Did anyone read Dooley's post? Uconn IS making moves. Uconn was the most logical choice for the ACC. We fit in every way, but shockingly it wasn't to be. What could have been accomplished by WM cutting his vacation short other than giving the perception that he was doing something from his office versus what he likely felt could be accomplished from his beach chair? Uconn was not a hard sell and who would have thought the ACC would lower its standards to select Louisville? Has it all come down to athletics without regard to the institution? Uconn is making a statement by improving both the institution and athletics. Now it is up to athletics to succeed and for the State of Connecticut to embrace them. Diaco says it can be done and although I am not ready to fully believe it yet, I am excited about the direction we are heading. There is no reason at this time for looking back at what could have been and being miserable about it when the what can be is still doable.
Bingo. The ACC Presidents were allowed to be swayed from selecting UCONN to Louisville because of a few factors that UCONN and Warde Manuel have absolutely zero control over. First of all, the conference as a whole but specifically BC, Miami, and VT will always hate UCONN for the ludicrous lawsuit filed in Connecticut by Connecticut's Attorney General after they left for the ACC. Because it was allowed to be filed in CT by CT's AG, it is widely viewed by people within the ACC that UCONN was ringleader in organizing this lawsuit even though Pitt was on it and people from Cuse were more vocal. Because most people in the ACC think the lawsuit was initiated by UCONN, they will ALWAYS have enemies. BC is sore that Father Leahy was named on it and Miami is still so sore that Pres Herbst is rumored to have tried to use Bill friggin' Clinton to get Donna Shalala to return her phone calls. Not to mention, BC is well documented and on record as wanting New England as "their turf" and they view UCONN on equal conference footing as a death strike against their athletic programs (one of the reasons why they were so quick to leave the Big East for the ACC in the first place). BC will ALWAYS pioneer efforts to block UCONN, even if it means inviting a community college academic like Louisville.
Second, timing shockingly had a very big impact on UCONN being passed over. Maryland leaving the ACC for the B1G caused a fair amount of panic amongst ACC Presidents that football powers like FSU and Clemson and conference heavyweights like UNC and UVA would leave for other conferences. So, in order to appease the football schools of the conference like FSU, Clemson, Miami (who already hates UCONN), GT, and VT, the conference Presidents were allowed to be swayed by the anti-UCONN wing to invite Louisville Community College. This was enough to get FSU, Clemson, UNC, and UVA to sign their GOR to lock them in. Louisville deserves some credit because both football and basketball programs have enjoyed good success at the last realignment song and that was enough to divert ACC President's gazes away from their 160-something ranked academics with a "everyone gets in" 96% acceptance rate. UL made a great hire in Charlie Strong and UCONN made a horrendous hire in Paul Pasqualoni/George DeLeone (thanks Jeff!) and they parlayed that into being successful on the field, expanding their football stadium, and getting an ACC invite. I think some ACC Presidents must have felt that Strong (and Bridgewater) was going to stay at Louisville forever and that they could never have another Steve Kragthorpe era at the same time thinking UCONN would never fire Pasqualoni and we could never have another Edsall type of era. The ACC expanded with a flavor-of-the-day addition (Louisville was better than UCONN in 2011-12) and did not focus on long-term objectives (TV market, academic standards, athletic success). That's very scary for the long-term health of the conference. When UL stinks again (and they will stink again because like I always say, sports are cyclical), I want to hear those ACC Presidents jump up and down and explain how Louisville is a good, contributing member of the conference. They play second fiddle within their own state, boast some of the worst academics in the country, play in a smaller TV market than UCONN, and are in poor financial shape once they stop cooking the books on the YUM Center revenue.
This is why UCONN and the fanbase needs to forget about joining the ACC. It will NEVER happen. Too many enemies (BC, Miami, VT, football schools who hate northeast football because of, ironically, BC) and hurdles to overcome to get an invite. The ACC has had their fair share of opportunities to invite UCONN and they haven't. It wouldn't have mattered if Warde Manuel was on Mars when Jurich successfully lobbied for their ACC invite, we weren't getting an invite. If it wasn't UL, it would have been Cincinnati, USF/UCF or somebody else. UCONN's AAC escape pod will or will not come in the form of the B1G conference that they are clearly angling. If the B12 comes calling first, UCONN would jump there too but I think that's a longer shot than the B1G. At this point in the game, it's in UCONN's best interest to angle for a B1G (or B12) invite instead of an ACC simply to get into a better conference than BC and the Fruit's ACC. The B1G would be a better fit for UCONN anyway. Academics are MUCH stronger, much more stable, northern based climates, and they have like-minded universities (large state flagships) that make up the majority. In my mind, it's B1G or bust for UCONN. And you can guarantee that if Jim Delany flirted with UCONN at their next expansion, both Warde and Susan will NOT be in the Virgin Islands, on the moon, or anywhere else other than lobbying tooth and nail for a B1G invite. That's where they both want to be (and UCONN fans should too) and seeing Rutgers and Maryland get invites only gives UCONN that much more hope that our shoulder will tapped too.
