ACC votes to add Stanford, Cal, SMU: Conference presidents approve expansion to 18 schools

[BigTenFan]

Have tons of friends who are IU fans, still can’t believe they love Woodson so much. He’s not a bad coach, but he isn’t the answer there in my opinion.

Painter makes me laugh as well

UConn plays IU at MSG this fall
I think UConn is much deeper and more athletic than IU ....could be a long season in Bloomington

 

[Rocktheworld]

Have tons of friends who are IU fans, still can’t believe they love Woodson so much. He’s not a bad coach, but he isn’t the answer there in my opinion.

Painter makes me laugh as well

You’re in a sad state when you would kill to have Tom Crean back

 

[superjohn]

There are only so many consistent national brands where people from other parts of the country follow the team. There are maybe 10 total, and many have fallen out of national following due to not being good for a while like FSU and Miami. College sports is still mostly regional in that way. So trying to be a “big market” is a false hope that very few programs (OSU, Michigan, USC, Texas, Bama, and a few others) have achieved. Especially when you have a relatively small alumni base as UConn has, compared to those big programs. I would bet our average graduating class over the last 20 years has been about 5k. Plenty of people who are generally sport conscious know that UConn is good as basketball, but do they care to rep UConn with what they wear? Do they make sure to tune in to UConn games? Probably not, because it’s college basketball, which is way way behind football, as you rightly point out. The only real problem regarding our “market” is the region itself, which doesn’t care much for college sports when there are great pro sports in NY and Boston. I don’t think it’s a mistake that states like Kansas and Kentucky care a lot about their successful basketball programs lol

We need to at least build momentum with the football program such that we get a seat at the table when the NCAA rapture happens; and it’s going to one day. Everything will fall in place, with a good coach, from there. Look at TCU and Baylor who are set. You just have to be competent on the field so the games are watchable, and you therefore are a contributor to good tv contracts.

I actually think college football is overvalued and college basketball is undervalued. If you're the best team in college football the most games you're playing is 14, for basketball it's 40. Football is also becoming a poorer more regionalized sport in terms of who plays it, it's not a given younger audiences will have the same love affair with it as older audiences do. Boxing was king once upon a time.

If this rapture you speak of happens a bunch of football programs will be left out, including us. It will also probably destroy the sport.

 

[dennismenace]

They’ve probably been assured that they’ll get some additional revenue on facility rentals

What is this all about? Dallas? Are they trying to become "America's Conference"?

 

[Rocktheworld]

I actually think college football is overvalued and college basketball is undervalued. If you're the best team in college football the most games you're playing is 14, for basketball it's 40. Football is also becoming a poorer more regionalized sport in terms of who plays it, it's not a given younger audiences will have the same love affair with it as older audiences do. Boxing was king once upon a time.

I mean your opinion is nice but it’s not what the market reflects.

If this rapture you speak of happens a bunch of football programs will be left out, including us. It will also probably destroy the sport.

When the rapture happens, I think it will be a complete reset on college athletics. It will have to be. They’ll be starting their own basketball tournament. It wont be purely be about football, but of course it will matter; that’s why I say we need to at least build come momentum

BC, Wake, Vanderbilt, oregon state, etc who have truly no athletic value will be left out. Not us. Feel free to list the 48 programs that will be taken ahead of us

 

[dennismenace]

Too bad this still wasn't true - UCONN could the justify and conference geographically

Did you know that Connecticut’s borders once extended to the Pacific Ocean?

It may be hard to believe, but a document from the mid-1600s granted Connecticut control over a huge swath of land from present-day Rhode Island all the way to the Pacific Coast. It goes without saying that this is no longer the case, but Mieum Media explores this interesting tidbit of oft-ignored New England history.

First time I heard of that. Thanks. I did hear about how Cleveland and a chunk of Ohio was once part of CT known as the western Reserve. Cleveland - Wikipedia

 

[willie99]

I wonder what our market will be when we win both the men's and women's national championship in 2024? For the third time, including 2004 and 2014 and soon to be 2024.

Throw in Mora having a great football season and baddabing, we're part of a bidding war

 

[dennismenace]

If you even care a lick about UConn sports downstream from men’s basketball, this round of realignment was the absolute worst case scenario. People like to whistle past the graveyard, but the spending deficit has been declared unsustainable and will continue to be reduced even as the cost of athletics goes up. You will see the effect in baseball, soccer, field hockey, etc., as staff budgets, travel budgets, recruiting budgets, etc., are all reduced.

If you’re just a fan of men’s basketball, it was merely very, very bad. You have to hope that the Big East can stay relevant outside of the power structure in college sports. That’s not a given - if you think the future is going to be kind to a conference with Seton Hall and Providence, I don’t know what you have been watching.

If you’re a UConn football fan…this has probably opened an eight to ten year window in which we’ll have to decide whether we can keep it going.

The genius of the Big East was the concept of the having the best basketball programs in the biggest tv markets in the East (or today with big cities in the midwest). This also includes the vast athletic talent from these cities and metropolitan areas. The idea gave the talent the option of "staying home" instead of going to Tobacco Road or UCLA and the West Coast.

(TV Market + Local Talent from TV Market = Good marriage with rabid fans.)

When TV (like ESPN) tries to override that equation by creating new marriages it ends in defeat.

The big east basketball concept can still dictate strong tv money if they stick to the original concept.
Oddly this includes a lot of somewhat small catholic schools and Uconn (CT/Boston/NYC market).

Beware of Networks (such as ESPN) with bad business plans. Bad business plans that don't understand the market (which ultimately is the fans and players). They try to create the market around TV studio personalities (Think Howard Cosell ("I never played the game"). That's what tv and greedy owners bring you. TV personalities and the egos behind them. I have been witnessing this with the Yankees and Yes Network, Amazon Prime, Apple TV etc. Greatest franchise in history and TV is turning it into a POS. They (owners, cable companeies MLB etc) will go downhill until they realize that it is about the fans and players. All it takes is a little withdrawal and fans find other things to occupy themselves. Yes Virginia, there are other options than TV marketing.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I’ve said this before, but it’s time for Connecticut to stop paying the sham of a network that is ESPN to keep jobs in CT. Part of having your business in a state is being a good corporate citizen and helping the state and citizens of the state your business is located. ESPN has done the exact opposite with their behind the scenes tactics which have left the state school hung out to dry. I’m not sure how much the state of CT has given ESPN directly, but as of 2013 the number was something like $260 million in incentives to stay in CT. I’m sure they’ve gotten plenty of handouts since. Hell, we’d be better off just having the state dump $50 million/year directly into our athletic budget. Let ESPN move their headquarters to Syracuse which is more fitting of their employee base.

 

[superjohn]

I’ve said this before, but it’s time for Connecticut to stop paying the sham of a network that is ESPN to keep jobs in CT. Part of having your business in a state is being a good corporate citizen and helping the state and citizens of the state your business is located. ESPN has done the exact opposite with their behind the scenes tactics which have left the state school hung out to dry. I’m not sure how much the state of CT has given ESPN directly, but as of 2013 the number was something like $260 million in incentives to stay in CT. I’m sure they’ve gotten plenty of handouts since. Hell, we’d be better off just having the state dump $50 million/year directly into our athletic budget. Let ESPN move their headquarters to Syracuse which is more fitting of their employee base.

I agree that ESPN sucks and works against us but the last thing CT can afford to do is run off any more businesses.

 

[Chief00]

It’s odd to me that so many people seem to be blaming AD Dave in this. UConn has been getting the end of the stick in conference realignment over 10+ years now and multiple athletic directors. At what point do we admit that this is a structural UConn issue and not an incompetent AD issue?

We have had weak University Presidents and head football coaches until Mora.

We have not developed a sales narrative that anyone bought during this period.

 

[pj]

I agree that ESPN sucks and works against us but the last thing CT can afford to do is run off any more businesses.

ESPN will probably be shrinking regardless of what the state of Connecticut does.

 

[Sea Goat]

I agree that ESPN sucks and works against us but the last thing CT can afford to do is run off any more businesses.

I disagree - have some pride - it is full of SU alumni. They have run interference for that overpriced, second tier school for too long... They hate UConn because of ratings such as the WSJ's. They'll disappear soon enough.

 

[noeynox]

Gotta love this one

Some Interesting Complications For The ACC And PAC-12 As The Conference Of Champions Devolves

Who saw this stuff coming?

www.dukebasketballreport.com

 

[Chin Diesel]

Gotta love this one

Some Interesting Complications For The ACC And PAC-12 As The Conference Of Champions Devolves

Who saw this stuff coming?

www.dukebasketballreport.com

It's a non-issue.

California teams have traveled to many of those states since the ban took effect. It's an accounting trick where they have to use donations or some funding source other than state money when they travel to those states.

Plus, like the article says, it's getting repealed soon.

 

[noeynox]

So what you're saying is, they don't really give a damn about perceived bathroom use discrimination! Its all for show?

 

[Chin Diesel]

So what you're saying is, they don't really give a damn about perceived bathroom use discrimination! Its all for show?

It appears they are switching from the stick to the carrot. Catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 

[Rufus]

UC regents meeting to include discussion of Cal’s move into the ACC (which could be costly for UCLA)

The controversial issue first surfaced last summer, after UCLA announced it would enter the Big Ten in 2024 (along with USC) and leave its sister campus behind.

www.mercurynews.com

 

[gimber]

Did Benedict release a statement regarding these last rejections?

 

[KryHavok]

Benedict has been quietly diplomatic regarding the latest ACC snub. Figure there is nothing he can say to improve the situation. He doesn’t strike me as a hypocrite, so stating something to the effect of “we’re committed to the Big East…” might not be uttered though I could be wrong. He’s taking the high road, but I wish he would say any power conference would be lucky to have UConn’s academic and athletic excellence.

 

[noeynox]

Benedict has been quietly diplomatic regarding the latest ACC snub. Figure there is nothing he can say to improve the situation. He doesn’t strike me as a hypocrite, so stating something to the effect of “we’re committed to the Big East…” might not be uttered though I could be wrong. He’s taking the high road, but I wish he would say any power conference would be lucky to have UConn’s academic and athletic excellence.

Say nothing. Who wants to hear winning winners love to win.

Quietly improve the football funding like Mora discussed when hired. Its the only play.

 

[JeepCSC]

Sometimes I forget just how much Texas tea there is down there.

SMU Raises ‘Unprecedented’ $100M In Seven Days - SMU Athletics

DALLAS (SMU) – In just seven days, SMU has raised $100 million to support the Mustangs' transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference, University officials announced

smumustangs.com

 

[auggie22]

I think the absurdity of this part of the storyline is expecting SMU will rise to prominence in revenue sports, period. Let alone they will do it playing greater competition as a geographic outlier in a conference where, even with Texas tea, they will be at a big revenue disadvantage. I think the chances of them being more than what they have been for my entire adult life, because they are now in the ACC, are exceptionally low. Not impossible, but definitely not expected. They are tactical cannon fodder to change the calculus of FSU and others for at least a few more years.

 

[JeepCSC]

Well they already are kind of a geographic outlier already, they've just upgraded their schedule from ECU, South Florida, and Temple to UNC, Florida State, and Pittsburgh. The x-factor is Texas talent. 3 Texas teams were joining SMU in the AAC, now SMU keeps themselves above Rice, et al. I honestly expect better things happening in Dallas than in the ACC Bay schools.

 

[ramses 2.0]

I think the absurdity of this part of the storyline is expecting SMU will rise to prominence in revenue sports, period. Let alone they will do it playing greater competition as a geographic outlier in a conference where, even with Texas tea, they will be at a big revenue disadvantage. I think the chances of them being more than what they have been for my entire adult life, because they are now in the ACC, are exceptionally low. Not impossible, but definitely not expected. They are tactical cannon fodder to change the calculus of FSU and others for at least a few more years.

Going to disagree somewhat. Playing in the WAC,CUSA, AAC etc just doesn't move the needle in a major metro like DFW no matter how much money your alumni base has. They at least have a legitimate shot at getting recruits that are now ending up at TCU,Baylor,Ok St,TTU.