ctchamps
We are UConn!! 4>1 But 5>>>>1 is even better!
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The vehicle driving things is dollars. Everything else stated is about saving face. pj has done a great job with his demographics. Last I knew human males are the same throughout the US. The northeast has a huge population relatively untapped with regards to college football both as fans and recruits. Most thinkers are retrospective such as FranktheTank. A proactive thinker such as Delaney knows there is a huge profit to be made in the northeast corridor because this population is the last huge bastion of potential college football fans.
The funny thing is the southeast is relatively saturated. It is the region with the greatest population growth, but their allegiance is already divided amongst two conferences. Really only one by a very large margin, with the distant second going to the ACC. If Virginia goes to the BIG a plausible argument can be made that they, like Maryland, will be ostracized culturally by people in the southeast. But you don't hear Frank emphasizing this in his metrics about the BIGs master plan for recruiting. He, and others, point to the cultural factors preventing the northeast from being a player. That's fair. But he and others are overemphasizing what a Virginia or GT would bring to the B!G and underemphasizing the cultural influence that exists in the southeast.
If Virginia goes to the B!G I would predict that a lot of Virginia fans would stop watching this school similarly to the way a lot of BC fans lost interest in BC. The loyal fans will stay committed but the middle of the pact fans will gravitate to some other southeastern school. And so would the potential recruits. There is relavancy about retirees going to the Southeast influencing viewership, but these people, for the most part have nothing to do with hs players. Their involvement with the community is not with high schoolers. In fact they are a net negative in the communities because they are perceived as outsiders in a negative way. Certainly a booster can influence some kids with perks, but for the most part the peers will be the greater influence. And retirees are not the demographic driving the revenue in advertisement.
The northeast doesn't have the cultural influence when it comes to college football. Any conference that sets up the groundwork to capture the northeast market, imo, will be the conference to make the greatest gains mid and long term. To capture that market they have to be willing to invest time and money in generating excitement in that market with their product.
It could be argued it's a toss up between the B!G and the ACC as to who leads in the northeast. My personal belief is the B!G is in the lead. The loss of MD was a huge blow for the ACC. What they gained with Pitt, Ville, Cuse and ND did not negate what the loss of MD did in terms of value to the southeast. The ACC is a conference that is only held together by an influx of outsiders and the need to severely punish its membership if one tries to make moves. In other words they lost a lot of credibility in their real market, the Southeast, a market as I already stated they are already poorly followed.
Delaney's coup of getting Maryland was all that was necessary to marginalize the ACC's influence in the southeast. The B!G will never make inroads into the southeast relative to the SEC but they have a great chance to secure the northeast.
My take is that Delaney would have invited Uconn and one other already if he didn't have to overcome inertia and conceit that exits within the B!G. In other words if he had absolute control Uconn would already be a member because Delaney is thinking in terms of business models and not arrogance. UConn is the university to NE the way the Red Sox are NE's baseball team. And UConn, with Cuse, Rutgers and ND is strong in NY. IMO with the right marketing a Rutgers - UConn could get the upper hand in NYC easily. They could offer various associations/hs free tickets to games with success because of their proximity to NYC. The buzz could be gained in just a few years.
There has never been a strong football conference in the northeast representing the best of the northeast schools. A conference with Penn State and WV would have anchored the region and if one or two other programs improved to that level the interest in NY, NE and NJ could have rivaled the midwest with viewership anchored by Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. The problem is CT, Mass, NJ and NY never invested in getting any school into position to join WV and Penn State in the upper echelon of college football ranks and when Rutgers and CT finally did make the commitment they ran into the buzz saw of CR.
Delaney, imo, had a lot of resistance to getting approval in taking MD and even more in taking Rutgers. Elitism is prevalent everywhere. But money usually trumps elitism. The B!G should be proud of its collective academic standing and it's roots. But the monies are now reaching a level where it becomes more difficult for groups to stand pat on past traditions.
I expect that UConn and Missouri will end up in the B!G sooner rather than later if the transition of MD and Rutgers proceeds in a manner that Delaney had predicted to the university presidents in his conference.
