"New England's Team?" How much weight does UConn carry in the region?

[BoatShow]

How did this thread, about UConn and New England, become a discussion of RU and NYC??

 

[Kolumbo]

How did this thread, about UConn and New England, become a discussion of RU and NYC??

At this point the jersey residents are already about $0.20 richer now that SUNJ is in the B1G, aren't they?

 

[ZooCougar]

How did this thread, about UConn and New England, become a discussion of RU and NYC??

Jay hijacked it. And we never miss a chance to diss Rutgers. I miss our Newman already.

 

[DrG]

CT is an exception within New England. For some reason we evolved a love for the local State U. I never went to UConn, never even considered attending UConn... when alums here talk about places on campus I have no idea what they are talking about. But watching Tate George make that shot is one of my earliest memories in sports, that "Husky Hoops on Channel" song still is in my brain. We have a brand that was really succesful in state, and without a doubt it has permeated and established itself in some other parts of New England.

I think you hit the nail on the head with respect to the outstanding support from your home state, no doubt due to the success of UConn men's and women's basketball. But I just don't see that extending very far beyond the state border. Living in Boston, there is very little buzz here about UConn (or BC and UMass, for that matter). Connecticut, to its credit, is just different from the rest of New England when it comes to college sports, and I'm not sure that even B1G membership would change that. Just my two cents.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think you hit the nail on the head with respect to the outstanding support from your home state, no doubt due to the success of UConn men's and women's basketball. But I just don't see that extending very far beyond the state border. Living in Boston, there is very little buzz here about UConn (or BC and UMass, for that matter). Connecticut, to its credit, is just different from the rest of New England when it comes to college sports, and I'm not sure that even B1G membership would change that. Just my two cents.

I think people focus on cities too much in college sports. For many reasons, college sports seems to have it's greatest appeal in small towns and rural areas. Maybe it is that people in places like that are less likely to identify with a pro sports franchise.

 

[DrG]

It really is an anomaly, isn't it? Around the country, big-time college sports are most popular in less populated areas, but the networks demand ratings so the P5 conferences are focusing on the major markets.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Is there enough regional pride and demand generated to consider all of New England "In-State" for cable distribution purposes? 14 Million people looks and sounds better than 3.5 ish Million for Connecticut alone. Similar to proximity and culture playing a factor of getting RU and B1G into basic cable in NYC, I feel like the same logic should hold in getting UConn & B1G into New England.

I have always thought that the ACC made a mistake taking BC and then Syracuse....Moving into the northeast was their Remagen bridge...a bridge too far. They should have left the northeast for the B1G.

The ACC, before these moves, was a southern-mid Atlantic conference with most of the teams coming out of the old southern conference.

It is difficult to build border rivalries when you have BC and Cuse in a division with FSU, Virginia and Clemson...and it added more geographic diversity to a conference already too diverse (basketball first schools and football first....private schools and public....large schools and very small schools....)

I do understand that in the Darwinesque feeling of the times that it was either adapt or die....but the conference has become so disparate that natural rivalries have been diluted and there are few match ups of national interest.

It would make much more sense to have Cuse, BC, UConn, Rutgers all playing one another.

I have no disrespect for your great football program,but in the Northeast the ACC is considered a basketball league. When college football comes to mind it's the a B1G or SEC that people think of. Plus the ACC is the league that destroyed the big east.
The regions chief contribution to big time sports.
Southerners are not the only ones with long memories.
Also Most of your schools have little northeast traction.
BC even with their good ACC teams didn't raise a heartbeat because of that.
For some reason Midwest schools don't have that same problem.
I love rivalry games ,the high schools were I come from have played each other for well over 100 years. Having played in a few of those games,I can vouch for the fact that there is a special feeling that goes with being a part of a tradition.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I'll start off by saying I'm a fan of getting UConn into the B1G, and I apologize if this subject has already been brought up, but what kind of pull does UConn have outside of Connecticut?
I think UConn should just start calling themselves New England's team as an advertisement to the Big Ten and to mess with Boston College.
First of all, Rutgers made far more headway in a far shorter time than I expected. So even though UConn has a solid presence in the city it appears that the B1G didn't need UConn as much as I thought we would to capture NYC's attention. I would still anticipate UConn strengthening the B1G reputation in the city, but in my opinion even without NYC, New England is a tight group of state with a cumulative population exceeding 14 Million people many of which are well educated and well to do... but how well do the other states support UConn? What are the ratings for Football, MBB & WBB outside of Connecticut?
How big and influential are the alumni groups in places like Boston and Providence?
To sum things up. I'm not sure if there will be any expansion especially with the SEC, ACC and B1G at 14. But I can't help but think an opening may come available in the B1G due to Northwestern's Union bid.
"It's better to be lucky than good" Bobby Bowden

The real question is can we capture New England, not do we now. The answer is it will be difficult but I'm sure we are much more on the minds of the residents of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island than we were 20 or so years ago. It would take a concerted effort on our part as well as continued excellence in basketball (and a big push in football) but it would surprise me greatly if we can't move the needle significantly. Take one of our basketball teams north, blanket the local high schools and the rest of the area with reduced price tickets, offer a free t-shirt to the first x-thousand people through the gate, invite the local press (give them a shirt too), but some time on the radio. Not only will we create something of a local buzz as the national champions arrive, but when we leave we have an ongoing free advertisement every time one of the x-thousand wears the t-shirt.

You are correct about New England being a market of 14 million. What you didn't say is that those 14 million exist in an area smaller than Minnesota and Nebraska.

 

[pj]

People here are delusional if they think UConn is or will become New England's team. New England has far too many colleges for any one to dominate. Furthermore, people in other states are not going to make the state university of another state their #1 team.

Far too many colleges, yes, but we're not competing to become their favorite college -- only their favorite collegiate sports team. In football, it's UConn or BC, that's it. In basketball, it's UConn or who? In women's sports, who compares to UConn? When it comes to big time college athletics, New England is really wide open for the first program to step up. And no, BC has not stepped up.

 

[NickyNewark]

I have no disrespect for your great football program,but in the Northeast the ACC is considered a basketball league. When college football comes to mind it's the a B1G or SEC that people think of. Plus the ACC is the league that destroyed the big east.
The regions chief contribution to big time sports.
Southerners are not the only ones with long memories.
Also Most of your schools have little northeast traction.
BC even with their good ACC teams didn't raise a heartbeat because of that.
For some reason Midwest schools don't have that same problem.
I love rivalry games ,the high schools were I come from have played each other for well over 100 years. Having played in a few of those games,I can vouch for the fact that there is a special feeling that goes with being a part of a tradition.

Growing up in N.NJ I can attest to that fact of longtime HS tradition and special affection here in our neck of the country paisano!!

 

[Fishy]

Oh I forgot we were discussing wins now when the original discussion was over travelling to the friggin' Garden.

Keep moving them goal posts.

Putting 9,000 people in the Garden ten years ago doesn't win you a gold star, sport. Two nights prior, you had about half that for Iowa State.

 

[billybud]

I have no disrespect for your great football program,but in the Northeast the ACC is considered a basketball league. When college football comes to mind it's the a B1G or SEC that people think of. Plus the ACC is the league that destroyed the big east.
The regions chief contribution to big time sports.
Southerners are not the only ones with long memories.
Also Most of your schools have little northeast traction.
BC even with their good ACC teams didn't raise a heartbeat because of that.
For some reason Midwest schools don't have that same problem.
I love rivalry games ,the high schools were I come from have played each other for well over 100 years. Having played in a few of those games,I can vouch for the fact that there is a special feeling that goes with being a part of a tradition.

No problemo...FSU, Clemson, Miami, and VT folks consider the ACC a basketball league as well....and most FSU guys see FSU as a quasi SEC program. We FSU folks, as a bunch, are fans of our program and not conference fans per se. Having both Georgia and Alabama border our neck of North Florida (we are never more then 50 miles from one of their borders in the 400 mile stretch of North Florida), makes us attuned to SEC football.

Yep...our high schools have played together a long time...maybe not 100 years (although I played at my HS 50 years ago and the city rivalries went back another 30 years).

 

[ZooCougar]

You beat me to the punch. I was going to make my joke about Colby, but Bowdoin works fine...

Williams vs. Trinity (or Amherst?) is the biggest game in the region.

 

[ZooCougar]

No problemo...FSU, Clemson, Miami, and VT folks consider the ACC a basketball league as well....and most FSU guys see FSU as a quasi SEC program. We FSU folks, as a bunch, are fans of our program and not conference fans per se. Having both Georgia and Alabama border our neck of North Florida (we are never more then 50 miles from one of their borders in the 400 mile stretch of North Florida), makes us attuned to SEC football.

Yep...our high schools have played together a long time...maybe not 100 years (although I played at my HS 50 years ago and the city rivalries went back another 30 years).

FSU doesn't really fit ACC. Clemson wishes they could be FSU, for some reason ESPN always hypes those cats at early part of every season. It is SOOOO annoying, I would rather watch baseball highlights.

Virginia Tech? Been a looooong time since Michael Vick, they've been trading on that one for too long. Miami? It's now just UNC South except it's a private school and nobody goes to their games. ACC Football is by and large a made for TV commodity that ESPN created.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Boston College .... They manage to constantly step on their Johnson and so now they are what they are..

Can we find a different image? Now the BCU folks will be telling everyone that UConn fans think they have big Johnsons. Could we say they constantly find a way to pee on the inside of their pants? I know it's not the commonly used phrase, but I don't want to give them any reason to feel good about themselves.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

FSU doesn't really fit ACC. Clemson wishes they could be FSU, for some reason ESPN always hypes those cats at early part of every season. It is SOOOO annoying, I would rather watch baseball highlights.

Virginia Tech? Been a looooong time since Michael Vick, they've been trading on that one for too long. Miami? It's now just UNC South except it's a private school and nobody goes to their games. ACC Football is by and large a made for TV commodity that ESPN created.

And what about the other sports teams, such as baseball, soccer, etc, that have benefitted from the association with the ACC? College sports would be boring if it is just football and basketball.

 

[uconndogs]

Can we find a different image? Now the BCU folks will be telling everyone that UConn fans think they have big Johnsons. Could we say they constantly find a way to pee on the inside of their pants? I know it's not the commonly used phrase, but I don't want to give them any reason to feel good about themselves.

How about we just say they have very short legs?

 

[Fairfield_1st]

How about we just say they have very short legs?

As long as there is nothing that could be construed as a compliment, I'm good.

 

[ZooCougar]

And what about the other sports teams, such as baseball, soccer, etc, that have benefitted from the association with the ACC? College sports would be boring if it is just football and basketball.

99% of us aren't aware there are college sports other than football and basketball.