First domino to fall in this scenario will be if the B12 expands and gets Texas to roll the LHN into a B12 Network. If that happens it will be interesting to see what goes next.
That would be a violation of their terms of membership in the ACC. If the ACC had a hockey conference this would be a moot point....with BC and ND required to be members.
How about convenience?
thanks Coach!!!How about convenience?
I gotcha. But violation schmiolation. ND can print money at will. That, or the potential demise of the ACC. UCONN's gotta get in at a 45 degree angle and I mean all the way in.
It's obvious to me that Notre Dame has been desperate to Big Ten for quite some time now. I think they made the move in the hopes that it might open the door to join the Big Ten at some time in the future. Seems desperate to me, but I wish them well.
UConn says "Hell, no"
Go over to USCHO and let a certain Minnesota Gopher fan your view on UConn. He seems to think that it is a commuter school because of the little amount of research money compared to others that UConn brings in. He sings the praises of ND though...even they bring in less.
From what I've read and heard through the grapevine, this rumor is absolutely and completely unfounded. Unless they're saying this from the perspective that UConn is seeking admission to the B1G in all sports and hockey would just follow along, there is absolutely no reason to believe UConn is actively seeking to leave Hockey East. That would be unfathomably stupid on their part.
So far the list of schools are ASU, North Dakota, RIT, Miami OH etc. My question to you is: would any of these schools balk at a B1G invitation? Unless it is a matter of logistics, why didn't the B1G announce the 7th and 8th teams together (ND and one of the above)? After all, I would think the B1G should have had the 7th school all ready to sign up, as negotiations with ND went on. To this desperate, UConn to the B1G fan, the longer this unknown 8th team is delayed the more likely it may be UConn. How long do you think the choice of the 8th team will take before you think something else is going on?
8th team will be ASU...
The logic here doesn't work. They still have time to line up team 8. ND and/or ASU would jump in a heartbeat, RIT, Miami, Omaha, don't even waste time thinking about them. UConn is not being considered as a hockey-only as team 8. If the B1G was thinking of going all the way east for hockey-only members, the first call would be a conference call to the desks of Jerry York and David Quinn about a package deal. There's no reason to believe the B1G would expand all the way east, add loads of travel for their teams, and leave the two biggest and marketable programs on the table in favor of an upstart. The reason the B1G is adding ND is because competitively the league is doing horribly, and they need more teams for scheduling.
In a athletic department where maximizing resources is key...nothing is better now than Hockey East without ND. 1 over night series up in Orono...the rest bus trips to and from the arenas on game night. Add to the regional rivalries in UConn's recruiting area. This can't be beat.
Hypothetical scenario++
Not debating the choice. The question is why the delay in announcing them? Especially if this choice is such a slam dunk? Logistical reasons, I can understand.
Maybe the reason for announcing only Notre Dame is that they insisted it that way in order to have their day alone in the sun?
Could be. Could also be the news was leaked. Don't know. Given we only heard about ND yesterday, we can hardly call the lack of an announcement of another team a "delay". But if this goes on for a few weeks, you might wonder why.
I would, if I was UConn. Any kind of association with a P5 conference, especially the B1G, would make the other conferences think twice about waiting it out on UConn. It can only be good, especially if there are financial gains to be made.
