You might be right, but nobody thinks of Cincinatti or Morgantown as being on the east coast.
and these teams do not capture the NYC market that Yormark covets.
Bingo. The Big12 isn't getting any east coast attention without us. That's a huge market left unserved. UCF doesn't intrigue anyone outside of alums and a few people in Orlando and Cincy is a great, midwestern program. WVU has some pull in the east, largely because they get a nice handful of students from NJ, CT, MD and PA, but it isn't an east coast school and it certainly isn't pulling in much interest in NYC, Hartford, Providence and Boston.
UConn offers the opportunity for the B12 to accomplish a few things:
1. Get on the east coast's radar in football and basketball.
2. Provide another fairly nearby partner for UCF and WVU.
3. Allow the B12 to strengthen the basketball they covet by adding a blueblood and accessing the deep pool of talent in the Northeast prep system.
4. UConn gives the B12 a similar reach in the Northeast to the ACC and B10 in one easy move, yet they get to do it with the biggest brand in the Northeast after Penn State. Rutgers, Cuse and BC aren't even close to competing with us on a national stage at this point. UConn is one Jim Mora away from dominating major sports in the Northeast.