Chicago Sun-Times: Big10 Will Add 15 & 16

[SouthronCross]

They have no political connection to Duke.

It would be the other way around: Virginia would follow Carolina.

NC State has had a football edge on UNC plenty of times over the years, their local fanbase is much stronger than Carolina's for football, even if that isn't known nationally.

NC State's local basketball fanbase is stronger than Carolina's as well - it's just nationally they get overwhelmed.

What has not been broadcast over the years is how NCSU has decided to vastly increase the size of their student body in recent years. My youngest brother works there, and, said the school announced it had over 34,000 enrolled for this current school year. Their goal is to be at 50,000 within the next 5-7 years. Plus, their football stadium, Carter-Finley, makes it easy to tailgate, and, its a short walk from their campus.

Kenan Stadium is right in the middle of UNC's campus, and, tailgating can be a hassle. Plus, the City of Chapel Hill is not real cooperative in attempting to make it easier to enjoy a football Saturday. The locals can be real nasty to visitors at times. They have no idea the money they are costing the city those 6-7 Saturdays a year.

State's support for hoops is a bit overstated. They do not sell out every home. Usually, its just versus UNC and Duke within the ACC, and, for big name OOC opponents. To be fair, UNC's attendance is bad, too.

 

[SouthronCross]

Huh? That has not been my experience having spent a quite a bit of time in the state and having lots of friends and family living there. UNC has significantly more living alumni and the NCst fanbase extends to about the campus border.

State's student body is significantly larger than UNC's (34K vs 22K), and, their football stadium is better located for tailgating. Plus, its a short walk for students from campus. UNC's is dead in the middle of campus, and, its tough to tailgate there.

Hoops atendance is about the same, IMHO.

 

[whaler11]

What has not been broadcast over the years is how NCSU has decided to vastly increase the size of their student body in recent years. My youngest brother works there, and, said the school announced it had over 34,000 enrolled for this current school year. Their goal is to be at 50,000 within the next 5-7 years. Plus, their football stadium, Carter-Finley, makes it easy to tailgate, and, its a short walk from their campus.

Kenan Stadium is right in the middle of UNC's campus, and, tailgating can be a hassle. Plus, the City of Chapel Hill is not real cooperative in attempting to make it easier to enjoy a football Saturday. The locals can be real nasty to visitors at times. They have no idea the money they are costing the city those 6-7 Saturdays a year.

State's support for hoops is a bit overstated. They do not sell out every home. Usually, its just versus UNC and Duke within the ACC, and, for big name OOC opponents. To be fair, UNC's attendance is bad, too.

Well they play in an enormous arena. It's been a while since I lived there but mediocre teams pretty much filled up the ESA for conference play at least.

 

[Dooley]

From a completely selfish standpoint, I would LOVE to see UCONN go to the B1G with a few Tobacco Road schools and/or UVA. I know TR loves the ACC, but B1G basketball would be insane with UCONN and UNC in the mix. Plus their reach would open access to football recruiting areas. But I understand the reasons for not wanting to leave the ACC.

Also from a completely selfish standpoint, I wouldn't give a if our B1G "partner" was CCSU. Anything to get out of the AAC will be fine by me.

 

[dayooper]

From a completely selfish standpoint, I would LOVE to see UCONN go to the B1G with a few Tobacco Road schools and/or UVA. I know TR loves the ACC, but B1G basketball would be insane with UCONN and UNC in the mix. Plus their reach would open access to football recruiting areas. But I understand the reasons for not wanting to leave the ACC.

Also from a completely selfish standpoint, I wouldn't give a if our B1G "partner" was CCSU. Anything to get out of the AAC will be fine by me.

Colgate might work

 

[Dooley]

Colgate might work

I've always been more of an AquaFresh guy, but whatever gets us out of here is fine by me.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Given the B1G's move east, is it not conceivable that Virginia would be the #16 paired with us? Or are their barriers to exit the ACC too high?

With Virginia, you have 4 pods of 4:

UConn, Rutgers, Maryland, Virginia
Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State
Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue
Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa
(maybe mix and match a little to even out the strength of the pods)

Virginia and UConn would bookend their penetration into the East Coast megalopolis, pretty much continuously from Richmond to Hartford, including DC, Baltimore, Philly, Jersey, NYC. I think this is their goal, and they want to see how far Rutgers and Maryland will take them (my guess: not far). We and Virginia are the logical options to complete this move.

That would be a slam dunk if they could pull that off, but I don't see Virginia leaving the ACC and their rivalries with UNC and Duke.

I've been thinking that poaching Oklahoma from the Big 12 would restore a great rivalry with Nebraska, and UConn would fill in the gaps and shortcomings of Rutgers & Maryland. Eastern Pod becomes Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland and UConn.

 

[clmssun]

That would be a slam dunk if they could pull that off, but I don't see Virginia leaving the ACC and their rivalries with UNC and Duke.

I've been thinking that poaching Oklahoma from the Big 12 would restore a great rivalry with Nebraska, and UConn would fill in the gaps and shortcomings of Rutgers & Maryland. Eastern Pod becomes Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland and UConn.

I'd wager that Kansas leaves BigXII for B1G first, though both KU and OU must resolve in-state political issues with their land-grant "state university" brethren before they can leave.