Why so? Big Ten has its own basketball brands that was only a game or two away from winning the tourney - and pulls in higher basketball revenues than UConn even without winning it all. Why would there be a need to add another brand?
UConn has also yet to show that they can win a tourney with a new HC so the jury is still out as well.
So Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois + Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State...hey, that's at least 7 ahead of UConn without even bringing up UChicago/JHU. So how does that improve academics?
Did I ever dispute that UConn has had a lot of success in basketball in the past 2 decades? No.
Do I think there is a need for the Big Ten to add a school purely based on its Basketball prowess? No.
Do I think UConn has an outside shot at the Big Ten? Yes.
In terms of academics, Penn State may still have an edge, but Ohio State and Maryland are comparable to UCONN. What you tend to do is marginalize UCONN's accomplishments. In academics, you stated that UCONN would be "lower tier", which suggests they would be at the bottom of the conference, perhaps behind behind Rutgers, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan State, Indiana and by default, way behind Ohio State and Maryland. That is simply not the case. I'm not saying that UCONN is rivaling Northwestern for the top spot, but we're not bringing up the rear either.
You've regularly pointed out that UCONN is lacking a "top tier" Football program. But, the fact is they have played as well as or better than many P5 teams over the past 10 years. Here are some facts.
- Only 9 teams in the nation had more NFL draft picks this year
- UCONN had more NFL draft picks than every team in the Big Ten this year
- UCONN has more players in the NFL than many P5 schools
- Its facilities are among the top ten in the nation
- Has won a share of a conference title twice
- Has played in a BCS bowl game
- Beat South Carolina in a bowl game
- Beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame
- Has a winning bowl record
These are facts associated with a D1 program that has been in existence for about 10 years. How many teams can say that? You can choose to downplay those facts, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen. Adding UCONN would improve the overall football product in the B1G. It won't have the same impact as adding Texas or Oklahoma, but it's not going to bring it down either.
Not surprisingly, you now try to devalue national championships in high profile, highly competitive, revenue generating sports such as basketball. Quite frankly, if it was so easy, UCONN wouldn't be the only school with 3 national championships in MBB over the past 15 years and 8 National championships in WBB. Of course, your response was "UConn has also yet to show that they can win a tourney with a new HC so the jury is still out as well." What? UCONN won 20 games with the new HC, with the deck stacked against them and would have been a shoe-in for the tournament. The use of "Yet to show. . ." implies they somehow failed, which again, just isn't the case. Also, it's amusing how our coach has to win a NC in his first year but other "power houses" can go decades without a championship. I am sure when we win our fourth championship this year you will still have questions. But UCONN's used to it. It probably took a third national championship to wrest credit from certain fans.
The reality is that UCONN outperforms many schools in P5 conference in many different metrics. Most of these schools have leveled off, whereas UCONN will continue to get better.
Here is another reality—many schools, conferences and fans live off the laurels of past accomplishments, and one way to do it is to marginalize other schools' accomplishments, especially "new comers". I think push back is in order when the characterization doesn't correlate with the facts. Again, let me be clear, my desire is for UCONN to join the Big Ten because I think it's the best long term fit. However, it's less likely to happen if UCONN allows past successes, which they earned the hard way, get devalued and go uncontested.
I will give you credit for being fairly knowledgeable, but I think you have a "blind spot" when it comes to the trajectory of UCONN as a university and its potentiality. The conference that ultimately offers UCONN will benefit from a school that will excel nationally in academics, research, and athletics, and not just pursue national championships, but bring them home.