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Seriously? I have a difficult time answering this question. Why not us? The constant rumors that are promulgated about where the B1G turns next are in some order of seriousness UNC, UVA, Duke, GT, FSU, Kansas, Uconn, BC, Syracuse, etc. I have a hard time answering the question why we do not to the B1G ahead of most of these schools. Leaving out UVA and UNC, whose benefits are obvious, it is hard to see how Uconn gets left out in the cold. If we take a step back and relax for a minute, we see that the ACC is the fallback option. If that is the worst case scenario (sorry, I’m not accepting the idea that we spend the rest of our existence in N( to the 100th power)BE purgatory. It doesn’t make sense. How does the largest remaining state university get thoroughly left out in the cold?
We understandably gnashed our collective teeth and called for heads to roll when we were passed over by Louisville for the ACC invite when Rutgers and Maryland moved to the B1G. Look at it objectively though. Why did it very seriously appear that no one in the administration really seemed to care? Why did Louisville fight tooth and nail for that invite? Let’s all realize this: Louisville cannot do better. They are a weaker school in the whole realignment game. They cannot afford to hang around and wait. Who knows what the Big XII is actually going to do. It appears that Texas is loath to expand the conference, and with their pull, further expansion is going to be tough to come by for them. Louisville needed the ACC at that moment. They cannot get a better guarantee than they secured for themselves. Also, for the first time, a major conference not named the Big East made an utter panic move. FSU, Clem, and GT played the role of the Catholic schools for the ACC on this go-around (remember those happy days?), forcing an addition to the conference for football purposes. By itself not a terrible thing, but remember this as well: Normally, conferences and their members scream from the top of the mountain about how great the quality of the new member is, and express contrived happiness that they can be associated together. That did not happen. UNC’s president (in a rare moment of high-level honesty) plainly said it was a sports decision. There was no rejoicing, happiness, only a divide. Tobacco Road, and I include UVA in that group are not thrilled about having their top flight universities sharing a conference with a sub-100 commuter school. The discord that is developing is similar, if not as dramatic, as the discord that plagued the Big East. With seemingly every ACC school involved in a rumor somewhere, further movement essentially guarantees that Uconn gets an invite next. I do not know who gets the votes specifically, but if the conference loses a football playing school, the pressure to assuage them diminishes.
It startled me that the Uconn administration appeared so blasé about being out-maneuvered by Louisville until I thought about it this way. Uconn will get an invite to the ACC at worst at some point. There will be further re-alignment, and there is no way that the real powers that be in the ACC (UNC, Duke) allow themselves to be railroaded again. Uconn doesn’t have to panic, and they do not appear to be. H e l l, it doesn’t even appear that we give a flying s*** about the ACC. Everything that Uconn is doing is clearly angling for a B1G bid.
Take a look at all of the money that the university is spending. There is already enough literature on this board on this topic, but Uconn is racing forward with faculty additions, research, SAT scores are increasing (I think this is important, due to the concerns about UConn’s size. Well, now Uconn can increase enrollment without sacrificing quality students), and AAU membership is well within grasp. It is virtually a foregone conclusion that Uconn will be an AAU member within the near future. While the AAU is culling membership (good-bye KU and Oregon), Uconn is close to taking their spot.
Look at the sports we are adding. I scoffed initially at the “oh look! We’re upgrading hockey!” mentality. Also, the same is true for the lacrosse additions. Let’s face it; people are not going to pay all that much attention to those sports. For all the talk about how great BC is at hockey, can you name a single player on the team? I cannot. People do not pay all that much attention to those sports in general, but I looked at it the wrong way. It is not about whether people sincerely care about them, but rather if they can improve the overall tier 3 inventory rights for the B1G. The B1G is not interested in those sports because they are huge money-makers, they are interested in them, because they aid in the creation of a comprehensive all- season must have sports network. Football in the fall, MBB/WBB, hockey in the winter, and lax, baseball in the spring. With high quality leagues in each of those sports, and it is inarguable that the B1G is going to have very serious quality and brand names in each, the value of the network overall jumps up. This explains the concerted effort to increase the number of sports we play, put Uconn hockey front and center in the XL center, and add lacrosse. Connecticut is a talent-rich state in both of those sports, and adding these sports is a sensible decision from a competition standpoint.
So the next question is this: Does this even matter, is Uconn even on the radar? Yes. Uconn is on the radar. I’m not going to lie to you and say I have any inside information or anything of that nature. However, if the idiots in WV are aware of the changes going on at Uconn, and the information is getting posted on B1G message boards amongst fans that ordinarily are not invested in such things, then you can be sure there is a thick file somewhere in Delany’s Chicago office about Uconn. Uconn is promoting itself. It just isn’t taking the fire-bombing public earth-scorching tone that we are hoping for. This is probably a good idea. I find it hard to imagine that this approach would endear us to the Mid-western academics that make the final decision in the voting room.
Does the B1G want Uconn? This is the million dollar question, and one that I cannot say with any certainty. I think that they do. It may not be in the move to 16, but if the B1G moves to 18 or 20, then it is difficult to see how the B1G can find six schools that it would rather have than Uconn. I’m going to play this part of the hypothetical game to make the case for Uconn getting invite #15-16.
What does the B1G want? Let’s take a step back, and see what moves they have made thus far. They first added Nebraska. The obvious drawback is that Nebraska is not an AAU member. However, they were an AAU member when they were added, and the B1G was aware that they were going to be voted out of the organization. Michigan and Wisconsin (check that, I forget exactly which schools they were) led the charge to remove them, but still voted them into the conference. Why? Well, Nebraska is a brand name in football. They were a home run addition in that regard. Every game in the conference had more value by having a legendary program that attracts eyeballs playing. Maryland and Rutgers were easy additions for a few reasons. They are sinking athletic departments that needed a cash boost. They were low-hanging fruit. I think it was Fishy, but I’m not sure who said it best: “I’ve seen meth labs run more efficiently than the Maryland Athletic Department.” That line still cracks me up.
These two also have the obvious advantage of gaining access into both the Washington D.C. and the NYC markets. It is difficult to imagine that Delany is going to allow those investments to fallow. The next moves likely will move towards shoring up those investments. This is why UVA makes sense. It secures the D.C. market, and stretches the B1G into VA. From that point forward, a major question is what happens to VT? I think that the SEC is going to look hard at them, but I don’t think they act immediately. There is no clear second addition to balance out the schedule that does not cause problems. Possibly NC state, but I doubt the SEC is going to jump at the red-headed stepchild of UNC and Duke. Either UNC or Duke are great fits for the SEC demographically (doesn’t violate the gentleman’s agreement of “no additions in SEC states”) but can they be separated? It depends on how much both UNC and Duke value one another and the ACC, which I think is very highly. Tough to see them leaving one another for any reason. It can happen, but the tradition between the schools is probably tougher to overcome than we initially believe. Both of those schools will be fine one way or the other, so I doubt they look to move in the very near future.
With the obvious choice of UVA (who still has the problem of being a “southern” school, and probably torn on the idea of joining a “northern” conference), who becomes number #16?
The candidates that are thrown out the most are Georgia Tech, FSU, and UNC. The only one of these that I can fathom is UNC. I just don’t buy that the B1G will want to take outposts that are surrounded by SEC territory. Taking Maryland, and if UVA is added, secure B1G dominance in Washington D.C. That is why those moves make the most sense. Georgia Tech plays second fiddle to UGA. And they always will. The same issues arise with FSU. Even though FSU has an enormous fan following, they can never dominate a market where they are competing and in close proximity to UGA, UF, Bama, and Auburn. They will get covered, but the B1G is fighting a losing battle for eyeballs in this region. It just does not make practical sense for the B1G to make an addition like this (especially for a school that is so far away from the B1G footprint). The only school that I think could actually fit in this regard is Miami. They are in southern FL, full of Northern transplants, and are far enough away from FSU and UF that they get the majority of the attention. Miami is not a southern school at its core, and will not really care about losing traditional “southern” rivals. They are a strong academic school in a large market, with a brand name football program (recent struggles aside). They are a sensible addition in the sense that the SEC cannot come in and dominate that market without a program within several hundred miles. However, I still don’t see any of these additions happening. At least not in the next wave.
There has been talk about Kansas, but that just is not happening. I can’t begin to understand it. Very weak football program with little to no attention, weaker academically, going to lose AAU, small state with no real TV markets, but has KU basketball. However, I just don’t think that this overcomes the fact that they do not add much to the package.
Delany is willing to split a substantial portion of B1G revenue with schools such as Maryland and Rutgers. He paid a premium to get these two schools (historically middling athletic programs, Rutgers especially, h e l l, “middling” is polite for Rutgers) and get a toehold into the new major markets. He knows that NYC is not locked up. If Penn State’s success and prominence could not get the B1G network into NYC, then Rutgers by itself cannot. How can he ensure coverage in that market? The only remaining schools that can be considered are BC, Uconn, and Syracuse.
BC is in Boston, and even Boston does not give a flying s*** about them. They are a small catholic school, with no pull in their own city. They sure can’t have any pull in NYC. It comes down to Syracuse and Uconn. Syracuse does not own NYC by itself (laughable Yankees stadium sign aside). NYC does have an interest in Cuse basketball, but their interest in Uconn Basketball is just as strong, if not stronger (as SNY ratings indicate). Uconn has the benefit of securing NYC, and tapping into Boston. Uconn does not own Boston by any stretch, but there is enough interest to at least be beneficial. Uconn is academically analogous to Cuse. Uconn is moving towards AAU while Cuse voluntarily left. According to the U.S. News and World Reports Syracuse is ranked #60 and Uconn #63. As a final note, adding Uconn is easy. Adding Cuse or BC, or even UNC and UVA for that matter might be tougher with a very high, upwards of 50 million dollar exit fee looming.
Athletically, Uconn is the superior school. I don’t want to even entertain that question. Football: Syracuse has done nothing noteworthy in years. Uconn has been the better team consistently in the recent past. Men’s basketball: Uconn has three men’s national championships, Syracuse: 1. Women’s Basketball: Come on, we don’t need to go into that. Uconn is better in baseball, soccer, not lacrosse, but has hockey, which Cuse does not. Uconn is a superior package to the B1G over any of the other local competitors. Should the B1G move, Uconn is the best option overall, and Delany probably understands that.
I hope anyway. I’m tired of the vacillating and worry. I know we end up ok somewhere, but at some point the madness needs to end, and I think, I think, Uconn is closer to that invite than we really know.
We understandably gnashed our collective teeth and called for heads to roll when we were passed over by Louisville for the ACC invite when Rutgers and Maryland moved to the B1G. Look at it objectively though. Why did it very seriously appear that no one in the administration really seemed to care? Why did Louisville fight tooth and nail for that invite? Let’s all realize this: Louisville cannot do better. They are a weaker school in the whole realignment game. They cannot afford to hang around and wait. Who knows what the Big XII is actually going to do. It appears that Texas is loath to expand the conference, and with their pull, further expansion is going to be tough to come by for them. Louisville needed the ACC at that moment. They cannot get a better guarantee than they secured for themselves. Also, for the first time, a major conference not named the Big East made an utter panic move. FSU, Clem, and GT played the role of the Catholic schools for the ACC on this go-around (remember those happy days?), forcing an addition to the conference for football purposes. By itself not a terrible thing, but remember this as well: Normally, conferences and their members scream from the top of the mountain about how great the quality of the new member is, and express contrived happiness that they can be associated together. That did not happen. UNC’s president (in a rare moment of high-level honesty) plainly said it was a sports decision. There was no rejoicing, happiness, only a divide. Tobacco Road, and I include UVA in that group are not thrilled about having their top flight universities sharing a conference with a sub-100 commuter school. The discord that is developing is similar, if not as dramatic, as the discord that plagued the Big East. With seemingly every ACC school involved in a rumor somewhere, further movement essentially guarantees that Uconn gets an invite next. I do not know who gets the votes specifically, but if the conference loses a football playing school, the pressure to assuage them diminishes.
It startled me that the Uconn administration appeared so blasé about being out-maneuvered by Louisville until I thought about it this way. Uconn will get an invite to the ACC at worst at some point. There will be further re-alignment, and there is no way that the real powers that be in the ACC (UNC, Duke) allow themselves to be railroaded again. Uconn doesn’t have to panic, and they do not appear to be. H e l l, it doesn’t even appear that we give a flying s*** about the ACC. Everything that Uconn is doing is clearly angling for a B1G bid.
Take a look at all of the money that the university is spending. There is already enough literature on this board on this topic, but Uconn is racing forward with faculty additions, research, SAT scores are increasing (I think this is important, due to the concerns about UConn’s size. Well, now Uconn can increase enrollment without sacrificing quality students), and AAU membership is well within grasp. It is virtually a foregone conclusion that Uconn will be an AAU member within the near future. While the AAU is culling membership (good-bye KU and Oregon), Uconn is close to taking their spot.
Look at the sports we are adding. I scoffed initially at the “oh look! We’re upgrading hockey!” mentality. Also, the same is true for the lacrosse additions. Let’s face it; people are not going to pay all that much attention to those sports. For all the talk about how great BC is at hockey, can you name a single player on the team? I cannot. People do not pay all that much attention to those sports in general, but I looked at it the wrong way. It is not about whether people sincerely care about them, but rather if they can improve the overall tier 3 inventory rights for the B1G. The B1G is not interested in those sports because they are huge money-makers, they are interested in them, because they aid in the creation of a comprehensive all- season must have sports network. Football in the fall, MBB/WBB, hockey in the winter, and lax, baseball in the spring. With high quality leagues in each of those sports, and it is inarguable that the B1G is going to have very serious quality and brand names in each, the value of the network overall jumps up. This explains the concerted effort to increase the number of sports we play, put Uconn hockey front and center in the XL center, and add lacrosse. Connecticut is a talent-rich state in both of those sports, and adding these sports is a sensible decision from a competition standpoint.
So the next question is this: Does this even matter, is Uconn even on the radar? Yes. Uconn is on the radar. I’m not going to lie to you and say I have any inside information or anything of that nature. However, if the idiots in WV are aware of the changes going on at Uconn, and the information is getting posted on B1G message boards amongst fans that ordinarily are not invested in such things, then you can be sure there is a thick file somewhere in Delany’s Chicago office about Uconn. Uconn is promoting itself. It just isn’t taking the fire-bombing public earth-scorching tone that we are hoping for. This is probably a good idea. I find it hard to imagine that this approach would endear us to the Mid-western academics that make the final decision in the voting room.
Does the B1G want Uconn? This is the million dollar question, and one that I cannot say with any certainty. I think that they do. It may not be in the move to 16, but if the B1G moves to 18 or 20, then it is difficult to see how the B1G can find six schools that it would rather have than Uconn. I’m going to play this part of the hypothetical game to make the case for Uconn getting invite #15-16.
What does the B1G want? Let’s take a step back, and see what moves they have made thus far. They first added Nebraska. The obvious drawback is that Nebraska is not an AAU member. However, they were an AAU member when they were added, and the B1G was aware that they were going to be voted out of the organization. Michigan and Wisconsin (check that, I forget exactly which schools they were) led the charge to remove them, but still voted them into the conference. Why? Well, Nebraska is a brand name in football. They were a home run addition in that regard. Every game in the conference had more value by having a legendary program that attracts eyeballs playing. Maryland and Rutgers were easy additions for a few reasons. They are sinking athletic departments that needed a cash boost. They were low-hanging fruit. I think it was Fishy, but I’m not sure who said it best: “I’ve seen meth labs run more efficiently than the Maryland Athletic Department.” That line still cracks me up.
These two also have the obvious advantage of gaining access into both the Washington D.C. and the NYC markets. It is difficult to imagine that Delany is going to allow those investments to fallow. The next moves likely will move towards shoring up those investments. This is why UVA makes sense. It secures the D.C. market, and stretches the B1G into VA. From that point forward, a major question is what happens to VT? I think that the SEC is going to look hard at them, but I don’t think they act immediately. There is no clear second addition to balance out the schedule that does not cause problems. Possibly NC state, but I doubt the SEC is going to jump at the red-headed stepchild of UNC and Duke. Either UNC or Duke are great fits for the SEC demographically (doesn’t violate the gentleman’s agreement of “no additions in SEC states”) but can they be separated? It depends on how much both UNC and Duke value one another and the ACC, which I think is very highly. Tough to see them leaving one another for any reason. It can happen, but the tradition between the schools is probably tougher to overcome than we initially believe. Both of those schools will be fine one way or the other, so I doubt they look to move in the very near future.
With the obvious choice of UVA (who still has the problem of being a “southern” school, and probably torn on the idea of joining a “northern” conference), who becomes number #16?
The candidates that are thrown out the most are Georgia Tech, FSU, and UNC. The only one of these that I can fathom is UNC. I just don’t buy that the B1G will want to take outposts that are surrounded by SEC territory. Taking Maryland, and if UVA is added, secure B1G dominance in Washington D.C. That is why those moves make the most sense. Georgia Tech plays second fiddle to UGA. And they always will. The same issues arise with FSU. Even though FSU has an enormous fan following, they can never dominate a market where they are competing and in close proximity to UGA, UF, Bama, and Auburn. They will get covered, but the B1G is fighting a losing battle for eyeballs in this region. It just does not make practical sense for the B1G to make an addition like this (especially for a school that is so far away from the B1G footprint). The only school that I think could actually fit in this regard is Miami. They are in southern FL, full of Northern transplants, and are far enough away from FSU and UF that they get the majority of the attention. Miami is not a southern school at its core, and will not really care about losing traditional “southern” rivals. They are a strong academic school in a large market, with a brand name football program (recent struggles aside). They are a sensible addition in the sense that the SEC cannot come in and dominate that market without a program within several hundred miles. However, I still don’t see any of these additions happening. At least not in the next wave.
There has been talk about Kansas, but that just is not happening. I can’t begin to understand it. Very weak football program with little to no attention, weaker academically, going to lose AAU, small state with no real TV markets, but has KU basketball. However, I just don’t think that this overcomes the fact that they do not add much to the package.
Delany is willing to split a substantial portion of B1G revenue with schools such as Maryland and Rutgers. He paid a premium to get these two schools (historically middling athletic programs, Rutgers especially, h e l l, “middling” is polite for Rutgers) and get a toehold into the new major markets. He knows that NYC is not locked up. If Penn State’s success and prominence could not get the B1G network into NYC, then Rutgers by itself cannot. How can he ensure coverage in that market? The only remaining schools that can be considered are BC, Uconn, and Syracuse.
BC is in Boston, and even Boston does not give a flying s*** about them. They are a small catholic school, with no pull in their own city. They sure can’t have any pull in NYC. It comes down to Syracuse and Uconn. Syracuse does not own NYC by itself (laughable Yankees stadium sign aside). NYC does have an interest in Cuse basketball, but their interest in Uconn Basketball is just as strong, if not stronger (as SNY ratings indicate). Uconn has the benefit of securing NYC, and tapping into Boston. Uconn does not own Boston by any stretch, but there is enough interest to at least be beneficial. Uconn is academically analogous to Cuse. Uconn is moving towards AAU while Cuse voluntarily left. According to the U.S. News and World Reports Syracuse is ranked #60 and Uconn #63. As a final note, adding Uconn is easy. Adding Cuse or BC, or even UNC and UVA for that matter might be tougher with a very high, upwards of 50 million dollar exit fee looming.
Athletically, Uconn is the superior school. I don’t want to even entertain that question. Football: Syracuse has done nothing noteworthy in years. Uconn has been the better team consistently in the recent past. Men’s basketball: Uconn has three men’s national championships, Syracuse: 1. Women’s Basketball: Come on, we don’t need to go into that. Uconn is better in baseball, soccer, not lacrosse, but has hockey, which Cuse does not. Uconn is a superior package to the B1G over any of the other local competitors. Should the B1G move, Uconn is the best option overall, and Delany probably understands that.
I hope anyway. I’m tired of the vacillating and worry. I know we end up ok somewhere, but at some point the madness needs to end, and I think, I think, Uconn is closer to that invite than we really know.
