A UConn, Cuse, BC pod would be better in bb and worse in football than a UConn, RU, BC pod. The reason is geography. A football stadium is harder to fill than a bb arena. Since all four programs are struggling the best way to develop these programs in tandem is to have good coaches, get good players and generate fan excitement. But you not only need people in the seats you need to establish a group of teams you love to hate. This is why UNC-Duke and NY-Red Sox works so well. Proximity geographically is the parameter I'm emphasizing. And I'm emphasizing the value of football over bb even though I'm slightly more a UConn bb fan than a Uconn football fan.
OK, gotcha. The BC-UConn-RU pod you mention would've fit better for football than the BC-UConn-Syracuse pod I've been speaking of. That would have the proximity and familiarity that make rivalries longlasting.
Kids in NY and NE are eating the same foods as Jersey and Penn. They basically come from the same range of livestock. The only difference between these two regions is cultural. So how does excitement get generated for football in these regions. A combination of increased success and exposure will develop these areas that are disinterested. And the best exposure would be to bring kids to the stadiums. If I were Cuse, BC and UConn I'd be getting kids from area hs's to watch games at the stadiums. I would give free tickets to various schools as an incentive. But I wouldn't do it until there is an exciting team on the field. It would mean a reduction in revenues but it would change the paradigm of disinterest.
Does either CT, MA, or NJ allow spring practice for HSFB? Down South, that is HUGE (NC does not allow spring practice, that I know of). And, during the summer, there are 7-on-7 passing camps and tournaments all over everywhere. Its wall-to-wall football year round. That drives local fan interest, and, keeps the sport front and center in fans' minds during the long off-season. The universities, especially in the SEC, already give tickets to HSFB coaches, and, those coaches take some of their kids along with them. That happened way back in my HS days, too. And, you are absolutely spot on about how something like we've both mentioned would change the level of interest in the sport for northeastern universities.
As far as my comment about UConn and Rutgers overtaking BC and Cuse its about the difficulties private schools are/will be having relative to the publics. I don't know much about RU but UConn has made incredible leaps with attracting better academic students. They are attracting the type of student that previously would go to schools like BC and Cuse. In other words UConn is eating into the supply chain of those schools. And that is what I meant by overtaking.
