

James A. Rose
Publisher