disagree. uconn needs expansion to get in the club. P4 means uconn still on the outside, but the company just got a little more tolerable.
about 5-6 of those schools would be ahead of uconn:
texas
kansas
oklahoma
kansas state
oklahoma state
baylor (not sure if a fit for Big)
I just don't agree with half of this post.
Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma? Sure. I would imagine all of these schools would be preferred over UConn if they were all willing to migrate to the B1G.
But Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Baylor?
Baylor? Baylor's the school that a few years ago had Dempski on the payroll, busily attempting to establish a "creation science" "science department". Baylor's a deeply religious school (chapel attendance is mandatory), and I just don't see that floating with B1G P/Cs. Plus, why would the B1G have interest in KSU or OSU, which are weaker non-flagship schools? And the B1G certainly would have zero interest in KSU or OSU if KU and OU joined the B1G.
Finally, Delany himself has expressed an intention to finish off the NE Corridor. Of the schools in the NE, UConn seems to me to be the best positioned to finish off the NE Corridor. In the NE, only the NY system schools are AAU, and none of those schools seem to have any gridiron heft. Buffalo? Cornell? Ahead of UConn? Getoutahere.
None of Syracuse, BC or UConn are AAU so where's UConn's disadvantage with respect to Cuse or BC? I guess Cuse won a NC in ancient times so Cuse might have a tiny historical advantage over UConn, but is that important in playoff times? Personally,
I don' think so, but who am I?
I think what needs to happen is for the B1G to cultivate Kansas -- a school that would have huge interest in the B1G. I think Kansas would bail out of the B12 at the end of the GOR if the B1G offered. A Kansas move would deeply frustrate Oklahoma, which would then consider moving to a league of stability (the B1G or the SEC). Oklahoma seeks academic validity, so I think they would choose the B1G if the B1G could get over "not AAU" and offer them. I imagine OU would be quite giddy over the reinvigoration of the OU-NU rivalry, too.
And that would corner the high and mighty Texas Longhorns. Personally I have no doubt Texas would follow Oklahoma to whichever league Oklahoma was successfully wooed. It's not like the B1G is chopped liver or something. Texas would love the massive exposure it would get from the mega-cities of the northern tier -- that channels our prestige (and fills our coffers from the sale of trinkets). Don't forget that Texas attempted to join the B1G back when the SWC folded, but the B1G had the expansion moratorium in place after adding PSU, so Texas' overtures were politely rejected.
Thus does the door open for UConn to finish off the NE Corridor (and get the B1G to 18). There is definitely a way of thinking that UConn is in the B1G picture, IMO. If the B1G picks off KU, OU, and UT, here comes UConn, and maybe someday we can all have a B1G party.