Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, Florida, Marquette, Gonzaga, Butler, Uconn, Memphis, Georgetown, Louisville, Villinova, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, and about 20 to 30 more all fall in the group that has had some recent success. Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't.
If realignment was driven by basketball, Georgetown would have been added to the B1G instead of Maryland, and St. Johns over Rutgers.
Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't. Now compare UConn or anyone else in that group to the big 6 mentioned above and think about who you saw more times on ESPN or any other national sports news.
of the group that UPitt mentioned: Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, UConn and the Cuse would make up the next tier.
Won 3 national championships.
UConn is a national name for the top talent and most fans. Forde recently put the school in the top 5 of bluebloods. And again--Kansas doesn't have the market. Football territory is worse than UConn's.
I'm sorry but Uconn belongs with the blue-blood programs. ESPN will put Uconn on any chance they can.Completely agree. Win or lose, these are big 6 basketball schools, with Duke to a slightly lesser extent than the rest. These are the only schools that will carry that "National" following win or lose. For everyone else, they have a following if they are winning. Some have a better following than others, but they have to be winning to make the "national" TV coverage. Kentucky and UNC both stunk this year but I heard those two names mentioned more than anyone else. Kentucky made front page of national news when they lose to Robert Morris in the NIT. Then again the following day when they landed the #1 basketball recruit. Then again when Louisville won the title, with everyone comparing Louisville to Kentucky and how Kentucky has reloaded for next year. Because realignment is about football money, only these few schools may be able to have a basketball impact on realignment.
Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, Florida, Marquette, Gonzaga, Butler, Uconn, Memphis, Georgetown, Louisville, Villinova, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, and about 20 to 30 more all fall in the group that has had some recent success. Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't. Now compare UConn or anyone else in that group to the big 6 mentioned above and think about who you saw more times on ESPN or any other national sports news. Realignment is not about being fair. It is about TV time. TV time is a direct correlation to ratings. Ratings equal dollars. More dollars drives realignment. Thats the loop.
As for Duke, they are the lucky little brother. Duke is only in this group because of UNC. If not for the close proximity to UNC and the ESPN created and overhyped rivalry, Duke would be on the level of Wake Forest.
Football territory is worse? Are you serious? As an alumn of both schools, I can say that football is much bigger at KU than UConn and in the state of Kansas at the HS level than it is in CT or anywhere in New England. On a per captita basis, Kansas puts out a lot of football talent. Hell, Lawrence High alone is pretty impressive. As bad as the Jayhawks have been lately, the played in and won an Orange bowl in 2008, finishing ranked #8, so they have still done much more than UConn. Historically, there are older Orange Bowl wins and players like Gayle Sayers, John Riggins, Nolan Cromwell, Bobby Douglass and John Hadl (all born or raised in KS by the way).
UConn has a better direct DMA TV market, but KU carries several markets not their own (Lawrence-Topeka), including KC, Wichita and other small ones like Hutchinson. I also saw somewhere that the Jayhawk logo was the single most recognizable logo in all of college sports. They are still ahead on revenue as well.
As a UConn-KU fan, I'd love to see both go to the B1G, but I don't expect it. I think the B1G can afford one net basketball focused or market focused add and the other add must be a strong football program, more in the Nebraska mold.
You're right that UConn's isn't better. I looked at this map just now:
On the other hand, I disagree with you about revenues and market. You're adding in TV conference revenue to overall revs. so it's like comparing apples to oranges. You need to compare base revs to get a true picture.
Go ahead, do that.