283 replies to this topic

[LeftyTG]

when Drummond put back one of the great dunks I've ever seen, I thought we had it won. But Napier is so jekyl and hyde. One game he'll be hot from the floor and make great passes and the next he puts up a complete stinker and makes brutal decisions. And Lamb of course was again too passive.

the turning point in this game was the 2-on-1 with Boatright where Napier wanted to put it all on himself and puts up a stupid shot. If he passes it to Boatright i'ts an easy 2. So instead of going up 6, Napier misses the shot and a few seconds later Syracuse hits a wide open 3.

UConn could have been up 6 and maybe Beoheim calls a timeout to all of a sudden UConn only going up 1. And then we just fell apart after that.

I agree. That was one of the best put back dunks I've ever seen. This video doesn't seem to do it justice, compared to watching it in the moment, but here it is.

[ivanvamp]

I agree. That was one of the best put back dunks I've ever seen. This video doesn't seem to do it justice, compared to watching it in the moment, but here it is.

That was amazing. It would have been nice if a Syracuse player had even acknowledged that he was back there and tried to box him out.

Can you show a video of Drummond's put-back on the free throw where he took his forearm and drove it into CJ Fair's upper back, knocking him forward a few feet, which allowed him to get the rebound? ;-)

[StuckOnYouk]

That was amazing. It would have been nice if a Syracuse player had even acknowledged that he was back there and tried to box him out.

Can you show a video of Drummond's put-back on the free throw where he took his forearm and drove it into CJ Fair's upper back, knocking him forward a few feet, which allowed him to get the rebound? ;-)

Sure right after I show you the BS lack of an over-the-back call where Melo raped Oriakhi when he was about to get the board and the refs beautifully called Oriakhi a second later for his 4th foul on triche when the ball comes loose. Oriakhi missed most of the remaining 11 minutes down the stretch because of that at a time where UConn was still up 6. Big no-call.

[LeftyTG]

That was amazing. It would have been nice if a Syracuse player had even acknowledged that he was back there and tried to box him out.

Can you show a video of Drummond's put-back on the free throw where he took his forearm and drove it into CJ Fair's upper back, knocking him forward a few feet, which allowed him to get the rebound? ;-)

Dude, I'm a Syracuse fan and on your side, but come on. It was a great game between two great Big East rivals, perhaps for the last time in the BET. Drummond's dunk was amazing and there's nothing wrong with acknowledging it without having to point out stuff that happens every single game.

[ivanvamp]

Sure right after I show you the BS lack of an over-the-back call where Melo raped Oriakhi when he was about to get the board and the refs beautifully called Oriakhi a second later for his 4th foul on triche when the ball comes loose. Oriakhi missed most of the remaining 11 minutes down the stretch because of that at a time where UConn was still up 6. Big no-call.

You missed the "wink" emoticon. I fully realize that this was a classic Big East tussle where both sides had plays they wished the refs called differently. (this is for Lefty as well)

[Clears Cleaver]

Went to the game and have a couple of observations:
1) Syracuse is a huge team. they were 2 inches and 20 pounds bigger than every Uconn player at every postiion. Every Cuse player tried to post up, even Jardine
2) Lamb disappeared, partly due to his IQ and mostly due to Cuse overplaying him. The only shot he got in the second half was when they played him at the four and he flashed to the elbow like Olander and Smith. And his defnese was atrocious in THE second half. Joseph schooled him and twice he gave up the baseline and got Oriakhi into foul trouble
3) the refs called the second half of the game completely differently than the first half and it cost Uconn. They had five fouls in 5 minutes after having five fouls in the entire first half. syracuse got more aggressive at that point as well to their benefit
4) a lot of people were critical about Napier. He was totally gassed in the last 6 minutes. His biggest blunder was blowing that 30-1 break. A basket there changes the game. the final possesions no one helped him, no one moved at all. Partly being tired, partly due to guys like Giffey and Olander who don't play a lot in crunch time making bad passes
5) Olander missed 5 wide open shots inside 10 feet, the alst one was a 6-footer that had to be made
6) Thought it was one of the highest talent level games I've seen this year. Syracuse is the second best team I've seen this year and the only oen who I think can beat KY.
7) syracuse crowd dominated. not surprising becasue they knew they'd be playing Thursday. Lots of Orange
8) eveyone there was pissed that these two teams will likely never play a postseason game in the garden again. Sad.

[StuckOnYouk]

Well that's nice to hear because a lot of Cuse fans I've heard from or read are sh!tting all over the BE and gloating about going to the ACC.

It's going to be so bizarre to see Pitt and Cuse playing in Greensboro or Atlanta for their conference tournaments instead of MSG as early as next year. Travelling and getting tix will be a bitch compared to what they've got now. Meanwhile the BE is locking up MSG thru 2026 so any ideas Cuse fans may have had about someday bringing the ACC tourney to New York appear to be gone.

[ivanvamp]

Well that's nice to hear because a lot of Cuse fans I've heard from or read are sh!tting all over the BE and gloating about going to the ACC.

It's going to be so bizarre to see Pitt and Cuse playing in Greensboro or Atlanta for their conference tournaments instead of MSG as early as next year. Travelling and getting tix will be a bitch compared to what they've got now. Meanwhile the BE is locking up MSG thru 2026 so any ideas Cuse fans may have had about someday bringing the ACC tourney to New York appear to be gone.

I don't know if I have the story straight, but I think UConn spoke with the ACC about joining, but Boston College vetoed the idea, because of the way Calhoun went after them when BC left the BE for the ACC. Payback and all that.

[Clears Cleaver]

Well that's nice to hear because a lot of Cuse fans I've heard from or read are sh!tting all over the BE and gloating about going to the ACC. It's going to be so bizarre to see Pitt and Cuse playing in Greensboro or Atlanta for their conference tournaments instead of MSG as early as next year. Travelling and getting tix will be a bitch compared to what they've got now. Meanwhile the BE is locking up MSG thru 2026 so any ideas Cuse fans may have had about someday bringing the ACC tourney to New York appear to be gone.

LOL at the BE locking up MSG...seriously, there were about 100 cincy fans at the game. maybe 1,000 Louisville, 200 Marquette fans. ND had some fans. In 2014 the BET tournament is basically garbage (Louisville will be gone to the B12). What is the marqe game, Uconn vs Gtown? StJ? the BET is one of the best things in college sports and its gone in a year. IF Uconn were to ever elave the Big East it would be a total joke

[Otto]

LOL at the BE locking up MSG...seriously, there were about 100 cincy fans at the game. maybe 1,000 Louisville, 200 Marquette fans. ND had some fans. In 2014 the BET tournament is basically garbage (Louisville will be gone to the B12). What is the marqe game, Uconn vs Gtown? StJ? the BET is one of the best things in college sports and its gone in a year. IF Uconn were to ever elave the Big East it would be a total joke

This post is depressing. Totally correct, but depressing. Responding to a post upthread, this Syracuse fan isn't gloating about switching conferences. The BET is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, even the 2012 version of it. I look forward to and plan around games like yesterday (even traveling to NYC for the games when I can).

[StuckOnYouk]

I don't know if I have the story straight, but I think UConn spoke with the ACC about joining, but Boston College vetoed the idea, because of the way Calhoun went after them when BC left the BE for the ACC. Payback and all that.

It was the ACC who brought up UConn in their expansion meetings and DeFillipo immediately squashed it. UConn didn't actively pursue the ACC until they saw that Cuse and Pitt were bolting, which took UConn's two biggest rivals away from them. As for BC not wanting us in, it didn't have anything to do with Calhoun calling them out for dealing behind the conference's back twice. They want UConn to die on the vine. They can't do that on the court or probably not even on the football field now. So the next best way to cut the throat of the 800 pound gorilla in your backyard is to cut off the supply to his bananas.

I'm not sure what your comment had to do though with THE idea that Cuse and Pitt playing deep in Dixie for their conference tournaments will be bizarre and not nearly as easy or fun or cheap to travel to.

[LeftyTG]

This post is depressing. Totally correct, but depressing. Responding to a post upthread, this Syracuse fan isn't gloating about switching conferences. The BET is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, even the 2012 version of it. I look forward to and plan around games like yesterday (even traveling to NYC for the games when I can).

I'm with you here. My head knows why Syracuse is leaving for the ACC and I agree they had no choice. Still, I can't help but hate the idea of Syracuse basketball playing in the ACC. I've always appreciated and respected UConn as an opponent and rival, and it saddens me if this is the last time the two teams will play in the BET.

[ivanvamp]

It was the ACC who brought up UConn in their expansion meetings and DeFillipo immediately squashed it. UConn didn't actively pursue the ACC until they saw that Cuse and Pitt were bolting, which took UConn's two biggest rivals away from them. As for BC not wanting us in, it didn't have anything to do with Calhoun calling them out for dealing behind the conference's back twice. They want UConn to die on the vine. They can't do that on the court or probably not even on the football field now. So the next best way to cut the throat of the 800 pound gorilla in your backyard is to cut off the supply to his bananas.

From (http://blog.syracuse...tic_direct.html): Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo, who was part of the 12-member ACC expansion committee, admits he played at least some role in denying UConn an invitation.
“We didn’t want them in,’’ DeFilippo told The Boston Globe. “It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.’’
So yeah, you were right. Good call. Very nice of BC....

I'm not sure what your comment had to do though with THE idea that Cuse and Pitt playing deep in Dixie for their conference tournaments will be bizarre and not nearly as easy or fun or cheap to travel to.

I'm not sure it had anything to do with it at all. I think I was more just responding to the fact that SU and Pitt were going to the ACC, and I was reminded that there were rumors of UConn potentially going there too. No biggie.

[StuckOnYouk]

LOL at the BE locking up MSG...seriously, there were about 100 cincy fans at the game. maybe 1,000 Louisville, 200 Marquette fans. ND had some fans. In 2014 the BET tournament is basically garbage (Louisville will be gone to the B12). What is the marqe game, Uconn vs Gtown? StJ? the BET is one of the best things in college sports and its gone in a year. IF Uconn were to ever elave the Big East it would be a total joke

You have to be the most depressing, pessimistic, sky is falling thing to touch this thread every year.

The Big East is about to lock up MSG for an additional 10 years on top of their current 5 year deal. If you want to mock the new Big East conference its the "in-thing" to do. But my point was that it looks like the Big East will own NYC as their tournament home for the next 15 years. I'm sure there were some Cuse fans and maybe Pitt fans holding out hope that Swoffords talk about revolving to MSG every 2 or 3 years would happen and it won't. It's a legendary basketball arena that is now off their list.

I don't think the Big East's basketball conference is going to be that bad at all. It will obviously miss Cuse greatly, no way around that. And to a lesser extent Pitt although I really think Pitt basketball will be harmed by the move to the ACC. They love to recruit in the NYC hotbed and I wonder if those kids will want to stay closer to home and stay in the BE and play at MSG. Also, Pitt's violent style of play will not sit well with the ACC style of play.

Is it really bad that we're replacing them with Temple and Memphis considering what else is out there? I know they aren't playing in basketball heavyweight conferences but at least they're doing well. Temple is ranked 22/24 in both polls and Memphis is right on the cusp of both polls. Would anyone be completely shocked if one of those teams wins 1 or maybe even 2 games in this year's NCAA tourney? And it doesn't take a genius to realize that they're recruiting and play will pick up once they are officially added to the Big East.

It will take a while for those rivalries to grow with the old BE teams like UConn, Georgetown, St. John's, etc. but I'm not going to just piss all over the conference without giving it a chance to show itself. Notre Dame, Marquette and Cincy are all very good, well coached teams as well.

I'd much rather Cuse and Pitt stay but if we're going to add two bball schools to replace them, temple and memphis are pretty good acquisitions.

Edited by StuckOnYouk, 09 March 2012 - 11:15 AM.

[StuckOnYouk]

I'm with you here. My head knows why Syracuse is leaving for the ACC and I agree they had no choice. Still, I can't help but hate the idea of Syracuse basketball playing in the ACC. I've always appreciated and respected UConn as an opponent and rival, and it saddens me if this is the last time the two teams will play in the BET.

Everyone talks about the Duke/UNC rivalry, but Cuse and UConn's games in the conference tourney's can't be matched by anyone. An incredible run of great games, every one of them. It sucks, there's no way around it. I hate conference expansion goddamit

[LeftyTG]

Everyone talks about the Duke/UNC rivalry, but Cuse and UConn's games in the conference tourney's can't be matched by anyone. An incredible run of great games, every one of them. It sucks, there's no way around it. I hate conference expansion goddamit

This is true, and why I was cursing Seton Hall when they choked against DePaul and put UConn in Syracuse's part of the bracket, and why I cursed WVU when they lost the game in overtime. Truth be told, I was fully expecting to lose that game yesterday, which is odd given the records of the two teams. I just knew that UConn is incredibly talented and would get up for the game, and Syracuse and UConn almost always play great BET games. I remember several years where UConn was elite and Syracuse a notch below, but it seemed Syracuse could still always grab at least one game against UConn in any given year. I thought UConn would do the same yesterday. Obviously I'm happy with the result, and after Melo did the braindead foul in the last minute leading to the four point play, I fully expected the game would go to OT. It just won't be the same beating up on most of the ACC and being the third wheel in the Duke/UNC hypefest.

[ivanvamp]

Everyone talks about the Duke/UNC rivalry, but Cuse and UConn's games in the conference tourney's can't be matched by anyone. An incredible run of great games, every one of them. It sucks, there's no way around it. I hate conference expansion goddamit

Blame college football. It's what's driving all this.

For the record, I hate SU's move to the ACC as well, though I think in the end it will be good for them. I would like to see UConn come as well and then have schools like GT, St. Joseph's, Villanova, St. John's, etc., form a tremendous non-football conference and not even worry about football.

[tims4wins]

GT, non-football? Huh?

[Clears Cleaver]

Listen, Lousiville is great at basketball too and have been in the conferecne for ten+ years and their games still pale for compared the Syracuse games and Pitt games. it is what it is. Memphis? whatever, its a commuter school like USF. Temple will be good, sure, but I don't think UConn has ever played them. I feel those schools match up well with STJ, not UConn.

MSG is great, it is really the only good thing the Big East does. I just hope and pray that Boise and SDSU and Houston and SMU decide to join the now-BCS eligible great Big whatever the merged conference will be and the Big East implodes and UConn ends up with nothing, forcing them to sue everyone in sight and they get invited to the ACC or Big 10 out of mercy. If not, well then it will suck going forward. The ACC would be smart to have the old Big East as their north division. Imagine the juice for that tourney?

There is no sugar coating it. The relevency of the Big East in basketball is largely gone after next year, the same time it is likely Calhoun steps down. What is the lead program? who is the national draw? ND?

Edited by Clears Cleaver, 09 March 2012 - 02:58 PM.

[LeftyTG]

GT, non-football? Huh?

pretty sure by GT he means Georgetown, not Georgia Tech (i had the same reaction as you at first).

[tims4wins]

pretty sure by GT he means Georgetown, not Georgia Tech (i had the same reaction as you at first).

Good call

[ivanvamp]

Good call

Lefty nailed it. Sorry...should have been clearer.

[SaveBooFerriss]

I am far from an expert on UConn or Calhoun, but I hae a hard time seeing Calhoun returning next year at his age, with his health problems and the issue of the ban from postseason play.

[Williams Head Case]

I expect him back solely because he does not want to go out on a note like this.

[RedOctober3829]

He committed to UConn as a sophomore in high school and won a national championship as a sophomore in college.
But Alex Oriakhi, the anchor on the low-block during that unforgettable run in 2011, will finish his college career somewhere other than Storrs.
Oriakhi will seek a transfer for his senior season, his father, Alex. Sr., told Hearst Connecticut Media Group. He informed the coaching staff and athletic director of his decision Wednesday afternoon, Alex Oriakhi Sr. said.
"Alex will transfer because of the NCAA tournament next year," Alex Oriakhi Sr. said.
If UConn remains banned from the 2013 NCAA tournament because of its subpar academic progress rating, Oriakhi will not be forced to sit out a year. The NCAA grants waivers for student-athletes with remaining eligibility concurrent to the postseason ineligibility of their previous institution.

http://www.ctpost.co...p#ixzz1pmmxxrEi

[BigSoxFan]

We promise to take good care of him.

[Clears Cleaver]

Predicted starting lineup for Uconn in 2012-3?
Pg-boatright
Sg-Calhoun
Sf-roscoe
Pf-olander
C-Wolf

Napier, lamb and Drummond go pro. Giffey goes pro in Germany, and oriakhi and Daniels transfer.

Sweet. But Shaka would be the coach coming in so it's all good. Lol.

[StuckOnYouk]

Oriakhi was such a frustrating player to watch. Played very well in big games during the national championship run last year but then would have games where he would miss layup after layup and get moved around quite a bit....

I'm not suprised to see him go, but what happens if this ban is overturned next year, does he have to sit out a year?

Unless Ollie absolutely wanted the job I could see UConn going out and grabbing Smart in a year or two. There was a tweet rumor yesterday that Smart was going to pass on the Illinois job because he had his eyes on the UConn job in a year. Then today he officially passes on the Illinois job. We'll see.

Edit: Never mind, he doesn't have to sit out a year

Edited by StuckOnYouk, 21 March 2012 - 05:53 PM.

[RedOctober3829]

Say it ain't so.....

Tate George indicted by a Newark grand jury for allegedly orchestrated a $2M real estate ponzi scheme. Could get up to 20 years in prison.

https://twitter.com/#!/darrenrovell/status/183219469903073280

[Clears Cleaver]

the Tate story came out last year. he was indicted, but was arrested last year. not good.

[RedOctober3829]

Less than a week after he informed UConn of his intentions to leave the program, Alex Oriakhi has been granted his wish.
A UConn spokesperson said Tuesday that Oriakhi has officially been released from his scholarship, which means he can begin talking to prospective schools.
A source close to the situation said Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri and Duke are among the teams that have contacted Oriakhi. There appears to be mutual interest with the first three, but it seems unlikely that Oriakhi will consider Duke.

http://www.ctpost.co...p#ixzz1qPyPnRgg

[Rocco Graziosa]

Ok, so let me make sure I have this straight. UConn will be ineligible for the post season next year because their acedemics were substandard over a 3 year period? Or something like that? And Uconn is the ONLY team in the nation that will recieve this penalty? Or are there others that I have missed? Are they eligible for the BE tournament??

Will Calhoun really coach this team to nowhere next year and start over in 2013? I can't imagine he would be interested in that. I know I wouldn't.

I fear this program is going to sail right into Seton Hall like mediocrety the moment he leaves.

[Vinho Tinto]

I fear this program is going to sail right into Seton Hall like mediocrety the moment he leaves.

Pretty much. College sports is so dependent on the head coach. Even Duke and UNC are not above going into the tank without a great coach.

[Clears Cleaver]

wait, what do you mean? stuck in a shit conference with no coach and dwindling fan base in a city that is dying? sounds like a dream job to me

Calhoun had told people he wanted to stick around to make sure the practice facility was done (the money is raised, ground is broke). If they are ruled to be out of the 2013 tourney (the Big East would ahve to then decide if they are out of the last ever meaningful BET), then I can't see Daniels, Drummond or Lamb returning. Napier either, if Calhoun hints at retiring.

The next coach hire is pretty much a make or break for the program (and maybe the athletic department if there is a new wave of mergers...Uconn looks a lot more attractive with shaka smart than Paul Pasqualoni equivalent, right?).

[ivanvamp]

wait, what do you mean? stuck in a shit conference with no coach and dwindling fan base in a city that is dying? sounds like a dream job to me

I take the opposite view. I would think that UConn would be a very desirable place to go. Normally you don't want to be the man to replace "the man", but in this case, I have to say, Calhoun isn't beloved here in CT like some other guys are at their schools. He just isn't. A lot of people like the success, but not that many people I know love Calhoun. UConn still has great national drawing power and history, and they'll have absolutely first-rate facilities. The Big East will still be a terrific basketball conference - any conference with Marquette, Louisville, Villanova, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, etc, is going to be excellent with a ton of media exposure. And the 2013 postseason ban will actually take the pressure off the next coach to win right away. It will allow him to take a couple of years to build the program knowing that it's ok to have a down first year since they're not playing postseason ball no matter what.

I think there would be plenty of outstanding coaches that would love to take that next step to a school like UConn.

[Clears Cleaver]

The conference will not have great media exposure. thsoe schoiols you jsut mentiojned do absolute shit ratings. theya re small schools with regioanl presence at best. Gtown hasn't been rleevent nationally in decades. the talent level might be good but the ratings, and TV contract, will not be. ESPN not going to place this conference in prime viewing times. The aCC and SEC will be taking more and more of the prime spots.

Now, saying all that, Uconn is a better job than what Shaka has. thing is, will they pay up for a coach? can they? can they not? President Herbst fully supports the programs so maybe they do. It is a critical juncture...not investing/not getting a top coach for hoops and football may reduce interest in the program and kill whatever chance the school ahs of joining the ACC or Big10. and you cannot underestimate what a move like that would mean vs being stuck with the small provates and Rutgers from an endownment and income perspective (as well as academic).

[ivanvamp]

The conference will not have great media exposure. thsoe schoiols you jsut mentiojned do absolute shit ratings. theya re small schools with regioanl presence at best. Gtown hasn't been rleevent nationally in decades. the talent level might be good but the ratings, and TV contract, will not be. ESPN not going to place this conference in prime viewing times. The aCC and SEC will be taking more and more of the prime spots.

Do you really think that ESPN will not have the Big East in prime slots on, say, Monday and Wednesday, without Pitt and Syracuse? The programs I just listed are all top-25 caliber programs. Any conference with 5-6 top-25 caliber teams is going to get national exposure.

Now, saying all that, Uconn is a better job than what Shaka has. thing is, will they pay up for a coach? can they? can they not? President Herbst fully supports the programs so maybe they do. It is a critical juncture...not investing/not getting a top coach for hoops and football may reduce interest in the program and kill whatever chance the school ahs of joining the ACC or Big10. and you cannot underestimate what a move like that would mean vs being stuck with the small provates and Rutgers from an endownment and income perspective (as well as academic).

Well, I think the best place for UConn, ultimately, is in the ACC. But if they remain in the Big East, and the conference keeps its other basketball teams besides SU and Pitt, it's still going to be a top-shelf basketball conference. This year they had 4 teams in the sweet 16, 2 in the Elite Eight, and has one in the Final Four. And mark my words: Providence is going to emerge. Cooley is a good coach and they have added two of the best guards in the country to their recruiting class (Kris Dunn, the #1 ranked point guard, and Ricardo Ledo, the #4 ranked shooting guard).

[Clears Cleaver]

there si a difference between being a good basketball league and having good TV ratings. No one nationally gives a shit about MArquette, GTown, villanova, Memphis, Temple, etc. The only national programs left are Uconn and Louisville. Butler and Gonzaga are as good as those programs and they are NEVER on TV. ESPN has huge deals with the SEC and ACC. There space will be expanding. Ever notice that those conferences baseball, girls basketball and other sports are on frequently now?

In ten years, the five big conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and PAc 10) will control 95% of the TV eyes

[ivanvamp]

there si a difference between being a good basketball league and having good TV ratings. No one nationally gives a shit about MArquette, GTown, villanova, Memphis, Temple, etc. The only national programs left are Uconn and Louisville. Butler and Gonzaga are as good as those programs and they are NEVER on TV. ESPN has huge deals with the SEC and ACC. There space will be expanding. Ever notice that those conferences baseball, girls basketball and other sports are on frequently now?

In ten years, the five big conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and PAc 10) will control 95% of the TV eyes

Who on earth cares about Pac-12 basketball?

[SumnerH]

Who on earth cares about Pac-12 basketball?

The post was about overall sports, but if UConn leaves then the Pac-12 would almost certainly be more popular in basketball than the new Big East. UCLA is one of the most popular college basketball programs in the nation, and Arizona is up there.

If I had to guess, UCLA's probably more popular than any of the 6 programs you listed, and Arizona's probably only behind Louisville. And USC, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon would trail only those 2 and possibly Notre Dame (I'm not sure how much their football popularity spills over into basketball).

EDIT: It's tough to find any numbers, but some after some googling I'd probably put Louisville ahead of UCLA, but overall the picture seems about right.

Edited by SumnerH, 29 March 2012 - 04:22 AM.

[RedOctober3829]

The post was about overall sports, but if UConn leaves then the Pac-12 would almost certainly be more popular in basketball than the new Big East. UCLA is one of the most popular college basketball programs in the nation, and Arizona is up there.

If I had to guess, UCLA's probably more popular than any of the 6 programs you listed, and Arizona's probably only behind Louisville. And USC, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon would trail only those 2 and possibly Notre Dame (I'm not sure how much their football popularity spills over into basketball).

EDIT: It's tough to find any numbers, but some after some googling I'd probably put Louisville ahead of UCLA, but overall the picture seems about right.

Pac-12 basketball will never be as popular as it can be because the East Coast doesn't see them play enough.

[SumnerH]

Pac-12 basketball will never be as popular as it can be because the East Coast doesn't see them play enough.

Sure, but we're not talking about outdoing UNC, Duke, Kentucky, or Kansas; UCLA and Arizona are extremely popular and lucrative programs, and to dismiss them while claiming that Marquette and Cincinnati are big-time is silly.

[RedOctober3829]

Sure, but we're not talking about outdoing UNC, Duke, Kentucky, or Kansas; UCLA and Arizona are extremely popular and lucrative programs, and to dismiss them while claiming that Marquette and Cincinnati are big-time is silly.

I'm not claiming that Marquette and Cincinnati are big-time. I'm just saying that the Pac-12 is never going to be popular nationwide simply because they play their games too late to watch for 2/3ds of the country. Only basketball junkies are staying up to watch them play on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Larry Scott is trying to promote the Pac-12 on the East Coast by having their media days in NYC and starting a Big 10/Pac-12 football scheduling alliance starting in 2017(with other sports doing the same earlier than that).

[ivanvamp]

And my point is simply that Big East basketball will still be a major powerhouse, loaded with top-25 teams, and ESPN will be more than happy to show them in good time slots. Obviously I could be wrong but I see no reason to think I am on this.

[Clears Cleaver]

Interesting that we haven't heard yet form Lamb, Drummond, Napier et al about going pro/ttransferring? Maybe theya re waiting for the NCAA to rule on UConn's appeal of their APR? Seems like Lamb is a goner but Calhoun ahs hinted that Drummond may come back regardless.

[Plantiers Wart]

Interesting that we haven't heard yet form Lamb, Drummond, Napier et al about going pro/ttransferring? Maybe theya re waiting for the NCAA to rule on UConn's appeal of their APR? Seems like Lamb is a goner but Calhoun ahs hinted that Drummond may come back regardless.

The NCAA was originally supposed to rule on the APR penalty appeal this week or next. The longer it is delayed, the worse off UConn will be. And if we are out, then we are out of the final true BE tournament next March.

[minischwab]

Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria)
3/31/12 12:10 PM
Former UConn forward Alex Oriakhi is considering visiting Carolina, Duke, Washington & Gonzaga, source tells @SNYtv

[BigSoxFan]

Rumor has it that UConn refused to let Oriakhi go to BC. You guys are mean.

[Dan Murfman]

Where did this rumor start? On a BC board?

"His release from UConn has no restrictions, according to a school official. He is free to go anywhere that league rules allow. The Big East Conference does not allow transfers within the league."

http://www.courant.c...0,6068317.story

[BigSoxFan]

Where did this rumor start? On a BC board?

"His release from UConn has no restrictions, according to a school official. He is free to go anywhere that league rules allow. The Big East Conference does not allow transfers within the league."

http://www.courant.c...0,6068317.story

The BC reporter on Eagle Action, a guy who has been reliable since i've read the board. Given Defilippo's public statements about UConn, it wouldn't surprise me.