Irish fan on why UConn belongs in the ACC

[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.

 

[SixRings]

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.

Contraire. I only argued that the ACC sucks ballz, not that we wouldn't join it.

 

[MSNDfan]

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.

Fielding Yost lived and acted to try to have the Big Ten boycott ND.

Meatchicken cancelled the series in 1909, after our first win. We played agin in 1942, and Meat won and so was happy to play in 1943. We won and Meat again cancelled future games.

 

[btstimpy]

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.

I'd like to hope that UVA can keep its men's team competitive like it was this season going forward to make a matchup with UConn worth watching. We've had some teams in the recent past that wouldn't make for interesting games with UConn. Watching a UConn men's team blow out UVA wouldn't be all that fun. We almost had a UConn-UVA game at the Garden this year in the NCAA, but UVA missed a couple too many shots down the stretch against Michigan State.

 

[Fishy]

Here's a tip for visiting fans...

Do not pretend that you understand the timing or the process of our transition to DIA football.

You don't and you look silly pretending that you do.

 

[rocky rococo]

Who says UConn cannot have the ACC?

You seem to think that UConn's very late arrival to the party of D1 football did not mean major obstacles. That late starting point for the sport that drives the bus of all conference realignment means that once UConn was looking, it was in a line that had formed when it was playing 1AA football. Even Louisville was D1 back when Johnny U played for the Cards.

UConn started too late to be near the top of the list anytime before maybe 4 years ago. And the 3 ACC additions in that time all make sense, in the order they were taken, considering football as the number 1 factor. Syracuse and Pitt both have a Heisman winner and multiple Hall of Famers. Louisville has Johnny U and 2 BCS bowl wins over the past decade. UConn football moved up far too late in the game to better any of those.

The logic of this post escapes me. You start off by saying, "Who says UConn cannot have the ACC?", and then immediately proceed to give one argument for why UConn can't have the ACC? Your initial statement suggests you think that UConn could be part of the ACC, but the entire rest of your post is dedicated to rejecting that notion. Quite odd.

 

[Fishy]

I'd like to hope that UVA can keep its men's team competitive like it was this season going forward to make a matchup with UConn worth watching. We've had some teams in the recent past that wouldn't make for interesting games with UConn. Watching a UConn men's team blow out UVA wouldn't be all that fun. We almost had a UConn-UVA game at the Garden this year in the NCAA, but UVA missed a couple too many shots down the stretch against Michigan State.

We actually had a home and home series with Virginia 15-18 years ago - they stick in my memory simply because the games were so one-sided.

Not that I expected a championship, but the two teams in our region that I really didn't want to see UConn play were St. Joe's and Virginia. I never entirely bought into Michigan State and was a little surprised that they got past UVa.

(Edit - I flipped through the media guide looking for the game we played at Virginia - it was just a mess of a game. UConn was up 29 in the first half and it ended 77-36.)

 

[MSNDfan]

The logic of this post escapes me. You start off by saying, "Who says UConn cannot have the ACC?", and then immediately proceed to give one argument for why UConn can't have the ACC? Your initial statement suggests you think that UConn could be part of the ACC, but the entire rest of your post is dedicated to rejecting that notion. Quite odd.

No, it is an explanation for why UConn is not now in the ACC. There are valid reasons, all football related, that UConn has not already been invited into the ACC. UConn fans need to face those reasons. Your AD certainly has too, because neither the ACC nor the BUG will make an offer, ever, if your AD remains bitter and refuses to see how UConn failed to do what it should have early enough to position itself for realignment.

My guess is that your AD has already done that.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Of course, UConn would absolutely take an ACC offer if one came (and the Big 10 wasn't willing to counter). That doesn't mean it wouldn't make me happy beyond measure to see the Big 10 make a play thereby cutting off the ACC's northern tier (BC, Syracuse and Pitt) into isolated outposts that truly show how misguided their expansion moves have been.

As for Swofford having UConn (with the support of the league's old guard) in his vision only to be over-ruled by power plays from a few schools, if true that just confirms that the league's realignment "strategy" has been driven by politics and short-term considerations (i.e. panic and desperation) rather than a real plan.

 

[noeynox]

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.

Didn't want to post from my phone as it capitalizes every word no matter the browser, and that sheet is annoying, but my feelings exactly. If the ACC invited us tomorrow, we'd accept yesterday. I'd love BBall games against Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Pitt and UVA. FB against Miami, Clemson, BC, FSU.

 

[MSNDfan]

Here's a tip for visiting fans...

Do not pretend that you understand the timing or the process of our transition to DIA football.

You don't and you look silly pretending that you do.

I don't know the state politics involved, nor the university politics. But I know that UConn did not decide to move up in football until the late 1990s, when the early internet was already buzzing about Miami wanting to join the ACC. I know that you could not build an on campus stadium because of lack of support, from the state and your athletics boosters.

It does not matter the exact reasons why UConn was so late to the party of football. What matters is that its late arrival has been a severe handicap. And that handicap is the reason other schools got invites to the ACC before UConn.

Want to blame people? Blame your past school leaders and blame your boosters in the last century. Blame your state legislators and governors.

 

[btstimpy]

We actually had a home and home series with Virginia 15-18 years ago - they stick in my memory simply because the games were so one-sided.

Not that I expected a championship, but the two teams in our region that I really didn't want to see UConn play were St. Joe's and Virginia. I never entirely bought into Michigan State and was a little surprised that they got past UVa.

I'm hoping that UVA has finally recovered from Pete Gillen. He ran the program into the ground, but he won just enough home games against the big boys of the ACC to keep his job, and he convinced the school to sign a long term contract. Dave Leito came after, but he didn't get along with his team and didn't last long at all. Tony Bennett did well this year. I hope he can build on this momentum.

 

[kibblesnbits]

No, it is an explanation for why UConn is not now in the ACC. There are valid reasons, all football related, that UConn has not already been invited into the ACC. UConn fans need to face those reasons. Your AD certainly has too, because neither the ACC nor the BUG will make an offer, ever, if your AD remains bitter and refuses to see how UConn failed to do what it should have early enough to position itself for realignment.

My guess is that your AD has already done that.

Warde Manuel has gone back and created an artificial football history for UConn in the 50s, 60s and 70s? I'll bet we have a few fake Heisman winners mixed in their too. The old timers remember when they built the first ever dome over Memorial Stadium and expanded capacity to 60,000. Those were the days.

You keep saying that UConn's lack of history is the problem that UConn must address (How precisely does one address a lack of history short of waiting another 30 years?) but that is apparently no longer the case because we are now apparently perfect for the ACC. Was it the history making wins in the last three games of the 2013 season that changed things?

Lastly, I loved learning about the wrongs Michigan did to ND in the early to mid 20th century.....and I thought BC really knew how to hold a grudge for a long time. They are amateurs compared to ND.

 

[MSNDfan]

Of course, UConn would absolutely take an ACC offer if one came (and the Big 10 wasn't willing to counter). That doesn't mean it wouldn't make me happy beyond measure to see the Big 10 make a play thereby cutting off the ACC's northern tier (BC, Syracuse and Pitt) into isolated outposts that truly show how misguided their expansion moves have been.

As for Swofford having UConn (with the support of the league's old guard) in his vision only to be over-ruled by power plays from a few schools, if true that just confirms that the league's realignment "strategy" has been driven by politics and short-term considerations (i.e. panic and desperation) rather than a real plan.

Do you live in the real world with real people? They are quite capable of acting under the covers to ruin plans to get what they want.

You also assume here that Swofford's plan was to stop at 12 or 14 teams. I think Swofford has aimed at 16 all along, because he felt that was the only way to get ND. The only glitch in Swofford's plan., as I think of it, is that Maryland, bleeding money from its athletics department, lied to everybody and secretly negotiated with the BUG and left.

Big Deal. Louisville has a larger and much newer and nicer football stadium and much more success over the past 25 years.

I don't think Rutgers was ever part of the ACC plan, and I think UConn was. But UConn, starting so far behind in football, was always going to be among the final 2 added to complete a 16 team conference.

 

[Huskygrad88]

In what way is Rutgers football now better than UConn football?

Ummm..they are in a P5 and we are not;
They have a better 1, 3, 5 etc record than we do
They went to a bowl last year, and each of the last three years
Need I go on?
I have no use for them, but based on our recent experience, they are better than us right now (hopefully not future tense IDWT)

 

[MSNDfan]

Warde Manuel has gone back and created an artificial football history for UConn in the 50s, 60s and 70s? I'll bet we have a few fake Heisman winners mixed in their too. The old timers remember when they built the first ever dome over Memorial Stadium and expanded capacity to 60,000. Those were the days.

You keep saying that UConn's lack of history is the problem that UConn must address (How precisely does one address a lack of history short of waiting another 30 years?) but that is apparently no longer the case because we are now apparently perfect for the ACC. Was it the history making wins in the last three games of the 2013 season that changed things?

Lastly, I loved learning about the wrongs Michigan did to ND in the early to mid 20th century.....and I thought BC really knew how to hold a grudge for a long time. They are amateurs compared to ND.

Are you certain you are not a WVU fan?