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Money isn't Everything

2013-06-17T13:36:09Z

Alright, so now that I’ve begrudgingly reached the acceptance phase of the conference realignment grieving process, there’s something I want to address that’s become a running theme throughout this year’s realignment hysteria that’s started to bug me.

Throughout this whole process, the most talked about aspect of realignment has been money. How schools in the ACC are going to get $20 million per year, schools in the Big Ten and SEC even more, and schools in The American something like $2 million per year, less than even lowly DePaul will be getting from the new Big East (which is actually almost as hilarious as it is infuriating.)

Now, that fact obviously annoys me, what bugs me even more is the notion that because those big conference schools are going to be raking in more money annually than UConn, we’re ultimately going to become non-competitive in the long run as those schools gradually get richer and richer and eventually crush UConn under the weight of their colossal mountain of cash.

And when I say big conference schools, naturally I’m including Boston College, Washington State, Colorado and Northwestern, just to name a few of the schools who have been cleaning house, taking names and dominating the standings in just about every sport these past few years thanks to their giant TV revenue deals.

Give me a break.

As great as it would be for UConn to get to sit on top of a giant pile of Benjamins every year, the truth is having gobs of cash doesn’t necessarily translate into athletic success. As difficult as it was to hear it at the time, Warde Manuel was absolutely right when he pointed out back in April that UConn has always been at a financial disadvantage to other schools, especially in the 90s when basketball was first breaking out.

“You know what? There are a lot of teams making more money than us that never won anything,” Manuel told the Hartford Courant. “Quote me on that.”

It’s true, just look at all the big conference schools that basically serve as cannon fodder for the power schools of their conference, especially in football. You have the schools I already mentioned, Minnesota, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, and a whole list of others that aren’t exactly getting a great return on their investment.

To use Boston College as an example again: They’ve seen their TV revenue increase from roughly $3 million to $12 million and now up to around $20 million over the course of their time in the ACC, and yet their football program has fallen off a cliff ever since Matt Ryan was drafted in 2008. And that’s before you take into account their train wreck of a basketball program. Outside of hockey, the ACC’s TV revenue hasn’t exactly turned BC into a powerhouse.

So if money isn’t the secret to success, what is? Well, college sports aren’t really that much different than their pro counterparts, or any other business for that matter. While having money helps, the most successful organizations aren’t the ones with the most money, but the ones that spend it the most effectively.

How do you do that? By hiring the right athletic directors, coaches and support staff who can bring in and cultivate talented players, raise money to build new facilities and drum up support to help build a fanbase. You don’t need to be the wealthiest school around to do any of that, and just because you can pay a guy the most money doesn’t guarantee he won’t turn out to be a disastrous hire either.

In terms of building a program on a budget, UConn has been very successful on this over the past 20 years. Back in the 80s, UConn was a podunk farm school with no tradition, no facilities and no money. Then they hired Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma, and together they wound up turning UConn into one of the premier destinations for basketball recruits across the country.

The team won, the money started to come in, and eventually the program established a tradition, and the beautiful thing about tradition is it can’t be bought, but it sure as hell can be sold, and now Auriemma and Kevin Ollie can both sell the school’s tradition to new recruits, along with the prospect of a pro career and the state of the art practice facility rising across the street from Gampel Pavilion.

There have been plenty of missteps along the way, the Jeff Hathaway and Paul Pasqualoni hirings in particular, but Louisville managed to survive three years of Steve Kragthorpe, so I don’t see why UConn can’t rebound from three years of Pasqualoni as well.

And that’s the thing, while the football program doesn’t have that winning tradition yet, or the right coach, it does have the facilities, which is usually the part having a lot of TV revenue helps with the most. Now if UConn can find the right coach, there’s no reason UConn couldn’t grow into a respectable program in its own right. Hell, if Boise State could do it, then anybody can with the right vision.

Even if the football program never makes “the jump,” UConn will still have the advantage of having built its brand on basketball first, and an elite basketball program is much less expensive to run than an elite football program. So even if The American winds up being UConn’s home for the future (gag), anyone who honestly thinks the Huskies are going to fall behind even the dregs of the big conferences needs to take a step back and a big deep breath.

We’re going to be ok.

Well… Unless of course the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit and others like it eventually cripple the NCAA and force schools to start paying players. Then the new reality where Kentucky is paying its whole men’s roster $7 million per year and Alabama’s football payroll is higher than the Detroit Lions’ could be a tougher one to overcome without a big TV contract.

But then again, those kids are probably getting paid that much under the table already anyway, so on second thought maybe not.

George Blaney Announces Retirement

2013-06-14T16:00:01Z

After 12 years as an assistant at UCONN and 43 (HOLY SHIT!) years as a college basketball coach, George Blaney announced his retirement yesterday at 73 years young.

We cannot thank George enough for bringing a wealth of experience to our coaching crew over the years and being critical in the transition from Calhoun to Ollie- serving as a mentor to the first year head coach. Blaney also took over head coaching responsibilities on an interim basis when Jimmy had health issues, a random suspension, etc. and (I heard) often ran practices.

Blaney played ball at The College of the Holy Cross and was drafted in the 4th round of the NBA Draft. His coaching career started in 1967 with short stints as head coach at Stonehill and Dartmouth before going to his alma mater where he was head coach for 22 years. After stops at Seton Hall and Rhode Island, he joined the UCONN staff in 2001.

Something that I always noticed when players spoke of him was how much he was loved by the players. If I were a real journalist I would fill this space with text conversations I had with former players to confirm this Stephen A. Smith style.

During his time at UConn the Huskies made 10 NCAA tournament appearances, winning 2 national championships.

Pasqualoni Watch!

2013-06-14T13:59:22Z

Hey, it's June. Middle of June, to be exact.

And since my favorite baseball team (Yankees) is seeing how many
has-beens and never-were players they can fit on one roster, I've
decided to turn my attention to a more enjoyable activity.

So …let's get the “Paul Pasqualoni Watch” going, baby!

I know, I know, it's too early to talk about whether Coach PP is gonna
go the way of the Dodo Bird at some point this season. We haven't even
gotten into the teeth of summer, let alone looking ahead towards fall.
Yet, this year is pivotal for UConn football and, consequently, their
grandfatherly coach who has the stain of back-to-back 5-7 season with
which to contend, and a school that is continuously touting UConn's
“best home schedule, ever.”

Now, if anyone followed my posts throughout the course of last year's
football season, you'll know that I'm not exactly the President of the
Paul Pasqualoni Fan Club. In fact, I'd probably be accused of being a
“hater” when it comes to Coach PP. Let me be clear: I think Pasqualoni
is a really good man and he's been a somewhat successful coach in the
past.

This isn't personal. I'd love to see Coach PP have success, I really
would. I'd love nothing more than to be forced to write a “I screwed
the pooch on this prediction” post sometime in late November ...I just
don't believe for a second that I'll have to.

See, I just don't think Pasqualoni is the right guy for the job. His
age plays a part, his pedestrian record at Syracuse over the last
several years of his tenure there plays a part, and the overall
ineptitude of the UConn program under his watch the last two years
(they lost to Western Michigan, twice) plays a big part.

Having said that, I completely get why AD Wared Manuel brought him
back. It is, after all, the fairest thing to do. It's the difference
between being a fan and an athletic director. I can rant about getting
rid of Paul Pasqualoni all I want, but I don't have to worry about
doing what's right by an employee.

Two years is a blink of an eye when it comes to college athletic
coaching, and not enough time to put “your” team on the field. I could
see Manuel deciding that Pasqualoni deserved at least the opportunity
to coach players he actually recruited, and I can't blame him for
that.

Yet, how long is the leash? How long should it be?
What does the fanbase expect? What would be good enough to satisfy the
masses when it comes to Coach PP?

We all have to answer that question ourselves and, yes, our answers do
matter. Warde Manuel has final say, and he seems like a strong enough
AD not to be at the beckon call of the fanbase, but make no mistake:
the louder the cat calls get, the harder it will be for Manuel to keep
his coach in place.

For me, I am looking at this year in two categories. First is the
actual win/loss record. To me, 5-7 just isn't cutting it, not with a
new, somewhat watered down American Athletic Conference in which to
compete. The bar has to be set at bowl or bust. This UConn team should
be able to reach those heights.

So, record-wise, what's a success?

Well, the top of the mountain, the dream of dreams would be 9 wins,
with one coming against either Lousiville or Michigan (from a
historical point of view, I'd probably rather have Michigan). That's
the utopian view of the season, and extremely unlikely to occur. I'd
obviously be extrememly happy with 8 wins, but would also take a 7
spot as well. To me, 7 should be the goal. I think that's very
doeable. If you figure wins against Townson, Buffalo, and Memphis as
sure things, and you assume that UConn is losing to Michigan and
Louisville, that leaves them to get four wins out of games against
Maryland, USF, Cincinnati, UCF, SMU, Temple, and Rutgers. Against that
competition, 4-3 shouldn't be a huge obstacle. Not if you're a quality
team.

So, 7-5 to me is the minimum. Sorry, 6-6, one game better than last
year when you have so many winnable games on the schedule isn't
enough. Getting to 7 wins is, to me, the least he can do. I'd like to
see 8 as, if you're going to be nationally relevant you have to start
actually exceed expectations, but I'd deal with 7.
Besides the actual record, a successful season to me also involves the
style of play.

It wasn't just that UConn lost games the last two years. It's that
they played a style of offense that would have made Red Grange look
like a modern day football savant. It was run, run, pass short, punt.
That sequence would have actually counted as a successful offensive
series in most games, because it didn't result in a turnover or sack
for loss of 10.

Watching your team lose is tough. Watching them play pre-1920's style
offense made it unwatchable.

There has to be some spark on offense this year. They don't have to be
a reincarnation of the “greatest show on turf” or anything, but they
have to be able to score some points and run some plays that bring you
out of your seat. If they have the personnel to run a pro-style
offense, fine. Do that, and hit some bombs down the field for big
plays and long touchdowns. If you have to do a little more pitching
and running from the QB spot, then fine ...do that. Play that fun,
would-never-work-in-the-NFL offense that makes Saturday's so
enjoyable.Just do SOMETHING to keep our attention.

A lot of that will have to do with new offensive coordinator TJ Weist,
who replaces hated (at least by the fans, I'm sure his family likes
him) George DeLeone as the primary play caller on the team. Weist
comes over from the Bearcats, where Cincinnati ranked second in the
Big East in total offense, scoring 32.31 points per game and putting
up over 440 yards per contest.

Will Weist have as much success with UConn's personnel? Doubtful, but
anyone who could lead Cincy to those kinds of offensive numbers must
have a playbook that includes more than three dozen run up the middle
for a loss schemes.

It will also be interesting to see if former defensive coordinator Don
Brown is most responsible for UConn's stellar defense over the last
several years, or if Pasqualoni can get the same kind of production
out of a younger, less experienced group that will now be taking
direction from DC Hank Hughes.

Simply put, UConn needs to be a dynamic team on both sides of the
ball. Hopefully, that's enough to get them at least 7 wins. Maybe it
can get them 8. If it ever got them 9, sign Coach PP to a 10 year
contract.

Personally, I'm more than skeptical that Pasqualoni and company can
produce a 7-win, successful season. I'm even less convinced that the
team can provide offense and defense that can be defined as “dynamic.”
If that's the case, does Pasqualoni need to be shown the door?
Personally, I say yes, but keep in mind I would have fired him after
last year. To me, year three is do or die.*

AAC Tournament to be Held in Memphis

2013-06-11T21:26:38Z

The worst kept secret in sports has finally become official: the first AAC Men’s Basketball tournament will be held in Memphis, TN. We can waste time bemoaning the fact that we’ve gone from competing with the toughest conference in the NCAA at Basketball Mecca to playing god knows who in the middle of nowhere. But at the end of the day, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.

I wanted to refrain on commentary until this became official (by the way, if you like irony, check out the official announcement made on bigeast.org). One of the positives is that the FedEx Forum is right off of historic Beale St. which offers a rich nightlife experience (I have heard).

While it is not geographically ideal for us, it also isn’t for most of the conference! Huzzah! Not counting the host school there are 9 other members. Fans from two schools are within a reasonable driving distance (Louisville is about 5 hours away and Cincinnati is 7). Fans from the general area of the other 7 schools (Temple, UConn, Rutgers, UCF, USF, Houston, SMU and Tulane) are all looking at flights or epic road trips. Luckily for students, that week typically falls into Spring Break (tourney is March 12-15), so maybe a good amount of them can make it over.

I’m a subscriber of the “when you try to please everyone, you please no one” school of thought, so the fact that most fans will have to take a plane to get to this seemingly equidistant location is a major detractor. They should have tried to do it in a location that would at least be convenient for a few of the conference members instead of just one, perhaps Philadelphia or even Tampa. Or, a neutral location would have been a good way not to give anybody an advantage; those options could have included Orlando, New Orleans (home of future member Tulane) or Indianapolis.

This problem isn’t going away; we’re losing Rutgers and Louisville then adding ECU, Tulane, Tulsa and I think University of Phoenix Online. There are basically four clusters of members: The Northeast (CT, Temple), Florida (USF, UCF), The South (SMU, Houston, Tulane), and the scrambled “mid-eastern-y” hodgepodge (Memphis, Cinci, ECU). I’m not sure what the solution is, but personally I’d love to see a major city like Atlanta, Washington DC or New Orleans in the interest of being as accessible/awesome as possible and developing a presence across the country.

Overall, though I’m not very pleased with this decision I will probably convince myself to go if anything to check out Memphis since I’ve heard good things about the BBQ and Beale St.

(By the way APR Scores are out. We made it!)

Where Are They Now? Class of '06

2013-06-11T17:46:43Z

The 05/06 basketball team was one of the most, if not the most, talented in our history. With 4 1^st round picks and a solid rotation of role players, the sky was the limit for this loaded squad that was only 2 years removed from a national championship. We all know what happened, so no need to re-visit, but suffice it to say an Elite-Eight appearance was a huge disappointment given the combination of talent, experience and depth on the roster. For that reason it was pretty interesting, albeit a little disappointing, to see where the key members of this team are post-UConn.

Rudy Gay

The star of this class, Gay has turned out to be a much better pro than people thought he would be after his college career. A top talent who fell to 8^th overall due to concerns about his motivation and shooting range, Gay was immediately traded from the Rockets to the Grizzlies where he spent seven years putting up very consistent numbers since year 2 to the tune of 20 points, 6 boards and 2 assists for a playoff contender. In 2013 he was traded to the cellar-dwelling Raptors as part of a 3 way deal.

Hilton Armstrong

Taken 12^th overall by the Hornets, Hilton spent 4 years on the team not doing a whole lot, averaging 15 minutes per game behind Tyson Chandler. He bounced around with 4 different teams before signing with a French team for 2011-2012 and in Greece the following. He just finished up a season with the D-Leauge’s Santa Cruz Warriors, starting 24 games while averaging 13 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Marcus Williams

Drafted 22^nd overall, right after Rajon Rondo, Williams did 3 years on 3 teams in the NBA before shipping off to Russia for a one year contract. He spent the next year in China, in the same league at the same time as Boone, and currently plays for Unicaja Malaga alongside fellow 2006 draftee Fran Vasquez. It looks like the highlight of his career thus far has been a brief stint in the Puerto Rican Basketball League where he made the All-league first team, All-Star Game MVP, and Skills Contest Winner in the summer of 2009 before singing with the Grizzlies for the NBA Season.

Josh Boone

Boonie was taken 23^rd overall in the Draft, right after Marcus Williams. The fourth Husky picked in the first round that year, Boone’s career got off to a slow start. He did pretty well in the summer league that year (for whatever that’s worth) but couldn’t seem to get much traction in the league. He did a couple of years in China before signing with the Iowa Energy of the D-League in 2013, where he only played 2 games before sitting out the year due to injury.

Denham Brown

Taken 40^th overall by the Sonics, Brown played sparingly in the D-League for a few years and did stints in Turkey, Italy, Philippines, Poland, Argentina, Romania and mother Canada. He is currently in Romania.

Ed Nelson

Despite the runaway success of “Pickup Truck”, Big Ed chose to pursue a career in professional sports. He actually signed as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Rams to tryout as a Tight-End, but that was a short lived experiment. He was soon playing ball in Europe before settling in Argentina where he has been playing since 2008, winning the league scoring title his first year. Seriously though, I love "Pickup Truck"

Rashad Anderson

UConn’s career leader in three-pointers, Rashad went undrafted by the NBA (personally, I had a very hard time believing he couldn't be a Kyle Korver) ultimately ending up in Italy where he actually led Serie A in scoring for the 08/09 season. He was picked 9^th overall in the D-League draft in 2009 by the Iowa Energy, though he ended up being bought out by an Italian team where he finished the rest of the season. After stops in Latvia, Iran and Lebanon, he settled in Venezuela where he plays for Cocodrilos de Caracas.

So besides Rudy Gay, not a whole lot of success at the NBA level among this group. Nevertheless, I think Boone and Armstrong have a shot of developing into competent big men. One needs to remember that the looming lockout and actual work stoppage had a pretty significant effect on the career arc of developing players. Certainly you wouldn't expect the 12^th overall pick to be a fringe player after 4 years, but better to spend some time overseas or in the D-League playing consistently rather than wasting away on the bench in the NBA as so many promising players before them have. If you weren't a lock for a starting role in the NBA, or even a roster spot, then why would you pursue that given the uncertainty of the labor situation? That’s why Boone ended up in China and is now in the D-League to prove his mettle, same with Armstrong. We’ll keep tabs on them as they (hopefully) make their name in the D-League and onto NBA rosters.

Success Through Adversity: UConn Hockey's 2012-13 Season

2013-06-10T14:14:36Z

The most successful season in UConn Hockey history came during the most trying year the program had ever faced. Fresh off the announcement that their program would join Hockey East in two years; the Huskies faced elevated expectations under a widening spotlight. Since the 2008-2009 season, the Huskies had never retained the same coaching staff, until David Berard and Rich McKenna returned for the start of the 2012-13 campaign. With a full offseason to work with, Berard and McKenna set about bringing in their first incoming class. "I spoke the majority of the time with Coach Berard," freshman defenseman Chris Bond said. "He talked about the changing culture. They were trying to bring in kids who would mold into that culture. The family and winning aspects were what I was looking for; I loved the school right away."

The Huskies were trending upwards, as evidenced by the recently departed Cole Schneider, who had signed at the end of the year with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. "They used Cole to show the direction of the program," standout freshman Kyle Huson recalled. "They wanted impact guys who could build for the future. It was very attractive to be able to come in and play as a freshman."

Schneider was one of ten Huskies who would not return to the team for the start of the 2012-13 season; their spots replaced by the ten man freshman class. The Huskies were set to continue their improvement, but success would not come easily to start.

Things started differently for UConn, even before the team set foot on the ice. Each member arrived in early July, a month before they had normally arrived in years past, one of the changes imposed by the coaching staff. The extra time was beneficial to both freshman as well as veterans, including senior Captain Sean Ambrosie. "We got to know everyone, get a feel for each other," Ambrosie said. "We gelled earlier and I think that helped us out later on."

The early start was beneficial for the incoming freshman as well. "It was huge to get here. A lot of us hadn’t taken classes in 2-3 years," Kyle Huson said. "To get in the weight room, on the same workout routine and build team chemistry was huge."

After a tumultuous offseason, Ambrosie felt much more comfortable in his second year as team captain, helped in part by the addition of Alex Gerke to the captaincy role. "We tried to set a good example, put the time and work in. We tried to have some fun when we weren’t in school too," Ambrosie said.

High expectations were set by the returning Huskies as well as the coaching staff, targeting team success as well as individual growth. "We knew we would be a good team. We had a good class coming in, so expectations were high," sophomore winger Trevor Gerling said. Gerling was one of the Huskies set to explode onto the scene, part of the seven returning Huskies who would record career high point totals this season. "I wanted to be more responsible in our defensive zone and contribute more offensively," said Gerling, who scored the second-most goals on the team this year. "We improved in our defensive zone and it allowed us to spend more time in the offensive zone and on the forecheck."

The UConn season got off to a rocky start, as the Huskies went winless through their first five games, the only bright spot a being a tie against #8 Union in their home opener. After a 3-0 defeat on November 2^nd at Niagara University, the Huskies had a team meeting with the coaching staff to figure out the direction the team was headed. "I think the first meeting we had was because we weren’t being responsible off the ice individually. We weren’t doing what we had to do to win hockey games," Ambrosie recalls.

With a young team, the UConn staff was tasked with helping a number of rookies adjust to the college level. One of those was Skyler Smutek, a sophomore defenseman who had not been allowed to play the previous season due to an eligibility issue. "It was like re-learning how to play the position again," Smutek said. "I had to compete and battle in the defensive zone. My only real goal was to get into the lineup; so it was unreal to be a part of the ride this season."

Smutek was one of the eleven first year players to get ice time this season, a testament to the youth that was a driving force to the Huskies this season.

The adversity facing the UConn team would only increase after that point. After returning home from Niagara Head Coach Bruce Marshall would announce that he was taking an indefinite medical leave of absence, with Coach Berard to assume his responsibilities. Despite losing Marshall, the head coach at UConn for the past 25 years, Ambrosie felt the transition was smooth. "Coach Berard’s role didn’t change at all. When he was the assistant, he ran most of the systems and practice. The team bought into him and he did a tremendous job keeping us focused," Ambrosie said.

A re-evaluation of the team’s strengths took place that about that same time. "We sat in the locker room and evaluated who we were as a team," sophomore forward Brad Smith said. "We had speed as a team and wanted to incorporate that into our game."

With Berard in control behind the bench, the Huskies won four of their next five games, including a road game against future Hockey East opponent Merrimack, as well as the program’s first sweep over the defending conference champion Air Force Falcons. "After the Niagara series, we could have just gone down, but we fought," Ambrosie, who scored the game winning goal against Merrimack, said. "I think that was one of the nicest goals of my career. It was a great win, the best feeling of my career to that point. It was Coach Berard’s first win, so it was emotional; our class had been trying to do that for three years."

The Huskies started rolling, playing good hockey heading into the Christmas break. "Our first five games were disappointing, but we could feel ourselves coming on heading into Christmas," Ambrosie said.

Brant Harris was a key that was finding his form around Christmas. After finishing second on the team in scoring the previous season and attending development camp with the Washington Capitals, Harris started his junior season snake bitten. "I had to just keep plugging away. I was playing well, so I just had to keep going," Harris said of his start.

Before the Christmas tournament, Harris had scored just one goal and one assist. From that point on, Harris scored 29 points in the final 24 games of the Huskies season, exploding to get the Huskies on track for a second half tear. The second half started strong again for Huskies, as they won their opening two games against Penn State before Bruce Marshall announced his resignation as Head Coach at UConn. Still, the Huskies didn’t blink and focusing on each game individually, even with an inter-state rivalry game against #4 ranked Quinnipiac in Hamden looming large. "It was extremely difficult not to look ahead to Quinnipiac, but the coaches kept us in the present," Ambrosie said.

Riding a national best 16 game unbeaten streak, the Bobcats got all they could handle from the Huskies before emerging with a 2-1 win. The Huskies came away disappointed but used their effort as a building block for their play moving forward. After taking three points from AIC, the Huskies were still searching to find the last piece of the puzzle to make a run. The Huskies came away from their next series with Rochester with a road split, but there was no satisfaction in that. The Huskies had a hostile week of practice before playing a home-and-home series against the Bentley Falcons.

Unfortunately for Bentley, they caught the Huskies at the wrong, as the Huskies beat them on the road before crushing them at home the following night 9-0. "I never thought I would be on the winning side of a game like that," Ambrosie said. "It was a statement game for us; that was when everyone got scared of us." The Huskies had come full circle from the beginning of their season and now believed they were capable of anything.

"There was no doubt from Christmas on about what we could do. We were consistent, we were rolling. Nobody could stop us," Kyle Huson said.

"It started from Coach Berard. He put it in our minds that we can win," Smith said. "Coach Berard did a good job of instilling that in us," Gerling said. "We weren’t the best or the deepest team but we trusted each other."

The UConn locker room was a family, perhaps nothing showed that better than when Chris Bond went down against Army February 22^nd due to a vicious hit to his head. Bond suffered a broken and dislocated jaw and spent the night in the hospital with his father, UConn trainer Ed Blair and David Berard. "I don’t know how many other coaches would have done that. Ed and Coach Berard were there until 5 in the morning and they didn’t need to be there. They were there because of how much they care about the guys here, it left a big impression," Bond said.

"In all of my years of playing, this was the closest group of guys I’ve ever played with," Smith said of the family feeling.

The Huskies went 4-1-1 from the Bentley game to the end of the regular season, finishing fourth in Atlantic Hockey and securing the program’s first ever opening round bye. "We locked in on it. To get the first round bye was a very rewarding feeling. It was something to be proud of," Ambrosie said.

The Huskies would host Robert Morris and once again were not favored to win the series despite being the higher seed and at home. "Everyone stayed focused. Any guy would do anything to get a win, we had total confidence in ourselves," Ambrosie recollected.

The Huskies locked up the series in two games, sending them to Rochester for the second time in three years with a legitimate chance to win a conference championship. "It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had," Ambrosie said. The Huskies would meet Mercyhurst University in the semifinals, falling 4-1 and ending an incredible season. "There were a lot of hugs and handshakes, a lot of goodbyes," Ambrosie said.

"We got written off a lot of nights, but we proved people wrong," Gerling said of the Huskies season.

There remain unanswered questions as the Huskies look towards from the future. The University looks for a permanent coach as the team transitions into college hockey’s best conference. David Berard will be among the candidates and has the confidence of his players behind him. "As a hockey player you want to win every game. There are times where you don’t want to win for a coach, you want to just win for the guys in the room," Brad Smith said. "We know how much time and passion Coach Berard put in. He pushed us to play as hard as we could. We wanted to win for him, from top to bottom, we were all in."

Coach Berard said in an interview before the playoffs "If you show your players you care about them, you can push them to any limit."

The Huskies felt that commitment and reacted to it. "That sums it up," Ambrosie said of the quote. "We saw his passion and the time he put in. Everything he did was unbelievable. He spent nights at the rink putting work in. He would’ve done anything for us, we saw that and that’s why we put in so much."

With Berard behind the bench, the Huskies went 19-10-3, secured the program’s best non-conference record and led UConn to their best record in the Division 1 era. A culture change started when David Berard and Rich McKenna came to UConn, where complacency was replaced with hunger and a family was created. Through adversity and heart, UConn overcame to conceive their program’s most successful season ever and leave a bright path for the future.

Was the post-season ban a good thing?

2013-06-06T15:39:51Z

As Aman has pointed out, last season’s post season ban is complete and utter bullshit. How can a committee make a rule and then use retroactive data to enforce it? Bad example: It’s as if the government re-instated prohibition and then penalized anybody who drank in the past 2 years (Hey, I said bad example). If the tournament ban has taught me anything, it’s that being honest about poor academics is unacceptable. The better option is to make up fake classes and forge transcripts. Apparently that’s totally fine.

However, unlike conference realignment, I think the tournament ban may not have been all bad. Here are a couple of reasons why the tournament ban may, I repeat may, have actually been a good thing.

1) A year of less pressure for Kevin Ollie

Given he had no contract, Kevin Ollie had plenty of pressure to impress his boss, whose primary concern seemed to be making sure our grades were up to par. He did not however have much pressure to appease the fans and media with wins and losses. This gave him the opportunity to coach how he wanted to and establish his system without worrying about the result, which I think we can all agree it went well. There is no way to know if he would have coached differently with a tournament bid on the line, but it’s not unrealistic to think he would have. Maybe his patience would have been thinner with struggling players that would eventually establish a rhythm, like Deandre Daniels. Speaking of D…

2) More minutes for Deandre Daniels

With no tournament ban, Roscoe Smith would not have transferred (I still can’t believe Roscoe transferred and not Daniels, who saw that coming?). And even though I love Roscoe (who can forget that full court heave with 9 seconds left), the emergence of Daniels was one of the brightest spots of the season. Daniels turned into a legitimate scorer who reminds me of a less athletic poor man’s Rudy Gay. Remember, he was a top 10 recruit (turned down offers from Kansas, Duke) who struggled with confidence and timing his freshman year. With Roscoe out of the picture, Daniels was able to figure out his game and emerge as the top player he was recruited to be. He outplayed Big East player of the year Otto Porter head to head. That would not have been possible if he was only playing the 15-20 minutes a game he would have if Roscoe was still around.

3) Shabazz as an established leader

No Roscoe and Alex Oriakhi opened the door for Shabazz to become the emotional leader of the team, not only for last season, but for the coming season as well. Think about all the past UConn championship teams. They've all rallied behind a single, established leader. Rip in 99, Emeka in 04, and Kemba in 11. Think about all the UConn teams with talented players but no established leader. 05-06, 09-10, and 11-12 come to mind. Teams are more successful when one player takes on the role of the leader. That’s just how sports works, especially basketball. With no Lamb, Roscoe, and Oriakhi, it was clear coming into the season who the leader was. Shabazz accepted the role, and ran with it.

4) A much more enjoyable team

Which team did you enjoy watching more, the 2012-2013 team that played with heart, pride and hustle? Or the 2011-2012 team that featured two lottery picks but just gave up (remember that Providence loss? Ugh.) It’s not unfair to say Oriakhi, and maybe even Lamb (with the NBA in his sights) were clubhouse cancers, and the team was just better off without them. Last year’s team was refreshing and enjoyable to watch. It reminded me why college athletics is so great. I fell in love with the 2012-2013 Huskies, a kind of love only rivaled by my love of Jennifer Lawrence.

I’m not trying to say the tournament ban was a good thing. I’m only saying it was not all bad. Conference affiliation aside, UConn basketball is in great shape. I feel a lot better about the team right now than I did this time last year. I wonder how much of that is because of the tournament ban.

Raising the AAC Flag

2013-06-04T13:50:03Z

Did you see the new logo for the American Athletic Con...—uhh, sorry, Mike Aresco—the American?

It's actually pretty good (link: http://theamerican.org/member-schools.html). Yeah, it's filled to the brim with red, white, and blue, so much so that you could probably hang it from your porch on the Fourth of July and fit right in with your neighbors, but for a conference that purposely went the blah root for a name, the logo actually has some appeal.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, because that logo and UConn's new, meaner, leaner Husky are suddenly tied at the waist. This is a shotgun marriage, and unfortunately for the Huskies, it appears it might just be “death do us part.”

If we are all being honest, there isn't a Husky fan in America (or the American) that thought the AAC and UConn would be anything more than a fling. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am was what was expected.

That's because, even though the pretty girl at the ball (the ACC) had shot down UConn's advances twice already, eventually the two would come together for some kind of John Hughes-esque union in the end, complete with cheesy 80s music playing in the background.

UConn made sense for the ACC and the ACC made perfect sense for UConn.

A Virginia defection here, a Clemson jump to the SEC there, and the Huskies would finally get their invite.

It was inevitable.

That was then.

This is now.

After the ACC tied all its members to a grants rights agreement that guarantees television money (now, and in the long future) stays with that conference no matter where the schools call home, college realignment stopped dead in its tracks. One report suggested that any ACC team that ups and leaves before the agreement expires (reportedly after the 2026/2027 season) could be forfeiting as much as $300 million. Safe to say, no one is doing that.

What it means for UConn is that, unless Notre Dame suddenly decides to abandon its precious football independence and join the ACC in all sports (giving it 15 teams and needing 16), the conference will stay at 14 and be happy to do so.

That's it. Goodnight Irene. Check and mate.

Now, if you're an eternal UConn optimist, this is where you make the case for the Big 10 going to 16 teams and inviting the Huskies along for the ride. Maybe the Big 10 wants more of a footprint in the Northeast, as well as in the New York and Boston markets. Perhaps they want an eastern division, with Penn State, which for so long complained about the lack of “neighbor” rivalries, suddenly buffeted by Rutgers, Maryland, and UConn.

While the ACC only saw what UConn IS as a football school, maybe the Big 10 will see what it CAN be, and could afford to be more patient because, unlike the ACC, it doesn't need to try and establish any kind of football reputation. And perhaps academics does matter and the Big 10 would like a highly-regarded institution with a terrific reputation for research in certain subjects.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's be honest, it ain't happening. We know that. We know it in our bones. The ACC was UConn's one trip out of the American, and a big, fat, tree has fallen along the path, and there isn't a chainsaw or blue ox in sight.

That means that, unless the Big 12 decides it wants to spread itself extraordinarily thin for no reason, or the SEC feels the need to have an outlier program in New England, UConn and the American are officially riding off into the sunset in a 1982 Gremlin with “Just Maried” painted on the back.

And here is the truth: this marriage has to work, for both parties.

I know I'm biased here, and I'm sure other bloggers on other sites will dispute what I'm about to say (they wouldn't be much in the way of fans if they didn't) but I think it's clear UConn is this new conference's most important member.

Why?

It's the only one with real, honest, actual brand name appeal.

I know from personal experience that when I visit other parts of the country, if UConn comes up in conversation, people know the school and its athletic history. They mention Jim Calhoun, Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, the 5 in 5 run at the Big East Tournament, the 1999 Championship against Duke (if they are old enough to remember). They know UConn. It has a name. It has a reputation. It has a brand people know.

For a conference that has none of that, UConn instantly becomes its flagship. Which AAC school (not counting Louisville, cause why should we) do you think is making the list for most appearances on ESPN and CBS next year? When those television partners request a game, who do you think they will want? UConn is in the 34^th biggest television market in the country (the biggest, by the way, without a professional sports team) and reaches into both the Boston and New York areas. And isn't it more likely that a casual fan is going to be interested in UConn as opposed to, say, Tulane?

Granted, UConn's name is built on basketball, and we know that football “drives the bus.” But, honestly, even on the gridiron, can you make the argument that the new American has a program that is far and away more attrative or recognizable nationally than UConn? Maybe Cincinatti, but they were routinely overshadowed in the old Big East. Houston? Down the road, maybe. Now, I doubt it. USF or UCF? Again, we are talking about now, not down the road.

Even in football, UConn's name is the most eye-catching.

That means the conference needs the Huskies to be a good football program. They desperately need UConn to continue being a great basketball program. They need that brand, at least initially, because the rest of the conference is devoid of it. That new, wolf-like Husky is probably going to get a lot of play in the first couple of years.

On the flip side, UConn needs the AAC to be better than people are predicting right now.

Granted, I'm a big believer that, if you take care of your own business you can overcome a mediocre conference. Boise State in football and everyone from Butler to VCU in basketball is a testament to that.

Yet it's fairly clear that, at least in football, conference goes a long way. I'm not worried about basketball. I have an absurd amount of confidence in Kevin Ollie, his ability to recruit, and his ability to coach. Plus, the AAC actually isn't that bad when it comes to the court. Along with UConn, Memphis is a top program, and Cincinatti and Temple are certainly formidable, tournament-quality programs. If you get a surprise jump from, say, a UCF and/or an SMU, both of which seem to be making basketball a big priority, the conference will be even more potent. And Tulsa believes in Danny Manning, so why not them as well?

It's football where things are shaky.

CFB is, in a lot of ways, the last bastion of the old boy’s network. Even the Masters are letting women through the door now, but college football is run by stuffy old guys making a lot of money off their brand. If you don't have the right name, right history, or right conference, breaking in to that club is damn near impossible. There's no NCAA Tournament that throws everyone into a meat grinder and asks them to “survive and advance.” This is invitation only, and if you're not playing for the right conference against the right opponents, your request for a seat at the table is getting an ugly “Return to Sender” stamped on it.

UConn needs its football program to build towards the future, but it also needs a lot of help. It needs the conference as a whole to establish a football reputation. It needs something to feed off of, and collective football victories are what's in the trough.

Who are the most likely candidates to help establish the conference's new football identity?

I'd say Houston has the best chance. They were a Conference USA Championship Game away from a trip to the BCS two years ago (non-automatic bid), they play in the right part of the country, and play in the right city. Houston just seems like it should play big time college football, doesn't it?

Cincinatti is also right at the top of the list. They have battled for Big East supremacy now for the last several years, and replaced their departing coach Butch Jones, who went to Tennessee, with Tommy Tubberville, someone with a reputation for high-octane offense who previously coached at Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and Auburn.

SMU could be interesting as there is some brand recognition there, although for all the wrong reasons. You remember SMU, don't you ...the only football program to be given the “death penalty” by the NCAA because they blatantly paid players for their services, even after being punished and reprimanded repeatedly for it back in the 1980s?

Well, that's not exactly a story you build on, but at least it's a name familiar to most in college football, and if the school can find a way to make itself attractive to some Texas kids, they could be a formidable program yet again.

And then there is South Florida. It seems that, for the last half decade USF has been predicted to be the new kid on the block of college football. Alas, it hasn't happened. The Skip Holtz era ended badly, and USF continues to be an up-tapped resource for college football relevancy. Maybe that changes.

Whatever the case, UConn will be asked to carry the biggest load of recognition on its shoulders early in the process. I have all the faith in the world that Kevin Ollie and his squad will do its part. Coach Paul Pasqualoni and company ….ahhhh, not so much.