From BE days, I have had respect for UConn fans. I may not have liked Calhoun, but I respected Huskies fans and what Calhoun accomplished. I also respected what Edsall did at a place few thought could ever win a bowl, any bowl.
From the selfish view, UConn in the ACC can be very good for ND. Same on your side. There is no football team you can play in Yankee Stadium that will have the impact of playing ND. And other than Syracuse or Duke and maybe North Carolina, there is no basketball team you can play in MSG that can have the impact of playing ND.
So why did the ACC take Louisville first? Immediate impact of football. It is that simple. Louisville has a brand new on campus 55,000 seat stadium. That and having won 3 different BCS bowls over the decades with 3 different coaches, including two within a decade, all but did the trick. Then there is football recruiting. UConn brings nobody a football recruiting hotbed. KY high school football is nothing compared to even AL but its much better than any New England state or NY. And KY borders OH, which is not even GA in football recruiting, and may no longer be better than NC, but still OH produces a lot of talent, which now is in the ACC's backyard.
Football does drive the bus. And UConn came up short in that to Louisville. It wasn't BC keeping UConn out - BC will never have that power. It wasn't Florida State and Clemson being unreasonably biased against UConn. It was looking at those football issues and agreeing they took precedence.
But what the ACC needed to replace hapless Maryland (South Rutgers, we can call it, in terms of finances and football support) is not the same thing the ACC wants and most needs for number 16.
Long term, the best thing for UConn is to be in the ACC. And the best thing for the ACC is to have UConn.
From the selfish view, UConn in the ACC can be very good for ND. Same on your side. There is no football team you can play in Yankee Stadium that will have the impact of playing ND. And other than Syracuse or Duke and maybe North Carolina, there is no basketball team you can play in MSG that can have the impact of playing ND.
So why did the ACC take Louisville first? Immediate impact of football. It is that simple. Louisville has a brand new on campus 55,000 seat stadium. That and having won 3 different BCS bowls over the decades with 3 different coaches, including two within a decade, all but did the trick. Then there is football recruiting. UConn brings nobody a football recruiting hotbed. KY high school football is nothing compared to even AL but its much better than any New England state or NY. And KY borders OH, which is not even GA in football recruiting, and may no longer be better than NC, but still OH produces a lot of talent, which now is in the ACC's backyard.
Football does drive the bus. And UConn came up short in that to Louisville. It wasn't BC keeping UConn out - BC will never have that power. It wasn't Florida State and Clemson being unreasonably biased against UConn. It was looking at those football issues and agreeing they took precedence.
But what the ACC needed to replace hapless Maryland (South Rutgers, we can call it, in terms of finances and football support) is not the same thing the ACC wants and most needs for number 16.
Long term, the best thing for UConn is to be in the ACC. And the best thing for the ACC is to have UConn.