I frequent the Cuse board and I have to say that most of them have a lot of respect for our program and its accomplishments. Those who try to find ways to rationalize that their program is better, or that JB is better than Calhoun or Ollie are usually shot down.
Many Syracuse fans are waking up to regret that we are no longer in the same conference, which is rather ironic. What Syracuse and their fans failed to recognize is that without an arch-rival, victories are not as sweet. Syracuse will probably never be Duke or UNC's arch rival. Never. The novelty of Duke-Syracuse was great for one year, but it won't last because Cuse will never out-recruit Duke or even UNC.
BC made the same mistake. As did Florida State and Virginia Tech. You're only as good, or as interesting as your biggest rivalries. No one cares about beating a BC, or even being beaten by them. And no one in Syracuse is going to get excited about competing against Wake or Clemson, or even NC State. Yet Skins-Cowboys is still a big deal even when both teams are mediocre.
Syracuse has as much risk of fading into irrelevance as we do, perhaps more.
If Hopkins ends up as JC's successor, regardless how good a coach he is, the Orange are still going to lose attractiveness. UNC, UCLA and Indiana faded after their famed coaches retired, because they thought coaching was a monarchy and rewarded a loyal foot soldier. UConn's Ollie is the only Man-That-Followed-The-Man to succeed. And that happened because Calhoun cared enough that he made certain the right man took over for him. And he had to resort to drastic means to make it happen.
Sorry Cuse, but unless you get a top notch, and well-known, coach to succeed JB, you're going to serve time in basketball purgatory, if not hell. And if UConn ends up in the B1G, or even stays in the AAC, you lose. BC still doesn't recognize how UConn being in the ACC can lift their program, and they probably never will. In sports, you're only as good as your rivalries.
