It doesn’t sound like the Big East is holding a grudge against Connecticut for trying to leave for the Big 12 for the second consecutive year.
Commissioner Val Ackerman is pleased the Huskies wound up staying after they didn’t have the votes from Big 12 presidents to join the conference and talks were tabled for the time being.
“UConn’s been a great partner, we think it’s been win-win,” Ackerman said on Wednesday. “They’ve helped us out on a lot of events, [athletic director] David [Benedict] has been very constructive in our boardroom. I can’t tell you what the future holds on any of this. We hope they stay in the league for a long time.”
The Big East brought Connecticut back to the league in 2020, at a time when its men’s basketball program had fallen off significantly.
UConn football went independent upon the school moving back to the Big East, but the sport remains a pivotal part of the equation in Connecticut exploring potential realignment moves.
There’s no question, however, that UConn’s return to the league has led to the rebirth of its men’s basketball powerhouse, which likely wouldn’t happen had the Huskies remained in the AAC.
The Huskies will be looking to win a third straight title this winter, which hasn’t happened in the sport since UCLA won seven straight titles from 1967-73.
“In this business, my job isn’t to be thin-skinned on anything,” Ackerman said. “My job is to look out for the conference, to navigate group decisions. I can’t tell you I was inactive during that stretch. Phone calls were made to better understand the possibilities here. To their credit, UConn was communicative with us about that, which is all we can ask.”
Throughout Connecticut’s championship run from March into the first weekend in April, coach Dan Hurley railed about the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s decision to only pick three teams, and he believes the league is still not getting enough respect.
In the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll, only three Big East teams — Connecticut (three), Creighton (15) and Marquette (18) — were included.
“I can already see it in the AP poll, the lack of respect that the Big East gets from that standpoint,” Hurley said. “We should have five teams, minimum, in the top 20. Marquette should be highly ranked, Creighton should be highly ranked, Xavier should be highly ranked with what Sean [Miller] did with that roster. You got what St. John’s has done [in the offseason]. We should all be ranked in the Top 20.
“We got buried by the committee last year — that was clear — once the tournament started based on those results [of three teams reaching the Sweet 16].”
Two-time defending national champion Connecticut was picked to win the league, followed by Creighton, Xavier and Marquette.
St. John’s was fifth, which is where it finished last season. Providence was picked sixth, Villanova seventh, Butler eighth and Georgetown ninth. Seton Hall, which lost two players Kadary Richmond (St. John’s) and Dre Davis (Ole Miss) to the transfer portal, came in 10th with DePaul bringing up the rear, an annual tradition.
Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner was selected as the preseason Player of the Year. Kalkbrenner and Richmond were joined on the first team by UConn wing Alex Karaban, Marquette guard Kam Jones, Villanova forward Eric Dixon and Providence wing Bryce Hopkins.
The second team was composed of St. John’s guard Deivon Smith, Butler duo Pierre Brooks and Jahmyl Telfort and Xavier tandem Zach Freemantle and Dayvion McKnight.