Is UConn the best Northeastern athletic program?

[Redding Husky]

The competition:

BC - ZERO wins in the conference for FB and BB in 2015-16. Has that ever been done before? Complete futility. And no one outside their zip code roots for them.

Rutgers - Simply a cluster. 'Nuf said.

Syracuse - Solid (but not elite) basketball tradition, allegedly playing FBS football, and no one west of Erie, Pennsylvania knows knows about them or cares about them. Lacrosse is strong.

Temple - The stench of failure is starting to dissipate, but it still hangs heavy in the air. Overrated BB tradition.

Penn State - 1995: most respected, 2016: most reviled.

Pitt - There's not much spectacular or disastrous about the Panthers. I can't think of many championships. They define mediocrity.

WVU - Best known for: 1) burning couches, 2) decent football

Yes, our FB had some dark years but that's improving. And the rest of the athletic program is doing very well: 1) elite BB, 2) solid baseball, 3) solid soccer, and 4) solid ice hockey. Even the freakin' field hockey team wins NC's. We just keep going about our business. But we're the ones on the outside looking in. On an even playing field, we'd wreck them all.

 

[NickyNewark]

In what context? CR value? WBB? MBB? Overall perception? Best to ask this on a regional or national board...of course we know the answer here...were preaching to the choir!!!

 

[CallMeBruce]

Depends on your definition of "northeastern," but I'd think Maryland would have us beat.

 

[TheDoggPound]

If we're being honest UConn hockey isn't solid. Not yet at least. It's a process.

 

[CallMeBruce]

If we're being honest UConn hockey isn't solid. Not yet at least. It's a process.

Certainly not if we're also using 'solid' to describe Syracuse basketball.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Depends on your definition of "northeastern," but I'd think Maryland would have us beat.

No way they'd count, unless you consider Virginia and Delaware "Northeast." IMO Penn State is right on the border, everything east and north of that part of Pennsylvania is Northeast

Based on merit, UConn right now is easily the best AD in the Northeast

 

[CallMeBruce]

No way they'd count, unless you consider Virginia and Delaware "Northeast." IMO Penn State is right on the border, everything east and north of that part of Pennsylvania is Northeast

Virginia no, but the Northeastern Corridor refers to the stretch from DC to Boston.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Virginia no, but the Northeastern Corridor refers to the stretch from DC to Boston.

Meh I'm from NJ and my family has a house in the Outer Banks in NC, so I have driven through Delaware, MD, and Virginia way more times than I like. I've always seen those states as Mid-Atlantic states (they really are) at best. Based on the price of cigarettes and frequency of Jesus billboards and chicken farms, closer to the South than the Northeast IMO. My brother went to school in Baltimore so I wonder how he perceives the state having lived there 4 years

 

[SubbaBub]

New England: ME, NH, VT, RI, MA, CT
Tri-state: CT, NY, NJ
Northeast: NE+Tri-state+PA, DE, MD, DC

We may have officially run out of CR related things to talk about.

 

[Waquoit]

Depends on your definition of "northeastern," but I'd think Maryland would have us beat.

I think the big statue of Stonewall Jackson in downtown Baltimore eliminates MD. Besides, they are "Mid-Atlantic".

 

[superjohn]

Depends on your definition of "northeastern," but I'd think Maryland would have us beat.

Maryland? Because they have a lot of women's lacrosse titles?

 

[Ldandy]

The hallmark of a great athletic department is expectation. While most schools hope to win championships, the very best expect to win them. While taking nothing for granted, as I understand just how difficult it is to accomplish, I still have a twinge of disappointment when my school doesn't win a bunch of Big 10 and National Championships in any given season. Obviously I think my school is the very best in the region, but as a fan I'm biased. UCONN is pretty stout in its own right, and its fans should be proud of what it has accomplished over the last couple of decades. Hopefully you'll get a shot to compete in a P5 Conference again in the near future.

 

[UConnNick]

New England: ME, NH, VT, RI, MA, CT
Tri-state: CT, NY, NJ
Northeast: NE+Tri-state+PA, DE, MD, DC

We may have officially run out of CR related things to talk about.

The Mason-Dixon line is the border between PA and MD. Everything south of it is not part of the northeastern US. Rural Maryland is still quite redneck and has more in common with southern than northeastern states. Washington, DC was a slave city, aligning it more with the south than the north. Even New Jersey is sometimes referred to as mid-atlantic, although it properly belongs as part of the northeast. The historical roots of Maryland and DC are decidedly southern.

 

[Rocktheworld]

The Mason-Dixon line is the border between PA and MD. Everything south of it is not part of the northeastern US. Rural Maryland is still quite redneck and has more in common with southern than northeastern states. Washington, DC was a slave city, aligning it more with the south than the north. Even New Jersey is sometimes referred to as mid-atlantic, although it properly belongs as part of the northeast. The historical roots of Maryland and DC are decidedly southern.

NJ and PA technically are Mid-Atlantic. But as you said and I alluded, neither are nearly as redneck as the states immediately south of them.

I actually literally just met a guy from Baltimore and he said no, MD is Mid-Atlantic, not Northeast; That DC doesn't fit anywhere because by the nature of it is a giant amalgamation of different cultures, doesn't really fit anywhere, which makes sense based on where it is

 

[Robertelamin]

II'm sure PA is plenty redneck. What is going on in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh?

 

[superjohn]

II'm sure PA is plenty redneck. What is going on in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh?

Alabama.

 

[billybud]

Boston College has finished in the Final AP rankings seven times since 1980...with finishes in the 1980's, 1990's 2000's (last was #10 in 2007)

 

[Rocktheworld]

Boston College has finished in the Final AP rankings seven times since 1980...with finishes in the 1980's, 1990's 2000's (last was #10 in 2007)

I'm pretty sure Cuse is the only other program in the P5 who clings to/cares ablut 'n 80s.

 

[bingethinker]

It's always interesting to me that people rely on a line created by two lawyers in 1767 to define the north and south in 2016. Everything else about our country has changed since then, but folks cling to it.

Central Maryland (the land between Baltimore and DC) constitutes most of Maryland's population and is primarily culturally connected to the northeast. Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore are hickville USA, but that's slightly changing. I still wouldn't live there. DC is interesting because it was a sleepy southern town 40 years ago. Now, it's an interesting mix of locals and transients from all over. There are certainly northern and southern cultural influences in Maryland and DC.

The modern day definition of the northeast is pretty much what a fee posters have said. New England plus the Mid-Atlantic region, stopping at DC.

And yes, UCONN is certainly the northeast's best athletic department not in a Power 5 conference.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Depends on your definition of "northeastern," but I'd think Maryland would have us beat.

Um, no.

 

[IceBus]

Definitely UConn is the best in the northeast. We have the most robust consistently good programs. If not for the politics of conference realignment, we'd be at the top of the ACC where we belong.

 

[SubbaBub]

Penn State is the best AD in the northeast, ainec. Their majorettes just won a national championship for crying out loud. They have twice as many students as UCONN and sell about 5 times as many tickets.

We are competing with MD for #2, and probably leading by a decent margin.

 

[Redding Husky]

New England: ME, NH, VT, RI, MA, CT
Tri-state: CT, NY, NJ
Northeast: NE+Tri-state+PA, DE, MD, DC

We may have officially run out of CR related things to talk about.

WV left the Confederacy for the Union, so I included them as part of the Northeast. But I do business in WV and 90% of he people there sound like they're from Georgia and not Vermont.

I agree about running out of CR material. I'm just trying to point out our positives just in case there's important CR folks lurking on the Boneyard.

 

[Waquoit]

Penn State is the best AD in the northeast, ainec.

If you're good with molestation, sure.

 

[Fishy]

I'm going to name myself as the authority on this matter - if you don't like it, start your own message board - but the answer is yes.

The northeast includes New York, New Jersey and New England.