B1G

[CTMike]

We've been tracking BC ratings here for over a decade. They are abysmally bad. When I say rodeo beats it, I'm not joking. It's true. If the metric is TV, BC fails. Badly fails. No one watches them on TV. This can't be emphasized enough. I don't know what the presidents are looking at, maybe they don't care about TV. Maybe they invited Maryland and Rutgers for their football history and not the TV.

BC has been a 30 year story for me. I was there right after the Flutie years (moved to Boston in mid 80s), lived off the B line on Commonwealth, wife is a BC grad--I know well where the school is coming from, and I know how they operate too and it's not all groovy either. I imagine B1G schools wouldn't refuse to hire faculty members who are gay, for instance. Nonetheless, I do have a finger on the pulse of their popularity in Boston. To say the support is tepid is putting it mildly.

I don't disagree with anything you just said upstater. But if there are people out there whose perception is otherwise... then there's still plenty of work to do to make that known. If the "truth" was only based on what we say here on the BY then CR would have gone a whole lot different, no?

 

[upstater]

I don't disagree with anything you just said upstater. But if there are people out there whose perception is otherwise... then there's still plenty of work to do to make that known. If the "truth" was only based on what we say here on the BY then CR would have gone a whole lot different, no?

I don't think it would have gone differently because Swofford was playing checkers while others were playing chess. Our problem is that Marinatto was doodling in coloring books while Swofford was playing checkers.

I doubt anyone else would be stupid enough to make the same mistake with BC.

 

[GopherHawk]

You reference ratings Clemson and FSU. My question is would the locals be more interested in a match up with tOSU or Penn St? Is part of the apathy because they don't relate to the other team and the teams they do relate to are not high profile?

Would a BC vs PSU game have higher ratings in Boston?
Would a BC vs tOSU game have higher ratings in Boston?

I don't get the feeling that Red Sox vs the DRays is a rivalry. Does that extend to Other sports? If they don't feel you "area" is a threat from a pro perspective to they dismiss you from a college perspective?

Again, I am not a BC supporter. Wouldn't want a religious school as part of the B1G. To many different politics involved.

 

[pj]

I do have a finger on the pulse of their popularity in Boston. To say the support is tepid is putting it mildly.

I live in Boston also. Except for members of the BC community (alumni, employees, Catholics who attend St Ignatius), there is zero interest in BC. It is on the level of Wellesley College, Brandeis, or Tufts as far as frequency of appearance in conversation.

 

[pj]

You reference ratings Clemson and FSU. My question is would the locals be more interested in a match up with tOSU or Penn St? Is part of the apathy because they don't relate to the other team and the teams they do relate to are not high profile?

Would a BC vs PSU game have higher ratings in Boston?
Would a BC vs tOSU game have higher ratings in Boston?

I don't get the feeling that Red Sox vs the DRays is a rivalry. Does that extend to Other sports? If they don't feel you "area" is a threat from a pro perspective to they dismiss you from a college perspective?

Again, I am not a BC supporter. Wouldn't want a religious school as part of the B1G. To many different politics involved.

When the Red Sox play in Tampa, 2/3 of the fans are Red Sox fans. It is like that for BC on TV. When they are on TV, 4/5 of the audience are rooting for the other team. There were a lot of graduates from other Big East schools in Boston and that influenced local interest in BC games when BC was in the Big East; there are very few Bostonians who went to college in the south, and so interest dropped off when they joined the ACC. But that interest was always more in the competition than in BC itself.

There are more B1G graduates in Boston than ACC graduates, so BC would benefit from a move to the B1G. But how would the B1G benefit? BC brings little, and the Michigan/OSU/PSU fans in New England could as easily make the trip to East Hartford to see their schools play UConn. More easily, if you want to tailgate.

 

[upstater]

You reference ratings Clemson and FSU. My question is would the locals be more interested in a match up with tOSU or Penn St? Is part of the apathy because they don't relate to the other team and the teams they do relate to are not high profile?

Would a BC vs PSU game have higher ratings in Boston?
Would a BC vs tOSU game have higher ratings in Boston?

I don't get the feeling that Red Sox vs the DRays is a rivalry. Does that extend to Other sports? If they don't feel you "area" is a threat from a pro perspective to they dismiss you from a college perspective?

Again, I am not a BC supporter. Wouldn't want a religious school as part of the B1G. To many different politics involved.

First off, Red Sox - DRays IS a rivalry. But the gist of it is that BC is a relatively small school in a suburb, and it doesn't connect with the majority of people in town. This is a city with many colleges and universities. In that sense, it's unlike most markets. Northeastern, BC, BU, MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Suffolk, UMass-Boston, Emerson, etc. I bet BC-PSU would do decently--better than BC-OSU, but there is simply little interest in college sports. That goes for basketball and hockey as well (outside of the Beanpot, which is the only event that gets people interested in college sports in Boston). But that's only 2 days of the year.

The fans not only don't relate to the opposition, they don't relate to BC. It's not Boston's team. If Umass-Boston were the main campus instead of a branch, I bet then you'd have more interest in college sports.

 

[Doggie Style]

We hate BC more than any other school, no doubt. At the end of the day, I would love to see them in in the B1G w/ us. It would lock up the Northeast for the B1G as well as two major tv markets and solidify a BB Tourney in NYC!! I see a regional rivalry between us, Rutgers and BC as nothing but positive. Throw in Penn State, and we've got a nice base to help continue to grow our football base. As polarizing as this would be, it would get me more excited than joining with Virginia.... That being said, *K BC!!!!

 

[The Funster]

You reference ratings Clemson and FSU. My question is would the locals be more interested in a match up with tOSU or Penn St? Is part of the apathy because they don't relate to the other team and the teams they do relate to are not high profile?

Would a BC vs PSU game have higher ratings in Boston?
Would a BC vs tOSU game have higher ratings in Boston?

I don't get the feeling that Red Sox vs the DRays is a rivalry. Does that extend to Other sports? If they don't feel you "area" is a threat from a pro perspective to they dismiss you from a college perspective?

Again, I am not a BC supporter. Wouldn't want a religious school as part of the B1G. To many different politics involved.

Any school would have higher ratings when they play PSU or TOSU. upstater isn't kidding. Rodeo out drew BC in Boston. Yes, BC shot itself in the foot when it jumped to the ACC. It joined predominatly southern schools and had no regional rivalry. To be sure, though, BC wasn't even close to owning its market before that. That is why when the ACC cited BC as capturing Boston and the northeast market everyone in this area knew the ACC was buying a bill of goods. frankthetank cites the Flutie years and slightly higher ratings than the norm when BC faces top flight schools. The Flutie years were an aberration and I'll opine that ANY school that has a Flutie-like player will enjoy a massive ratings bump. I'll also grant that Boston may muster some interest for BC against a FB power. But they're not watching because of BC. I'd say if you want to pick a team you'd at least want to pick a team that is strong in its own market and doesn't have to rely on a fleeting name or quality opponent to draw something more than flies. I'd much prefer Cuse or Pitt than BC. At least they can carry their home market week in and week out. BC has lost out to rodeo. Rodeo. Consider that.

BC has great academics. It has failed to capture its own good sized market, it has a mediocre history, is trending downward sharply and it isn't in prime recruiting territory for anything except hockey. So what makes BC attractive for any forward thinking conference?

 

[UConnJim]

Here is an analysis of the numbers for BC TV ratings last year.

First, lets look at Notre Dame's ratings last year to see how BC stacked up.

A couple of caveats. Notre Dame's games were mostly broadcast at 3:30 PM or 7:30/8 PM. (I excluded the 9 AM Navy game from Ireland.)

Clearly, the 7:30/8 PM games had better ratings, but also, the competition for viewers was tougher for some games vs others. I will highlight the competition for some games to help better understand the ratings.

ND vs Michigan St. 8 PM ABC 5.0 million (Overlap with FL/TN, USC/Stanford, Texas/Ole Miss)
ND vs Michigan 7:30 PM NBC 6.4 million (Overlap with Clemson/FSU, LSU/Auburn, KSU/Oklahoma)
ND vs Miami 7:30 PM NBC 3.7 million (Overlap with Nebraska/Ohio St., WVU/Texas, FSU/NC St.)
ND vs Oklahoma 8 PM NBC 8.6 million
ND vs BC 8 PM ABC 5.8 million (Overlap with KSU/TCU, Miss St/LSU, Georgia/Auburn)
ND vs USC 8 PM ABC 16.1 million

ND vs Stanford 3:30 PM NBC 5.2 million
ND vs Pitt 3:30 PM NBC 6.0 million
ND vs Wake Forest 3:30 PM NBC 2.6 million
ND vs Purdue 3:30 PM NBC 2.8 million

My read on this is that BC performed middle of the pack with Notre Dame in a prime time setting with weaker football competition that night. ND/Miami had very difficult competition the night of their game. Most interesting is that the Pitt and Stanford game ratings were about in line with BC even though they started at 3:30 PM. My view is that people watch Notre Dame, not BC. Many middle of the pack schools would produce the same ratings as BC.

And, BC had two games on ESPN2 last year and they were not ratings bonanzas, even against the best teams in the ACC: (The BC/Miami game was split coverage last year so hard to conclude the individual game ratings.)

BC vs FSU 5:30 PM ESPN2 672k (Navy/Central Michigan had 884k for the next game on ESPN2. BC/FSU equaled Northwestern/Minnesota on ESPN2 that day)
BC vs Clemson 3:30 PM ESPN2 891k (South Carolina/Kentucky had 1.9 million for the next game on ESPN2.)

The above ratings are about equal to what the "reverse mirror" games on ESPN2 do at 3:30 PM. In other words, these games did as well as the ratings on ESPN2 when the out of market ABC game was shown in the reverse mirror. Imagine the ratings for the above time slots if the games were BC/WF, BC/Duke, or BC/Maryland?

People may remember the Doug Flutie days at BC, but those days have been over for almost 30 years. BC football today is not a big draw in the stands or on TV.

 

[buggsy]

You hold the bahgavad gita as gospel, correct?

I really have no idea what the hell this means? Is this an inside joke or something?

UCONN fans like you like to tout how you're climbing in the USN&WR rankings. How you are now above RU (in their) U.S. rankings.

It makes sense that you don't want to hear about the USN&WR world rankings....in which you are more than 100 places behind RU.

I get it.

 

[Husky25]

First off, Red Sox - DRays IS a rivalry. But the gist of it is that BC is a relatively small school in a suburb, and it doesn't connect with the majority of people in town. This is a city with many colleges and universities. In that sense, it's unlike most markets. Northeastern, BC, BU, MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Suffolk, UMass-Boston, Emerson, etc. I bet BC-PSU would do decently--better than BC-OSU, but there is simply little interest in college sports. That goes for basketball and hockey as well (outside of the Beanpot, which is the only event that gets people interested in college sports in Boston). But that's only 2 days of the year.

The fans not only don't relate to the opposition, they don't relate to BC. It's not Boston's team. If Umass-Boston were the main campus instead of a branch, I bet then you'd have more interest in college sports.

You're right about everything except saying that BC is in the suburbs. It is served by a "T" line that runs directly down Comm. Ave. And is a mere six miles frome the golden dome of the old state house. BC is not an urban campus, to be sure, but its still might be a stretch to say it is located in the suburbs.

Bottom line is that BC fans are the extreme definition of fair weather. Even when they had a good bball team in the late 90s (BE champs will Curly and Penn), they had a hard time filling Conte Forum.



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[itgoeslike]

You reference ratings Clemson and FSU. My question is would the locals be more interested in a match up with tOSU or Penn St? Is part of the apathy because they don't relate to the other team and the teams they do relate to are not high profile?

Would a BC vs PSU game have higher ratings in Boston?
Would a BC vs tOSU game have higher ratings in Boston?

I don't get the feeling that Red Sox vs the DRays is a rivalry. Does that extend to Other sports? If they don't feel you "area" is a threat from a pro perspective to they dismiss you from a college perspective?

Again, I am not a BC supporter. Wouldn't want a religious school as part of the B1G. To many different politics involved.

Yes, but that would be true regarding any school. I was addressing the suggestion that BC enhances ratings. When you say locals are we talking Big Ten graduates? If so, I see as many or more people driving from Boston and NYC to converge on a UCONN vs. Big Ten matchup.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Look - I know that many of you would rather run on hot coals than to give credit to BC on anything. .

Aint that the truth.

 

[B1GALUM]

FYI. Another avenue for B1G expansion discussion. http://www.offtackleempire.com/2013...xpansion-questions-frank-the-tank-has-answers

 

[upstater]

You're right about everything except saying that BC is in the suburbs. It is served by a "T" line that runs directly down Comm. Ave. And is a mere six miles frome the golden dome of the old state house. BC is not an urban campus, to be sure, but its still might be a stretch to say it is located in the suburbs.

Bottom line is that BC fans are the extreme definition of fair weather. Even when they had a good bball team in the late 90s (BE champs will Curly and Penn), they had a hard time filling Conte Forum.

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Strictly speaking, Newton and Chestnut Hill are the burbs. They are not part of the city. I also find it to be pretty suburban out there with only the exception of Cleveland Circle.

 

[upstater]

Aint that the truth.

In this case, we're absolutely right. Rodeo!!! for heaven's sake.

 

[upstater]

I really have no idea what the hell this means? Is this an inside joke or something?

UCONN fans like you like to tout how you're climbing in the USN&WR rankings. How you are now above RU (in their) U.S. rankings.

It makes sense that you don't want to hear about the USN&WR world rankings....in which you are more than 100 places behind RU.

I get it.

You're as wrong as can be. On this very thread I knocked USN and I've been knocking that rag for ages.

You don't know what it means? Precisely.

 

[upstater]

Connecticut is not a great football area. Massachusetts is not even half as intense as Connecticut.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

BC is not "in the city" - they are much more of a suburban campus than an urban campus, in reality somewhere in between, skewing to suburban.

 

[auggie22]

You're right about everything except saying that BC is in the suburbs. It is served by a "T" line that runs directly down Comm. Ave. And is a mere six miles frome the golden dome of the old state house. BC is not an urban campus, to be sure, but its still might be a stretch to say it is located in the suburbs.

Bottom line is that BC fans are the extreme definition of fair weather. Even when they had a good bball team in the late 90s (BE champs will Curly and Penn), they had a hard time filling Conte Forum.

Have you taken the T from CH into the city? It takes 45 minutes once you step on board. Drive down rt9 and it may take longer.

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[Husky25]

My sister went there, so yes. I have.

I'm not going to post anymore tonight. I've had a couple. Dont want to cause any trouble. Good night folks.

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[itgoeslike]

Connecticut is not a great football area. Massachusetts is not even half as intense as Connecticut.

I'm not familiar with this map, but it appears Connecticut is on par with Maryland, West Virginia, Illinois, etc. What's interesting is that I often read that Rutgers and Maryland were taken for their fertile recruiting grounds. UCONN appears to be on par with at least one of those schools.

 

[Hoophound]

BC is not "in the city" - they are much more of a suburban campus than an urban campus, in reality somewhere in between, skewing to suburban.

I don't really agree with that. Chestnut Hill is part of the city. We're splitting hairs if Cleveland Circle is the city (it is) and BC 1000 feet up the road is not.

 

[UPitt]

Connecticut is not a great football area. Massachusetts is not even half as intense as Connecticut.

Where did you get this map? I'm interested if there was additional information from an article and would like to read it.

Also it is interesting that the map shows the national norm is 1.00 but only 13 states are above average. I think that shows that the southern states have much larger advantage in recruiting blue chip recruits than most people realize.

 

[UPitt]

I'm not familiar with this map, but it appears Connecticut is on par with Maryland, West Virginia, Illinois, etc. What's interesting is that I often read that Rutgers and Maryland were taken for their fertile recruiting grounds. UCONN appears to be on par with at least one of those schools.

Connecticut is a 0.41 and Maryland is a 0.70, meaning that Maryland is nearly twice as strong for producing blue chip recruits. But with Baltimore, I would have expected a larger difference. I also agree that reasoning for selecting Maryland looks weak per the map, but a school like Maryland being in the B1G, allows schools like PSU and OSU to target neighboring states to Maryland that have better recruiting. But mostly Maryland was taken to give PSU a flanker state and to target ACC teams such as Virginia and UNC.

 

[huskymedic]

Connecticut is a 0.41 and Maryland is a 0.70, meaning that Maryland is nearly twice as strong for producing blue chip recruits. But with Baltimore, I would have expected a larger discrempancy.

Also 2+million more peeps...

 

[NickyNewark]

Where did you get this map? I'm interested if there was additional information from an article and would like to read it.

Also it is interesting that the map shows the national norm is 1.00 but only 13 states are above average. I think that shows that the southern states have much larger advantage in recruiting blue chip recruits than most people realize.

I'm from N.J. and that map is crazy BOGUS!I know NJs a very good state for talent but not deeper than Pa?And NY on the same level as the Dakota's, Alaska ?Calif as populated and deep in talent as it is get's only a 1.03 ??Delete it ,it is a complete joke and on what formula was it determined on?And yes, I'm a friend of UConn but NO fool Md is a much better HS FB state talent and depth wise!

 

[whaler11]

Connecticut is a 0.41 and Maryland is a 0.70, meaning that Maryland is nearly twice as strong for producing blue chip recruits. But with Baltimore, I would have expected a larger difference. I also agree that reasoning for selecting Maryland looks weak per the map, but a school like Maryland being in the B1G, allows schools like PSU and OSU to target neighboring states to Maryland that have better recruiting. But mostly Maryland was taken to give PSU a flanker state and to target ACC teams such as Virginia and UNC.

Maryland was taken because the BTN thinks Baltimore and DC have a lot of cable boxes they can get fees from. They also thought Maryland might jar loose the schools they really wanted (North Carolina).

Do you think the Big 10 took Nebraska because of the local football talent?

 

[upstater]

I don't really agree with that. Chestnut Hill is part of the city. We're splitting hairs if Cleveland Circle is the city (it is) and BC 1000 feet up the road is not.

The difference is one of landscape. Suburban homes, urban homes. Charlestown looks nothing like Chestnut Hill.

 

[upstater]

Here's the article folks!

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...in-big-ten-expanding-include-maryland-rutgers

The difference may be that NJ and Md have more recruits, but that map was blue chips.

A few years ago, Conn. had players by the NFL in one draft like Amari Spievey, Aaron Hernandez, David Reed, Marcus Easley, Bruce Campbell, Chris Baker, John Moffitt, Terrence Knighton, Vladimir Ducasse. So, if the total numbers of kids given schollies to D1 schools was 15 to 20 out of 3.5 million people, the number of good players was much higher.