Irish fan on why UConn belongs in the ACC

[RegisteredUconn]

Its not, which is part of the reason I am amazed anyone other than a Rutgers fan would think the ACC should have added Rutgers in 2003.

Because it would be part of a strategy, something seemingly unfamiliar to you. Why would the B1G add Rutgers now? Maybe because it's part of a strategy?

 

[HuskyFan16]

That sounds good, but do you watch the Walking Dead? They have reached Terminus, which may be run by cannibals. Some ports are worse than storms, certainly the ones that may be ridden out.


UConn needs a port that looks south, not to the midwest, for football recruiting. It needs a port that pairs it back with Syracuse basketball and with BC. BC left the BE before we could see how hot BC-UConn could become in football. UConn needs a port with football teams that average more along the lines of 50,000 per game than 65,00o or 70,000.

UConn doesn't need a goshdarn thing from anyone except TV Revenue. We're doing just fine winning national championships without a Syracuse rivalry that they were more than happy to disown. And frankly, playing BC in any sport except hockey at this point would not be as exciting as playing teams that win and have a tradition of winning.

Would I be fine with UConn in the ACC? Sure. I think it would be cool to play FSU and Va Tech in football and Duke and UNC in hoops. But playing the B1G schools just moves the needle a lot more for everyone on this board. You don't have to believe me. But I really don't care about the idea of playing Syracuse, BC and Notre Dame.

 

[WhartonHusky]

I think most of the long-time fans on this board are basketball fans. We would have loved nothing more than an invite to the ACC along with our conference rivals - Cuse/Pitt and certainly Lville. We dreamed about playing Duke and UNC on a regular basis and how awesome it would be to be part of an ACC tourney in NYC. For a variety of reasons, it didn't come to pass.

As this conference realignment process has dragged out, I think UConn fans have increasingly begun to consider the idea (hopefully) of an invite to the B1G. It's not the same from a basketball standpoint, but there seems to be less animosity and more mutual respect for our accomplishments and what we as a University can bring to the table. We all know that UConn's resume isn't perfect. We lack the football history/tradition, we don't have a Harvard-sized endowment, and we are not AAU (yet). However, we are a University on the rise both athletically and academically - we are investing where it matters and we are committed to the value of sports. In addition, games (football/basketball) against Michigan, MSU, Indiana, OSU, etc are beginning to sound pretty cool -- especially as we start to build rivalries and history like the Elite 8 game.

At the end of the day, we want nothing more than to sit at one of the big boy tables -- and I think we believe we have a tremendous amount to offer to the ACC and the B1G today and into the future. We are scared to death about our long term fate, but the more we perform on and off the court the stronger case we can make when/if the next round occurs.

I think we all feel a little better when outsiders come to the board and tell us that they'd love us in the conference and can't believe we weren't selected because it gives us hope that others see what we do. However, we know in our heart of hearts that no one really knows what a conference commissioner and a bunch of collegiate presidents will ultimately do. So we wait and we build and we hope.

 

[husky10]

UConn needs a port with football teams that average more along the lines of 50,000 per game than 65,00o or 70,000.

How is this a good thing????

 

[Gfunk]

ND fans take heat everywhere. ND gets blamed for virtually everything. I once saw a thread about why ND was to blame for the Big 12 nearly falling apart.

I agree BC led any plan to block UConn. But if not for the other factors, BC's leadership to keep UConn out would have fallen flat.

As for Pitt - that you can blame on ND. We have a very old and important football rivalry with Pitt. The best move for the ACC to try to get us to accept partial membership in football was to add Pitt. Syracuse and UConn were probably toss ups to Swarbrick, but Pitt would have been the top choice. And because Syracuse was supposed to get in back in 2o03, the ACC would take it over UConn.

UConn simply got very unlucky twice.

You deserved to get blamed. Your ADept and power brokers could have saved the Big East had you given up football independence. The Big East would be a fantastic football-basketball conference had ND committed everything. You would have had a viable southern presence to maintain your cosmetic national recruiting in football - VT, Miami. I bet PSU would have left the BIG & maybe others like USF. Lville, & UCF would have been fast tracked to join. Btw, UCF is here to stay & it's only a matter of time before they get picked up by a bigger conference.

ND fans are also ungrateful towards their midwestern roots & truly arrogant towards the very Hoosier natives that keep the institution special. Your national alumni are too often dismissive of their university experience and the wonderful hospitality given to them by Indiana natives. I find it funny that little ND fans, brainwashed by their parents, often don't know where the ND campus is.

Plus, you flat out choked in every BCS game, no school lost the way ND did in the BCS era. In other words, you didn't deserve to be in some of those BCS games, though you earned your way to the NCG. Hyped reputation got you there, a reputation that's becoming a bit ancient in today's era of short term thinking.

 

[upstater]

That's garbage and anybody with sense knows it. In the ACC, your basketball with Syracuse would burn brighter than ever. Your games with Duke and North Carolina would quickly become almost as hot. Your games with us would intensify.

And then there is BC in all sports. The only New England rivalry would get red hot. It would matter down in your bones.

I don't think BC football v. UConn moves the dial any more than Rutgers football would. It wouldn't. And they are both awful in basketball.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

UConn started too late to be near the top of the list anytime before maybe 4 years ago.

I initially wanted the ACC for a landing spot, but now echo the sentiments of the other Boneyarders in despising the ACC. Once again schools were underhanded in the actions, like not accepting a good TV offer and then leaving the conference. Seems shady whether it was or wasn't. ND is not immune in this. My brain doesn't recall the details, but their actions as it related to the old Big East had a shifty element to it.
Lastly, but not least important, unless Johnny U, Jim Brown or Dan Marino are walking through the ACC doors, their existence at those schools is of no import. I want UConn to play in a conference that recognizes the present and future value that the school brings. Clearly the ACC is stuck on name recognition from the past. Had they gotten their heads out of their #%$@^ in the first place, they'd have 2 national championships to add to their conference resume. Instead they got knocked out relatively early and the fledgling AAC has 2 National championships to put on its resume.
As someone said earlier, I hope the ACC does reach out to us so we can go to the B1G and let them know they're on the clock. I'd go to the ACC if it was my only option, but I would not be happy with it.

 

[kingdobbs]

How is this a good thing????

Sets a goal we can hope to match in a decade?

 

[Dooley]

With all due respect Irish fan, I think 9 out of 10 UCONN fans are incredibly bitter with the ACC and some of its leaders/fanbases and would prefer a B1G invite over an ACC invite. We've been told all the reasons for why we've been passed over time and time and time again and all of them are changed to better fit the PR campaign on why one particular school is so much better than UCONN (or anyone else). That's not to say we wouldn't be thrilled to get out of the AAC, but watching all of these things unfold the way they have over the past few years, it's really a tough sell to get a UCONN fan to trust anything that comes out of the ACC camp. We've heard all of the reasons why UCONN and the ACC don't fit that, you know what?, we've come to believe it and, instead, prefer to align our academics and athletics with a more stable conference with members who are like us - large, public state universities with excellent academic and athletic reputations.

Like it or not, BC did have everything to do with UCONN being snubbed repeatedly. Their former AD said so. And if they didn't block us intentionally (Pitt), they certainly didn't help us out at all when the southern football schools were campaigning for Louisville Community College. "We don't want another northeast program like BC in our league, so we'll take Louisville because they've won a few games recently." Tell me, why haven't the B12 or PAC12 offered Boise State? They have the same recent wave of BCS games that Louisville has had and have carried over their success over a few decades now. The reason: academics. Granted, academics isn't the first priority in CR but it certainly shouldn't be ignored either. If the ACC is willing to lower its academic standards so low to invite a commuter school with a ridiculous acceptance rate (and embarrassingly low profile) just because "they've won a few football games in recent years", what does that signal to people outside of the conference? It reeks of desperation. I'm not saying that LCC shouldn't have gotten their ticket punched at some point, but it should have definitely come well after UCONN even if it meant that Louisville went to the B12. Athletics are cyclical, academics is long-term. And because we are talking about collegiate athletics, that should mean something. It wasn't too long ago that LCC had their own Steve Kragthorpe era similar to our Paul Pasqualoni era, complete with dwindling attendance and losing records in the Big East. And with the incredibly unreliable Bobby Petrino at the helm, a guy who could be arrested or wander off in some sort of drunken haze to chase some UK tail at any moment, their football stability is now in question. Again, desperation.

Meanwhile, while Louisville reminded everyone of the risk that comes with having them as a full member with hiring Bobby Petrino, UCONN made the hire of the offseason in Bob Diaco. I know you're familiar with him and can share the optimism that UCONN fans feel surrounding our football program. Again, sports are cyclical. Our football program seems to be entering an upswing now that we have the proper coaching staff in place to take advantage of what UCONN has to offer its student athletes. It won't be long before football is competitive again the way it was before Jeff Hathaway (good riddance!) made the mistake of the century in hiring Pasqualoni.

I understand your points about regional rivalries. Believe me, UCONN was more than delighted to be in the former Big East with our regional rivals. But those days are over and those same regional rivals who are in the ACC have done nothing but stab us in the back in an attempt to leapfrog us in the northeast pecking order. Regional rivalries can also be developed in the B1G in Penn State and Rutgers over time. And any UCONN basketball would have juice at MSG, not just UNC, ND, or the Fruit. Michigan State and UCONN sure had a lot of electricity a few weeks ago, eh?

Again, UCONN fans would just be happy to get out of the AAC. But now it appears obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes and ears and an interest in college sports that the negative perception about UCONN was/is flat-out wrong. UCONN basketball is NOT dead after the APR nonsense and Calhoun's retirement. UCONN will NOT always employ Paul Pasqualoni and be happy with 3 win seasons. UCONN fans WILL pack Madison Square Garden to give our team a tremendous home court advantage (and pay top dollar for the privilege). UCONN DOES have tremendous support in New York City.

The ACC has had ample amount of opportunity to add UCONN. And what you said earlier about sitting at 15 so a partner isn't needed to add UCONN only strengthens the point: the ACC and UCONN are not a good fit for each other. If they were, we'd be in the ACC already.

 

[Seaa Blue]

That sounds good, but do you watch the Walking Dead? They have reached Terminus, which may be run by cannibals. Some ports are worse than storms, certainly the ones that may be ridden out.

UConn needs a port that looks south, not to the midwest, for football recruiting. It needs a port that pairs it back with Syracuse basketball and with BC. BC left the BE before we could see how hot BC-UConn could become in football. UConn needs a port with football teams that average more along the lines of 50,000 per game than 65,00o or 70,000.

ND company line... hook, line, and sinker.

Whatever suits ND at the moment. "We're no longer playing Michigan because it no longer suits us."

 

[Gfunk]

One thing I continue to have faith in:

UConn's AD is a Michigan alum

&

The president spent 15 years teaching at Northwestern

This better matter.

 

[Seaa Blue]

And UConn hosted Michigan last year. Hmm...

 

[Gfunk]

And UConn hosted Michigan last year. Hmm...

And almost won

 

[Dooley]

And almost won

SHOULD have won! But that's a different argument for a different thread!

 

[SouthronCross]

I could have agreed with you had the ACC taken a strategic approach to realignment. They didn't. They bounced from opportunity to opportunity like a kid running the aisles of Toys R Us. Had the ACC expanded right up the Atlantic coast with Rutgers, UConn, and BC as a first move in 2003 they would have created a solid base on which to build. They would have had the population of the northeast megalopolis to challenge the SEC in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. They would have captured the strategic schools in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts to prevent the Big Ten from expanding eastward. Who knows, maybe even Penn State could have been lured away from the mid-west.

The idea that UConn was ignored because we would always be available was ludicrously short-sighted. You know who was always going to be there? Miami, that's who. Syracuse, that's who. The thing that scares me about the ACC is they lack vision, they lack leadership, and they will likely fail to be anything more than an afterthought.

There is a single point that you miss in all of your dislike of the ACC.

Swofford WAS ready to invite UConn, and, you had ample support, particularly from Tobacco Road, UVA, and, UMD. FSU and Clemson got a case of cold feet about their being left out of any future football playoff. Thats been a fallacy from the get-go, but, just enough folks bought into it to ruin Swofford's plan.

Swofford had the vision, but, he was undermined. That is not his fault.

 

[Dooley]

I've always liked Tobacco Road and Virginia and know that UCONN has always had support from TR (and Virginia) at every CR meeting. If UCONN does go to the B1G and not the ACC, I would love nothing more than to partner up with any Tobacco Road school in annual basketball or football (or both) series. UNC/Duke/Virginia vs UCONN at the Garden in December before conference play begins would be fun to watch. Good tuneups for both teams after their sleepy December schedule wraps up and we're about to embark on conference play. Or agree to play our ACC vs B1G )) matchups at the Garden. F Syracuse. They can continue to schedule their annual matchups with Niagara and Conisius.

 

[husky10]

Sets a goal we can hope to match in a decade?

Is that a question? We can have the same goal regardless of whatever conference we are in. One would think reaching an attendance goal would be easier by bringing schools that have more fans and draw more interest in general.

 

[MSNDfan]

ND company line... hook, line, and sinker.

Whatever suits ND at the moment. "We're no longer playing Michigan because it no longer suits us."

Are you under the impression that we have played Meatchicken as often as we have Michigan State? You might want to look up the number of games and learn why the helmet copiers not only stopped playing us in the past, but also led the attempts to keep everybody in the Big Ten from playing us.

Because we have 5 ACC football games we must play annually, scheduling is now much tighter. We will play SC and Navy annually. WE strongly prefer to end each season in CA, so that makes Stanford an annual game as well.

That adds up to 8 games per year. Because we have played Michigan St and Purdue at least 78 times, they each come before Meatchicken. Keeping them both means 10 games are set each year. And that means 1 game for a Home game 'easy' W and 1 game for a neutral site or another big name team, like Texas or Alabama.

 

[HuskyHawk]

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

 

[Fishy]

First off, you people are weird. An ND fan posts something entirely favorable to UConn and you spend two pages arguing with him about it. Lighten --- up.

That said, UConn should and will jump on the first P5 invitation that floats their way. I don't care if it's the PAC 12.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Swofford had the vision, but, he was undermined. That is not his fault.

I don't know if it matters who did and didn't have the vision, the fact is that the conference as a whole didn't have enough votes to share his vision and chose by some amount of majority rules to go in a different direction. It hurts being spurned and that's where we're at. It's why the ACC gets our venom and the B1G our affection. But, we're not stupid so we're going home with whoever we can when the lights click on at 2 am (or whatever your bar closing time is).
I do agree with Dooley, I have no issues with Tobacco Road outside of standard hate for Duke and any player whoever attended that institution. Chrokee Parks, seriously??? But I'd love the competition of OOC games in any sport with them. Maybe not at MSG. It depends if we're in the B1G at that point. MSG would be reserved for conference games at that point. If we're still in the AAC, then I'm OK with the Garden.

 

[Dooley]

Fishy is right. First P5 invite and we jump.

I just have a lot of angst against the ACC. But hey, it could make for more spirited rivalries I guess. Didn't BC fans complain about the way they were treated when they came to the Rent in 2002? Although I'm not advocating for surly behavior, they wouldn't see nuttin' yet if those birds every had to come back to E Hartford with their beaks between their talons.

That said, I sure hope the B1G is the first offer. I think it's a better match: UCONN and the B1G would really accelerate football. I can have a rooting interest in this, right?

 

[pj]

Regardless of where we end up, we'll never have the regional rivalries we might have had. Penn State, Rutgers and Maryland are as good or better for us as regional rivals as BC, Syracuse, and Pitt. But neither one is anything close to the same critical mass that the Big East could have had if it had brought in Penn State early on and then stuck together.

In that sense every possibility is a bit of a disappointment. It's also disappointing that some schools in the ACC seem not to like us very much, or at least don't want to help us succeed.

But, we'll succeed, it's only a matter of time. Eventually these disappointments will just be water under the bridge.

 

[Seaa Blue]

You might want to look up the number of games and learn why the helmet copiers (??) not only stopped playing us in the past, but also led the attempts to keep everybody in the Big Ten from playing us...

I'll leave it to you to learn some history. You have obviously completely bought in to the version being spewed from South Bend.

Regardless, Domers generally want to point to (revised) history to justify their present and future instead of just playing it out on the field.

 

[MSNDfan]

With all due respect Irish fan, I think 9 out of 10 UCONN fans are incredibly bitter with the ACC and some of its leaders/fanbases and would prefer a B1G invite over an ACC invite. We've been told all the reasons for why we've been passed over time and time and time again and all of them are changed to better fit the PR campaign on why one particular school is so much better than UCONN (or anyone else). That's not to say we wouldn't be thrilled to get out of the AAC, but watching all of these things unfold the way they have over the past few years, it's really a tough sell to get a UCONN fan to trust anything that comes out of the ACC camp. We've heard all of the reasons why UCONN and the ACC don't fit that, you know what?, we've come to believe it and, instead, prefer to align our academics and athletics with a more stable conference with members who are like us - large, public state universities with excellent academic and athletic reputations.

Like it or not, BC did have everything to do with UCONN being snubbed repeatedly. Their former AD said so. And if they didn't block us intentionally (Pitt), they certainly didn't help us out at all when the southern football schools were campaigning for Louisville Community College. "We don't want another northeast program like BC in our league, so we'll take Louisville because they've won a few games recently." Tell me, why haven't the B12 or PAC12 offered Boise State? They have the same recent wave of BCS games that Louisville has had and have carried over their success over a few decades now. The reason: academics. Granted, academics isn't the first priority in CR but it certainly shouldn't be ignored either. If the ACC is willing to lower its academic standards so low to invite a commuter school with a ridiculous acceptance rate (and embarrassingly low profile) just because "they've won a few football games in recent years", what does that signal to people outside of the conference? It reeks of desperation. I'm not saying that LCC shouldn't have gotten their ticket punched at some point, but it should have definitely come well after UCONN even if it meant that Louisville went to the B12. Athletics are cyclical, academics is long-term. And because we are talking about collegiate athletics, that should mean something. It wasn't too long ago that LCC had their own Steve Kragthorpe era similar to our Paul Pasqualoni era, complete with dwindling attendance and losing records in the Big East. And with the incredibly unreliable Bobby Petrino at the helm, a guy who could be arrested or wander off in some sort of drunken haze to chase some UK tail at any moment, their football stability is now in question. Again, desperation.

Meanwhile, while Louisville reminded everyone of the risk that comes with having them as a full member with hiring Bobby Petrino, UCONN made the hire of the offseason in Bob Diaco. I know you're familiar with him and can share the optimism that UCONN fans feel surrounding our football program. Again, sports are cyclical. Our football program seems to be entering an upswing now that we have the proper coaching staff in place to take advantage of what UCONN has to offer its student athletes. It won't be long before football is competitive again the way it was before Jeff Hathaway (good riddance!) made the mistake of the century in hiring Pasqualoni.

I understand your points about regional rivalries. Believe me, UCONN was more than delighted to be in the former Big East with our regional rivals. But those days are over and those same regional rivals who are in the ACC have done nothing but stab us in the back in an attempt to leapfrog us in the northeast pecking order. Regional rivalries can also be developed in the B1G in Penn State and Rutgers over time. And any UCONN basketball would have juice at MSG, not just UNC, ND, or the Fruit. Michigan State and UCONN sure had a lot of electricity a few weeks ago, eh?

Again, UCONN fans would just be happy to get out of the AAC. But now it appears obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes and ears and an interest in college sports that the negative perception about UCONN was/is flat-out wrong. UCONN basketball is NOT dead after the APR nonsense and Calhoun's retirement. UCONN will NOT always employ Paul Pasqualoni and be happy with 3 win seasons. UCONN fans WILL pack Madison Square Garden to give our team a tremendous home court advantage (and pay top dollar for the privilege). UCONN DOES have tremendous support in New York City.

The ACC has had ample amount of opportunity to add UCONN. And what you said earlier about sitting at 15 so a partner isn't needed to add UCONN only strengthens the point: the ACC and UCONN are not a good fit for each other. If they were, we'd be in the ACC already.

You might want to think about the bitter thing and try to avoid becoming the next worst, illogical, vicious fan base after WVU. Bitter fans don't think very clearly. They react with anger and spite.

BC does not have enough power in the ACC to keep anybody out. BC clearly voted against UConn, but circumstances made that possible, and those circumstances are gone.

Think of it this way: if BC is anti-UConn and ND is pro-UConn, which way do you think the ACC 'football schools' like Florida St, Clemson, Miami and Georgia Tech will vote? Do you really believe such schools would side with BC against ND and also against Tobacco Road and Virginia? I don't. I think that behind the scenes they all would agree to back UConn, and your most recent BE rivals would agree. Syracuse fans might find it funny you are in the AAC now, but the Syracuse athletics department would love to play UConn as a conference foe again.

I suggest you turn your bitterness on your own school and its athletics department. They stayed in 1AA/FCS football far too long. If they had possessed any vision, they would have moved up as soon as BE football was created, taking the spot Temple got. Their lack of understanding cost UConn football a decade of growth, and that lost decade is the reason UConn has not yet been added to the ACC.