ESPN is the creator or Worlds - Louisville

[itgoeslike]

Maryland and Rutgers were knee jerk additions by the Big 1o who were worried that Penn State might be isolated and defcct.

They were not added for football prowess. Syracuse and Pitt were added to the ACC because Roy Williams and Coach K pulled together their BB cabal...a cabal that was later countered when FSU pulled together Clemson, Miami, GT, and VT as a voting block.

ACC CR moves, dating back to 2000, has been primarily about self preservation. In the late 1990's and early 2000's you had Big East Teams vying for and winning National Championships. The ACC, with still enough juice, was able wrestle free top football brands that were losing patience with the basketball centric majority of the Big East. Later, Syracuse was added, and Connecticut considered, in part because both schools were on the B1G's radar as early as 2010 (and they did fit the basketball profile mentioned above). Taking the two schools would also further disrupt the BE. As we all know, BC played a role in UCONN getting passed over for PITT. But what greased the skids was that PITT was a solid Big 12 candidate along with West Virginia. Louisville was added for the same reason (along with ACC's need to improve football credibility). The ACC was, and still is, in a grudge match with the B12 to be one of the four conferences left standing if it eventually plays out that way.

 

[billybud]

The ACC expanded because it was a 9 team conference in a world going to 12 team conferences (and one 11 team conference).

The handwriting was on the wall...as Darwin said...adapt or die.

 

[billybud]

And...I could see that same mechanism affecting the Big 12...

 

[UConn Dan]

Maryland and Rutgers were knee jerk additions by the Big 1o who were worried that Penn State might be isolated and defcct.

They were not added for football prowess. Syracuse and Pitt were added to the ACC because Roy Williams and Coach K pulled together their BB cabal...a cabal that was later countered when FSU pulled together Clemson, Miami, GT, and VT as a voting block.

Since when do basketball coaches vote on conference additions? They may not have even be consulted, with the exception of Coach K.

 

[IMind]

I can't wait til ESPN pumps up UCF and Houston on our backs in the AAC and then pushes them in the Big 12.

 

[upstater]

Maryland and Rutgers were knee jerk additions by the Big 1o who were worried that Penn State might be isolated and defcct.

They were not added for football prowess. Syracuse and Pitt were added to the ACC because Roy Williams and Coach K pulled together their BB cabal...a cabal that was later countered when FSU pulled together Clemson, Miami, GT, and VT as a voting block.

And the result was adding Louisville, a school that couldn't beat Uconn in UConn's worst season in a decade, adn that was Ville's best team.

Either way, we're talking mediocrity here.

 

[upstater]

I can't wait til ESPN pumps up UCF and Houston on our backs in the AAC and then pushes them in the Big 12.

I don't see it in the case of Houston. Texas isn't having any other Texas teams join. ain't happening. SMU and Houston will be around until the end of time.

 

[itgoeslike]

And...I could see that same mechanism affecting the Big 12...

I don't disagree. . .the only difference is the wild card of Texas and whether they are disrupting the desires of the majority.

 

[billybud]

And the result was adding Louisville, a school that couldn't beat Uconn in UConn's worst season in a decade, adn that was Ville's best team.

Either way, we're talking mediocrity here.

Ahhh...but perception is everything...what folks see may be different than what a Uconn fan sees...t

They may see a lot of promise in Louisville:
....Louisville beating Florida in the Sugar
....Louisville with the largest athletic budget in the ACC
....Louisville with a respected coach in Strong
....Louisville winning a NC in basketball
....Louisville going to the College World Series
....Louisville with the highest rated ESPN metered market every year for the past ten years.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beerholder...

 

[billybud]

Since when do basketball coaches vote on conference additions? They may not have even be consulted, with the exception of Coach K.

LOL...you do not know who has been running the ACC...Basketball is king in the Carolinas.

 

[upstater]

Ahhh...but perception is everything...what folks see may be different than what a Uconn fan sees...t

They may see a lot of promise in Louisville:
....Louisville beating Florida in the Sugar
....Louisville with the largest athletic budget in the ACC
....Louisville with a respected coach in Strong
....Louisville winning a NC in basketball
....Louisville going to the College World Series
....Louisville with the highest rated ESPN metered market every year for the past ten years.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beerholder...

1. And WV slaughtered Clemson and beat Oklahoma and others. Now look at them. I don't care what anyone says, Ville was bad for 5 years, and had one outlier in which they scraped by bad teams and lost to UConn's worst team.

2. Athletic budgets are apples and oranges since some schools include donations as revenues while others don't. What you need to look at are ticket sales & donation revenue, licensing, etc. When you do that, you get a different picture. UConn for instance is well ahead in licensing.

3. Strong is respected by FSU people. True. But the guy was outcoached by Pasqualoni.

4. Winning NCs in basketball? UConn is no stranger to that. No one has won more in the last 15 years.

5. UConn went to the college WS as well, and UConn was BE baseball champion.

6. Louisville is a small market, so high ratings there need to be weighed against the size of the market. East Carolina dominates Greenville, NC! Anyway, in order to gauge TV impact, you need to look at licensing from tier 3 revenues and the like.

7. Oh, and don't forget, Kentucky is popular in Louisville's market, as is Indiana. People in Louisville say UK is actually MORE popular there. So, ascribing those high ratings in a tiny market to one school is like taking the entire state of Florida and giving FSU credit for it.

 

[billybud]

OK OK..I give..You sold me....I stipulate that UConn is > than Louisville.

But...Louisville has captured the imagination of sports announcers and the ACC. And us old Nole hands remember being in the Metro Conference with Louisville back in the day a bit.

 

[upstater]

OK OK..I give..You sold me....I stipulate that UConn is > than Louisville.

But...Louisville has captured the imagination of sports announcers and the ACC. And us old Nole hands remember being in the Metro Conference with Louisville back in the day a bit.

I didn't say that. I said UConn = Louisville. Both mediocre.

This is what the post was about.

I think you r conference tends to get psyched up about things only to realize the net outcome is not anywhere near the hype.

 

[billybud]

huh? Every conference does...

The Big Ten trys to make the addition of Rutgers and Maryland look liuke something other than the addition of two horrible football programs that water down the brand.

The Big 12, desperate to find two teams so as not to lose their TV contract, pick up WVU and TCU and then sells the speil that this is the nirvanic outcome of a worldwide search...and Notre Dame wasn't up to their standards anyway.

 

[billybud]

And let's not even talk about selling the goodness of Temple and Memphis as big time football additions that help solidify a brand...

It is what conferences do...

 

[upstater]

huh? Every conference does...

The Big Ten trys to make the addition of Rutgers and Maryland look liuke something other than the addition of two horrible football programs that water down the brand.

The Big 12, desperate to find two teams so as not to lose their TV contract, pick up WVU and TCU and then sells the speil that this is the nirvanic outcome of a worldwide search...and Notre Dame wasn't up to their standards anyway.

I'm not even sure what we're talking about anymore. All I said was that the power wars inside the ACC have resulted in questionable outcomes. I only said that FSU's power play last year (after your top trustee blasted North Carolina and the ACC) resulted in a mediocre decision. You can trump it up all you like. Louisville had a helluva year. But everything is timing. Before that, it was losing football games left and right.

 

[upstater]

And let's not even talk about selling the goodness of Temple and Memphis as big time football additions that help solidify a brand...

It is what conferences do...

Come again. I'm trying to figure out how this comment makes any sense. Who should have the ACC invited instead? It's a 10 team conference.

 

[Penfield]

Loved this quote from Deadspin's Hater's Guide to the top 25:

9. Louisville. You can read here about how Louisville—a fundamentally worthless school—essentially became a ward of ESPN and has now grown into the academic equivalent of the BUY NOW spaceship from WALL*E. If the school were renamed The University of Phoenix II presented by ESPN as told to Papa John, it would be more accurate. Rooting for Louisville is like rooting for a marketing brief. FUN FACT: The football program is made out of 95 percent high fructose corn syrup.

 

[billybud]

Come again. I'm trying to figure out how this comment makes any sense. Who should have the ACC invited instead? It's a 10 team conference.

It is not "who should have been invited"...Rather, how all conferences portray aquisitions as being more than they really are...Like your neighbor who buys a new car and then must sell you on all of its great features.

 

[upstater]

It is not "who should have been invited"...Rather, how all conferences portray aquisitions as being more than they really are...Like your neighbor who buys a new car and then must sell you on all of its great features.

Got ya. But I'm not the one selling the idea of Louisville to the ACC. Having played these teams (Cuse, Pitt, Ville, Rutgers) over the last decade, I think we're well aware of who they are.

 

[billybud]

FSU has played WVU and Syracuse twice since 2004...fun games. I went to the WVU games (bowls) and the home game with Cuse.

Louisville, in the rain, was not so much fun since they beat us up there.

 

[upstater]

FSU has played WVU and Syracuse twice since 2004...fun games. I went to the WVU games (bowls) and the home game with Cuse.

Louisville, in the rain, was not so much fun since they beat us up there.

It's stunning to me that a Cuse-FSU game could be fun, given our play against them until last year.

These are UConn's results v. Cuse until last year.

W 26-7
L 20-14
W 30-7
W 39-14
W 56-31
W 23-6
W 28-21

Until last year, it's been like Cuse was UConn's patsy. But I guess everything gets forgotten after one bad year and 2 year's away from a national bball championship.

 

[billybud]

Yeah..it is the match ups...

WVU owns UConn (7-1 in last 8) but Syracuse has beat WVU for three in a row now......

 

[upstater]

Yeah..it is the match ups...

WVU owns UConn (7-1 in last 8) but Syracuse has beat WVU for three in a row now......

That's exactly what I'm saying. You should have taken WVU. Over Louisville, Pitt, Cuse, etc.

UConn owns Pitt too and holds its own against Ville.

It was clear to me that WV was the class of the conference while everyone else was pretty mediocre, and even the teams that never finished first (Rutgers) were just as bad/good as teams that finished first twice (UConn and Louisville).

As for BC, I was stunned to see them in ACC championship games since they never finished higher than 3rd in the BE, even in the year that there was no VT or Miami in the conference.

 

[billybud]

Cuse played FSU 13-17 in game one...made the second game a game of anticipation...that game was 14-38.

The Cuse who walked through our tailgate were really Floridians originally from Cuse...but they partied with us.