UConn to B1G expansion scenario

[HuskyHawk]

On personal level, I wouldn't say that the Big Ten should stay away from UConn at all costs. However, as a fan, I'm not a proponent of expansion in and of itself (with the irony being that I write a blog that has largely been focused on expansion for the past few years). I didn't really want the Big Ten to expand beyond 12 teams, let alone 14 or 16. The Nebraska addition was great. I understood the Rutgers and Maryland additions from a financial perspective, but I can't say that I'm excited to see them rolling into town in lieu of Michigan and Ohio State as a result of the new divisional setup as a pure fan.

If UConn comes in with legit football brand as a partner (I would say an Oklahoma-level program at a minimum disregarding any AAU status), then I'd be happy with it as a fan. If it's UConn plus another school that's simply there to provide households with the requisite academic prestige (let's say UVA), then that's much less appealing. I don't think any further expansion that doesn't include at least one football power would make any of the fans happy (and to be sure, those football powers do drive revenue beyond just the TV market angle, so that plays into the financial piece).

It's funny because I spent most of my time 3 years ago trying to get people to understand how much the BTN and off-the-field factors would matter for Big Ten expansion compared to on-the-field football, yet these days I largely have to pull back and remind people that just because there's an emphasis on revenue and TV markets doesn't mean that football isn't still a massive factor (as the football brand is what ultimately allows all of that revenue to be generated in the first place). Once again, it's not necessarily just the football program on the field, but access to recruits is pretty big, too (as that's the bloodline for maintaining football prowess). Maryland and Rutgers happen to be located in places where such recruiting access is actually excellent (at least as far as Northern states go), so those are still seen as football-related moves beyond their TV markets even if their actual football programs aren't so hot.

This captures part of the challenge for the B1G in my mind. Penn State had it all. Markets, academics, football program, recruiting territory...it was a grand slam. Nebraska was a football brand add straight up to counter the emerging dominance of the SEC. Other than a few strong OSU teams, the B1G hadn't done much in football lately, and the legendary coaches were gone. Given those moves, the B1G could make a play for two programs in RU and UMD that offered little on the field or on the court, and theoretically at least, a lot off of it.

But in my mind, the next move had to be a big name, high performing athletic program. Somebody more like Penn State. They can afford a UConn or Kansas with a strong basketball brand, but not more than one such school. They cannot add two more schools that don't upgrade football competition. That's why I scoffed at the UConn-UVA rumors. A terrible combination for the B1G. UConn, FSU? ok. FSU, UVA? ok. OU, KU? ok. I think UNC gets a pass because despite the scandals and weak football performance, it has future powerhouse written all over it.

I do think UConn is a reasonable add if it gets AAU status, as it completes the shift in my mind into what the B1G has become, the "Big North". But the partner has to be a strong football program, and there isn't a single one that meets the current criteria of 1. AAU, 2. contiguous geography and 3. demographic improvements. None. So my guess is that they hold firm until there is.

 

[upstater]

I think those are all plausible arguments that UConn is making (and leaders should try to be making).

I agree with everything you're saying, but I also think you underrate the enthusiasm for Uconn in Conn. I don't know where the perception comes from, but when it comes to bball, it is the biggest thing going. It's fever pitch in the state. And the ratings and interest dwarf that of any other school in the old BE, and probably can compete with the vast majority of schools out there. This is why the tier 3 rights, sponsorships and licensing are at $25 million. Very high. It's why the nickname for the press corp following UConn bball is called the Horde. It's why ratings for SNY games kick butt.

Football is a new thing. Unfortunately, the Fiesta Bowl fiasco with attendance was called tepid. But people have pix here of 10,000 UConn fans are the game. Oklahoma did not do much better (though playing UConn might have played a part in that). In other years, UConn sent 12,000-18,000 to bowls (on the east coast, and down south). One thing about the Fiesta that makes it seem UConn has tepid support is that the tix on sale were for both the bowl game and the championship game, all packaged together and included with through the roof hotel rooms and airfares.

Frankly, I'm shocked 4,000 fans purchased that package through the school.

 

[Fishy]

The World Tek package to the Fiesta Bowl did so much damage - that was a crime.

Okay, if we're not taking up a collection to fly Frank to UConn, can we get him on a bus?

 

[upstater]

Out of curiosity (as I honestly don't know) - does UConn actually have any assigned beat writers with the major NY dailies or the Boston Globe? That is, are they printing something more than AP wire stories for UConn results? I subscribe to the Sunday New York Times and their online site, but I know that their approach to sports coverage is quite different than the NYC tabloids. That's kind of my general rule of thumb as to whether a school "delivers" a market these days, as most papers won't spend the money on assigning a beat writer unless it's perceived to be critical to do so. It's an indicator (albeit not empirical proof) of how invested a particular market is with a college (or pro, for that matter) sports team. For example, both the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times still assign beat writers for Illinois, Northwestern and Notre Dame (along with having a general Big Ten beat), but will only run AP wire stories for the other local colleges. The Indianapolis Star has beat writers for Indiana, Purdue and Butler, but *not* for Notre Dame (believe it or not). The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has beat writers for Missouri, Illinois and SLU.

No beat writers for UConn, no beat writers for St. John's, no beat writers for Rutgers. A lot of college sports writers who do write a lot on UConn, StJ and Rutgers though. But I don't think you can compare. The NY Post sells to millions who have no interest in college sports. Also, you can't compare the Indianapolis Star to NY. Nor St. Louis. These are tiny cities by comparison.

UConn used to have 15 or more beat writers assigned to it a decade ago before the newspaper business died. They called them the "Horde." There are still several around, I forget how many. Maybe 7?

 

[upstater]

The World Tek package to the Fiesta Bowl did so much damage - that was a crime.

Okay, if we're not taking up a collection to fly Frank to UConn, can we get him on a bus?

Call WorldTek, they'll give a good package to send Frank on a bus. I expect him to roll into town on John Madden's ex-cruiser.

 

[upstater]

This captures part of the challenge for the B1G in my mind. Penn State had it all. Markets, academics, football program, recruiting territory...it was a grand slam. Nebraska was a football brand add straight up to counter the emerging dominance of the SEC. Other than a few strong OSU teams, the B1G hadn't done much in football lately, and the legendary coaches were gone. Given those moves, the B1G could make a play for two programs in RU and UMD that offered little on the field or on the court, and theoretically at least, a lot off of it.

But in my mind, the next move had to be a big name, high performing athletic program. Somebody more like Penn State. They can afford a UConn or Kansas with a strong basketball brand, but not more than one such school. They cannot add two more schools that don't upgrade football competition. That's why I scoffed at the UConn-UVA rumors. A terrible combination for the B1G. UConn, FSU? ok. FSU, UVA? ok. OU, KU? ok. I think UNC gets a pass because despite the scandals and weak football performance, it has future powerhouse written all over it.

I do think UConn is a reasonable add if it gets AAU status, as it completes the shift in my mind into what the B1G has become, the "Big North". But the partner has to be a strong football program, and there isn't a single one that meets the current criteria of 1. AAU, 2. contiguous geography and 3. demographic improvements. None. So my guess is that they hold firm until there is.

Penn State had resistance, remember. OSU and Michigan were adamantly against.

 

[The Funster]

Maybe we can have Frank milk some cows? Worked for Calhoun once, right?

 

[RS9999X]

I do think UConn is a reasonable add if it gets AAU status, as it completes the shift in my mind into what the B1G has become, the "Big North". But the partner has to be a strong football program, and there isn't a single one that meets the current criteria of 1. AAU, 2. contiguous geography and 3. demographic improvements. None. So my guess is that they hold firm until there is.

It's the worse case for them right? Adding UConn and using UConn and Rutgers to build the NYC market as a BiG market. Adding UVA to leverage UMD and UVA to build DC into a BiG market? The two cities on the East Coast that define the word 'Power Brokers' become BiG markets ? That's the worst case?

The South is growing but Wall Street and the Nation's Capital are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. One thing about Delaney--you know he hears all the rumors and scuttlebutt we don't about who is kicking tires and so forth.

 

[frankthetank]

No beat writers for UConn, no beat writers for St. John's, no beat writers for Rutgers. A lot of college sports writers who do write a lot on UConn, StJ and Rutgers though. But I don't think you can compare. The NY Post sells to millions who have no interest in college sports. Also, you can't compare the Indianapolis Star to NY. Nor St. Louis. These are tiny cities by comparison.

UConn used to have 15 or more beat writers assigned to it a decade ago before the newspaper business died. They called them the "Horde." There are still several around, I forget how many. Maybe 7?

Ok, that's interesting info. I do think that Chicago is a fair comparison, though - it's still a multi-paper large market that's very much a pro sports town (and more like Boston or Philly in that regard where it's truly all-consuming for virtually everyone, whereas the quantity of media coverage in NYC might be relentless on the Yankees/Knicks/Giants/et. al but the TV ratings reflect a lower penetration*). Even then, Illinois/Notre Dame/Northwestern are still getting covered directly by those Chicago papers in the same manner as the pro counterparts. More importantly, Illinois and Notre Dame are examples of what UConn is trying to argue: that those schools' markets extend beyond their immediate metro areas and into the major cities where their alums largely live. The St. Louis and Indy references were in the same vein (despite being in smaller markets). Illinois (where I went to school) has daily beat coverage from the newspapers in both Chicago and St. Louis, which I think is what UConn is attempting to show with respect to NYC and Boston.

(* For example, the local TV rating for a Bears game in Chicago or a Pats game in Boston is only slightly less than what Green Bay has for the Packers despite being in markets several times bigger, whereas the local ratings for Giants/Jets games significantly lower by comparison. Granted, this is made up by the fact that the NYC market is so large, meaning that advertisers still get a massive amount of eyeballs there. It just isn't the saturation viewership where literally every TV in the NYC market will have the game in contrast to Chicago or Boston.)

 

[upstater]

Ok, that's interesting info. I do think that Chicago is a fair comparison, though - it's still a multi-paper large market that's very much a pro sports town (and more like Boston or Philly in that regard where it's truly all-consuming for virtually everyone, whereas the quantity of media coverage in NYC is relentless on the Yankees/Knicks/Giants/et. al but the TV ratings reflect a lower penetration*). Even then, Illinois/Notre Dame/Northwestern are still getting covered directly by those Chicago papers in the same manner as the pro counterparts. More importantly, Illinois and Notre Dame are examples of what UConn is trying to argue: that those schools' markets extend beyond their immediate metro areas and into the major cities where their alums largely live. The St. Louis and Indy references were in the same vein (despite being in smaller markets). Illinois (where I went to school) has daily beat coverage from the newspapers in both Chicago and St. Louis, which I think is what UConn is attempting to show with respect to NYC and Boston.

( For example, the local TV rating for a Bears game in Chicago or a Pats game in Boston is only slightly less than what Green Bay has for the Packers despite being in markets several times bigger, whereas the local ratings for Giants/Jets games significantly lower by comparison. Granted, this is made up by the fact that the NYC market is so large, meaning that advertisers still get a massive amount of eyeballs there. It just isn't the saturation viewership where literally every TV in the NYC market will have the game in contrast to Chicago or Boston.)

There are big differences in the comparison. Most Illini are from N. Illinois. After they leave their time in C.-U. they head often to Chicago. But when it comes to the relationship of Rutgers to NYC, things are entirely different. UConn grads, if they don't stay in Hartford/New Haven/Stamford, head to Boston and New York. The state of NY itself has four university centers, so there is no central flagship as in Illinois.

 

[RS9999X]

. Granted, this is made up by the fact that the NYC market is so large, meaning that advertisers still get a massive amount of eyeballs there. It just isn't the saturation viewership where literally every TV in the NYC market will have the game in contrast to Chicago or Boston.)

We will know soon enough. SNY was the Regional Home for UConn and the Big East. Will they still broker UConn deals like the one below without the BE affiliaton and the head-to-head matchups? I'm thinking no. UConn alone is problematic. Heading to ESPN3 is my guess

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/05/sny-chosen-as-regional-tv-partner-for-uconn-womens-basketball/

 

[juan]

UCONN is #2 in NBA Alumni salary only 1 million behind Duke. Regardless of B1g, this is why we will still be successful.

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-men/f...skies-are-earning-in-the-nba-collegespun-com/

 

[UPitt]

I agree with everything you're saying, but I also think you underrate the enthusiasm for Uconn in Conn. I don't know where the perception comes from, but when it comes to bball, it is the biggest thing going. It's fever pitch in the state. And the ratings and interest dwarf that of any other school in the old BE, and probably can compete with the vast majority of schools out there. This is why the tier 3 rights, sponsorships and licensing are at $25 million. Very high. It's why the nickname for the press corp following UConn bball is called the Horde. It's why ratings for SNY games kick butt.

Football is a new thing. Unfortunately, the Fiesta Bowl fiasco with attendance was called tepid. But people have pix here of 10,000 UConn fans are the game. Oklahoma did not do much better (though playing UConn might have played a part in that). In other years, UConn sent 12,000-18,000 to bowls (on the east coast, and down south). One thing about the Fiesta that makes it seem UConn has tepid support is that the tix on sale were for both the bowl game and the championship game, all packaged together and included with through the roof hotel rooms and airfares.

Frankly, I'm shocked 4,000 fans purchased that package through the school.

That package was robbery. You could have attended the game for half the price if you bought your own plane tickets and hotel stay. Uconn is not alone though:

2011 Fiesta Bowl: Uconn sold 2771 of 17500 tickets allotted. Uconn took a loss of $1.8 million
2009 Orange Bowl: VT took a loss of $2.2 million.
2008 Fiesta Bowl: WVU sold 7981 of 17500 tickets allotted. WVU took a loss of $1 million
2004 Fiesta Bowl: No figures, but Pitt could not sell tickets. Utah was 3/4 or more of the stadium.

This happens every year to a few teams. Uconn fans were asked to travel to the farthest Bowl game available and pay double the cost to do it. At the time, Uconn and the Big East were criticized for not selling enough tickets. But, I honestly think that just about everyone outside of Uconn has forgot about the ticket flap and I would think this has absolutely no impact on realignment.

On the field, Uconn did miss an opportunity to elevate recognition of its football program. A win over a very good Oklahoma team in the Fiesta Bowl would still be fresh in people's minds.

 

[upstater]

The ACC needs to add UConn and West Virginia for 17.

Louisville burst the ACC's academic bubble. Time to bring a new school in WV on for football.

I heard this week the ACC is now touting itself as the greatest bball conference in history. The B1G now is second banana, and soon the B1G's prospects in bball are going to fade as more talent moves to the ACC. The B1G is already in a huge national championship drought.

 

[upstater]

We will know soon enough. SNY was the Regional Home for UConn and the Big East. Will they still broker UConn deals like the one below without the BE affiliaton and the head-to-head matchups? I'm thinking no. UConn alone is problematic. Heading to ESPN3 is my guess

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/05/sny-chosen-as-regional-tv-partner-for-uconn-womens-basketball/

Aresco already said a special provision is being made for UConn women's basketball. So, yes, they will broker their own deal.

 

[HuskyHawk]

No beat writers for UConn, no beat writers for St. John's, no beat writers for Rutgers. A lot of college sports writers who do write a lot on UConn, StJ and Rutgers though. But I don't think you can compare. The NY Post sells to millions who have no interest in college sports. Also, you can't compare the Indianapolis Star to NY. Nor St. Louis. These are tiny cities by comparison.

UConn used to have 15 or more beat writers assigned to it a decade ago before the newspaper business died. They called them the "Horde." There are still several around, I forget how many. Maybe 7?

Back then, UConn had more dedicated beat writers than any other school in the country, and it wasn't close. Our road opponents bitched constantly about having to handle a media contingent for every game that was more like what you'd expect for an NCAA tournament game. Now with bloggers and all the electronic media I'm sure it has changed. But you do absolutely see coverage of UConn in the Times, Post, Boston Globe and Herald. The Globe seems particularly fascinated by the UConn women and almost treats them like a home town team.

 

[frankthetank]

There are big differences in the comparison. Most Illini are from N. Illinois. After they leave their time in C.-U. they head often to Chicago. But when it comes to the relationship of Rutgers to NYC, things are entirely different. UConn grads, if they don't stay in Hartford/New Haven/Stamford, head to Boston and New York. The state of NY itself has four university centers, so there is no central flagship as in Illinois.

That sounds akin to Indiana and Purdue, then. They both are the major public institutions in a state that's part of the Chicago area (remember that Northwest Indiana accounts for about 1 million people as part of the Chicago metro area population) with a significant number of out-of-state students (mostly from the Illinois side of the Chicago area) and most of the grads that don't end up in Indianapolis will head to Chicago (whether or not they're originally from that region) with some others heading off to Cincinnati, Louisville or the East Coast. (Indiana in particular has also been matriculating a ton of NYC-area students lately.) So, Indiana and Purdue have a *ton* of alums in the Chicago area (outside of the in-state schools, only Iowa would have more), but they aren't treated as being able to "deliver" the Chicago market. They provide a "presence" there (and when combined with all of the other Big Ten alums in Chicago, that allows the conference to "deliver" the market), but they aren't considered to be local teams in the way that Notre Dame (another Indiana school that's not much closer to Chicago distance-wise than Purdue) is.

 

[upstater]

That sounds akin to Indiana and Purdue, then. They both are the major public institutions in a state that's part of the Chicago area (remember that Northwest Indiana accounts for about 1 million people as part of the Chicago metro area population) with a significant number of out-of-state students (mostly from the Illinois side of the Chicago area) and most of the grads that don't end up in Indianapolis will head to Chicago (whether or not they're originally from that region) with some others heading off to Cincinnati, Louisville or the East Coast. (Indiana in particular has also been matriculating a ton of NYC-area students lately.) So, Indiana and Purdue have a *ton* of alums in the Chicago area (outside of the in-state schools, only Iowa would have more), but they aren't treated as being able to "deliver" the Chicago market. They provide a "presence" there (and when combined with all of the other Big Ten alums in Chicago, that allows the conference to "deliver" the market), but they aren't considered to be local teams in the way that Notre Dame (another Indiana school that's not much closer to Chicago distance-wise than Purdue) is.

I would say that's right. No one owns the market. but also because there are no huge institutions playing bigtime football, no team has captured the hearts of NYC--which is filled with transplants anyway. Presumably Rutgers could have, but instead it's been Penn State and Notre Dame football that carried NYC. Growing up, PSU was big in the northeast as well. Now, not so much.

as for basketball, UConn holds as much sway in the city as ND does for football. Lots of NY kids look up to UConn because they are the dominant school. WFAN 550 will do segments on the school more often than any others (once a month during the season). Otherwise, they don't talk about college sports.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That sounds akin to Indiana and Purdue, then. They both are the major public institutions in a state that's part of the Chicago area (remember that Northwest Indiana accounts for about 1 million people as part of the Chicago metro area population) with a significant number of out-of-state students (mostly from the Illinois side of the Chicago area) and most of the grads that don't end up in Indianapolis will head to Chicago (whether or not they're originally from that region) with some others heading off to Cincinnati, Louisville or the East. (Indiana in particular has also been matriculating a ton of NYC-area students lately.) So, Indiana and Purdue have a *ton* of alums in the Chicago area (outside of the in-state schools, only Iowa would have more), but they aren't treated as being able to "deliver" the Chicago market. They provide a "presence" there (and when combined with all of the other Big Ten alums in Chicago, that allows the conference to "deliver" the market), but they aren't considered to be local teams in the way that Notre Dame (another Indiana school that's not much closer to Chicago distance-wise than Purdue) is.

Frank, it's exactly like that with one critical difference. There is no local team. Imagine that Notre Dame, Illinois and Northwestern all had no more pull in Chicago than Indiana, Iowa, Purdue and Wisconsin. Then your list for NYC would be UConn, Rutgers and Notre Dame at the top of the list, with Syracuse and Penn State probably next among schools that play football. UConn I think gets top billing on the basketball side, and Notre Dame for football.

The suggestion that somehow people in Manhatten, Brooklyn, Queens, LI, Westchester Cty (let alone Fairfield) embrace Rutgers as the "home team" akin to Illinois in Chicago is not accurate. That's why we keep suggesting that if the B1G wants to make NYC a B1G town, with BTN on in every sports bar, it needs a package of several schools. Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan is a start.

 

[upstater]

Frank, it's exactly like that with one critical difference. There is no local team. Imagine that Notre Dame, Illinois and Northwestern all had no more pull in Chicago than Indiana, Iowa, Purdue and Wisconsin. Then your list for NYC would be UConn, Rutgers and Notre Dame at the top of the list, with Syracuse and Penn State probably next among schools that play football. UConn I think gets top billing on the basketball side, and Notre Dame for football.

The suggestion that somehow people in Manhatten, Brooklyn, Queens, LI, Westchester Cty (let alone Fairfield) embrace Rutgers as the "home team" akin to Illinois in Chicago is not accurate. That's why we keep suggesting that if the B1G wants to make NYC a B1G town, with BTN on in every sports bar, it needs a package of several schools. Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan is a start.

One caveat. Illinois is certainly more popular in Chicago than Rutgers is in NYC. There's a difference there.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

And it's going to cost them even more when the temporary tax credit of $15 million a year isn't renewed in a few years, and the savings are sent directly to UConn's AD!

1) Ain't gonna happen.
2) $15 million is pocket lint, lost in the rounding.

 

[UPitt]

The ACC needs to add UConn and West Virginia for 17.

I don't think they will add 2 teams unless one is ND (football). Unrealistic or not, the ACC will not officially close the door on ND. The Big 10 w/11 held a spot for years as well. I also think the ACC will never consider WVU. Living in an area that covers WVU as well, I got to follow WVU applying to the ACC and SEC a couple years ago. The "insiders" quoted in the local papers indicated that WVU would never be considered for the ACC and the SEC was a long shot.

Uconn on the other hand would be a good addition to the ACC. I think Uconn fits much better in the ACC than the B1G. They will be with similar sized programs (No OSU, Michigan, PSU). Uconn may not add football value to the ACC, but they do not detract from it either. The ACC has several natural rivals, the B1G only has RU. Like Frank said, the B1G fan base wants to play OSU, Mich, PSU, Wisky, and Nebraska every year. To some fan bases in the B1G Uconn would be lumped with Maryland and Rutgers as the party crashes that took OSU or PSU off the schedule this year. In the ACC, teams like BC, Pitt, Cuse, and Ville would like to have Uconn on the schedule over Duke or Wake or maybe even GT, Virginia, and NCST because we have no history with them.

Those are just a few reasons I would like to see Uconn in the ACC over the B1G. I do think the Uconn needing a partner is also an issue in the ACC. The ACC is more likely to add a single team because of the ND situation, but if they look to add 2 for football, who would be Uconn's partner? The options for a dance partner to the ACC are very limited (much more limited than the B1G) and as Frank said, conferences may be looking to add football power this time around. WVU's football would be a good partner if it didn't come with the WVU acedemics and WVU fan base.

I still think Uconn is in the ACC plans. After B1G signs a new contract and ACC network launches, the ACC could use Uconn to re-evaluate the ESPN contract to and pull in a few more million for each school.

 

[upstater]

1) Ain't gonna happen.
2) $15 million is pocket lint, lost in the rounding.

If 2 is true, then 1 doesn't matter, and if 1 doesn't matter, then it's easy to do, and if it's easy to do, it should be done, and it will help UConn.

I don't get this claim though that it's not going to happen. Based on what? All states stop temporary tax abatements. It happens all the time. so what are you basing it on?

 

[upstater]

I don't think they will add 2 teams unless one is ND (football). Unrealistic or not, the ACC will not officially close the door on ND. The Big 10 w/11 held a spot for years as well. I also think the ACC will never consider WVU. Living in an area that covers WVU as well, I got to follow WVU applying to the ACC and SEC a couple years ago. The "insiders" quoted in the local papers indicated that WVU would never be considered for the ACC and the SEC was a long shot.

Uconn on the other hand would be a good addition to the ACC. I think Uconn fits much better in the ACC than the B1G. They will be with similar sized programs (No OSU, Michigan, PSU). Uconn may not add football value to the ACC, but they do not detract from it either. The ACC has several natural rivals, the B1G only has RU. Like Frank said, the B1G fan base wants to play OSU, Mich, PSU, Wisky, and Nebraska every year. To some fan bases in the B1G Uconn would be lumped with Maryland and Rutgers as the party crashes that took OSU or PSU off the schedule this year. In the ACC, teams like BC, Pitt, Cuse, and Ville would like to have Uconn on the schedule over Duke or Wake or maybe even GT, Virginia, and NCST because we have no history with them.

Those are just a few reasons I would like to see Uconn in the ACC over the B1G. I do think the Uconn needing a partner is also an issue in the ACC. The ACC is more likely to add a single team because of the ND situation, but if they look to add 2 for football, who would be Uconn's partner? The options for a dance partner to the ACC are very limited (much more limited than the B1G) and as Frank said, conferences may be looking to add football power this time around. WVU's football would be a good partner if it didn't come with the WVU acedemics and WVU fan base.

I still think Uconn is in the ACC plans. After B1G signs a new contract and ACC network launches, the ACC could use Uconn to re-evaluate the ESPN contract to and pull in a few more million for each school.

As I said, the ACC bubble against WVa burst when it invited Louisville.

 

[specialisthusky]

I still think Uconn is in the ACC plans. After B1G signs a new contract and ACC network launches, the ACC could use Uconn to re-evaluate the ESPN contract to and pull in a few more million for each school.

Definitly, only it's Plan Z. Right after Plan A launching the ACC network fails and Plan B waiting or ND to join full time for the next 15 years along with 23 other plans.

The ACC wants nothing to do with UConn. BC and Cuse don't want to play us and the rest of the conference passed on UConn 3 times where arguments can be made it was the favorite to be realigned.

The ACC isn't adding UConn.