What is Wrong with this Picture

[Marty Jackson]

Well said. I can't see anything special about whatever conference we're currently in. There is one team that's actually a rival, Rutgers. For that we should be happy? I can't see why being in the ACC, even without FSU, Clemson, etc, is worse than being in the current disaster of a conference we're in. It's basically the original BE minus WVU (yes I know they aren't a founding member).

I know everything is being looked at from a football perspective but I think we need to also look at what our major product currently is at UConn, basketball. Does anyone truly think our program is going to excel in a conference with UCF, SMU, and Houston as yearly opponents? Even Memphis and Temple are a stretch as I don't think either will perform terribly well against UConn, Louisville, Marquette, or Cincy. I think the NBE will devalue our basketball program and without that, UConn is screwed. Football is going to take another decade to gain any relevance on the National scale. Yes, we've had success in our short tenure but no one takes us seriously and no major conference, B1G, is going to think adding UConn is worth it. So why not move to the ACC, keep basketball strong, and continue to build the football program?

I still feel that anyone who thinks hoping that UConn leaves the NBE is a bad idea is crazy. I see ZERO positives from staying in this conference. Even the new TV deal will be at MOST, equivalent to the ACC deal.

I'm sorry but I don't feel like Rutgers is our rival... Sure they are the closest regionally, but it always felt forced. You can't just say these are our rivals and expect it to stick. Have we had close games? yes. Are we on our way to having them as a rival? possibly. right now we have a competitive series where we are both jockeying for position. That's it.
For me, if they were a rival, that game would have special meaning over the other games. I just don't see it. The Rutgers game doesn't seem any more special than Syr, Pitt, or Cincy...
Now, if we played BC, I'm guessing most people on this board would be looking for tickets. That game would be a sellout. After all the crap between the two schools, people on both sides feel there is a personal stake in that game. A loss would be embarassing and would mean the longest year waiting for payback. That game would also be enough to spark an interest in northeast football, gaining more fans, and keeping local kids here where they can play meaningful games. I don't see that with Rutgers right now.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I'm sorry but I don't feel like Rutgers is our rival... Sure they are the closest regionally, but it always felt forced.

That game would also be enough to spark an interest in northeast football, gaining more fans, and keeping local kids here where they can play meaningful games. I don't see that with Rutgers right now.

Strongly disagree on both points.

The Rutgers games throughout the years have been awesome and because our programs have been on the same upswing it's felt like a real competition to see who can do better. It's still in the early stages, but Rutgers was and will be the game I look forward to most each year.

A game between the state universities of New Jersey and Connecticut won't/doesn't spark interest Northeast, but a game vs. a little catholic school that has no fanbase, aside from alumni, would? Don't get me wrong, as a UConn fan that would be the #2 game I look forward to every year and probably would create interest in New England, I just don't buy anyone else really caring about the game.

 

[Marty Jackson]

While I agree that an emotional response is seldom the best response to a tactical issue, I disagree with your logic. I think any instability in the other five conferences is a good thing for UCONN, even if we end up in a "second tier" ACC. If you believe that the B1G is not a realistic option (and I tend to agree), then the ACC is our only logical improvement over the disaster of a conference we currently have. That means waiting around for them to maybe go to 16 and hoping upon hope we are one of the two. Both time and selection are completely out of our control. If left out, we are in a really bad place.

A "second tier" ACC almost under any reasonable scenario puts us with meaningful regional rivalries and a much more promising path to continuing to build this program as opposed to staying in the Big East. I am already tired of playing games against the likes of SDSU and Memphis and we haven't even played them yet. I doubt I am alone in that thinking. It is my hope that FSU and Clemson bolt, because almost under any reasonable scenario that puts UCONN in the ACC.

The last thing I'll say is this. I think the whole four super conferences feeding a four team playoff is a red herring. Legally and politically I don't think it stands a chance.

If SDSU is ranked in the Top 10, you'll like playing them. Same for Boise, Houston, UCF, or SMU. Even Memphis.
Aside from Memphis/Temple, every school we've brought in was competitive in their prior conference. The may not have been the best, but they had or are investing in their programs to be competitive. They've made the decision that tey want to be in a 'big boy' league. That is what we need right now. If Memphis decides that now is the time, I can't think of a school better located to start having some success.
I'll agree the jury is still out on Temple and Memphis for FB. If they continue their historical ways, they bring little. But, there is every reason to believe that SDSU, Houston, UCF, and/or SMU can be the next Cincy or UofL. And if two of them pop, that's the makings of a solid league with 3-4 Top 25 teams every year. Maybe with 1 in the Top 10 regularly.

 

[uconndogs]

Sorry, but I'll take regional rivalries over this mish-mash any day.

We need to build this thing from a regional base NOT a national base. West Coast, Rocky Mountain, Texas.......the Big East is now almost completely gutted from its Northeast base and will hold no interest nationally even if a program or two has a big year.

I will continue to support this program and be a season ticket holder, but I do not like what I see.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Strongly disagree on both points.

The Rutgers games throughout the years have been awesome and because our programs have been on the same upswing it's felt like a real competition to see who can do better. It's still in the early stages, but Rutgers was and will be the game I look forward to most each year.

A game between the state universities of New Jersey and Connecticut won't/doesn't spark interest Northeast, but a game vs. a little catholic school that has no fanbase, aside from alumni, would? Don't get me wrong, as a UConn fan that would be the #2 game I look forward to every year and probably would create interest in New England, I just don't buy anyone else really caring about the game.

I don't care if it's the state university of NH or RI. I don't think the northeast is any more passionate about a Uconn/Rutgers game vs a USF/Uconn game. I agree the Rutgers games are competitive. And I said there is the possibility for this to develop into a rivalry. But competitive games don't always equal a rivalry. You need passion, hatred, and bitterness and some history. That doesn't describe the Uconn/Rutgers series. Competitive? yes.

Also, I am not suggesting that Uconn vs BC would be big on a national stage. But that's the point. It doesn't have to be. If we played BC it would be a sellout.
Like it our not, that little catholic school has been the face of New England CFB for the past 40 years. (Not to mention that the Big East was founded in part by mostly catholic schools). BC has also had some impact into Uconn's current position in the BE (directly and indirectly). That brings passion, hatred and bitterness to the fanbases. The history is there.
Look at Auburn and Alabama... That game has been big on a national stage because both programs have been competing for a NC over the past 10 years. Do you really think the people of Alabama care about that game because it might generate interest outside of Alabama. Hell No!!!! Both teams could be 0-11 heading into that game and it would still be more important than any other regular game locally.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Sorry, but I'll take regional rivalries over this mish-mash any day.

We need to build this thing from a regional base NOT a national base. West Coast, Rocky Mountain, Texas.......the Big East is now almost completely gutted from its Northeast base and will hold no interest nationally even if a program or two has a big year.

I will continue to support this program and be a season ticket holder, but I do not like what I see.

Temple, Rutgers, Maryland and Umass aren't regional? Pretty sure they are all on the schedule next year...
Does it really matter whether they are in the BE or not?

 

[uconndogs]

Not sure I understand your point. But, obviously equating Temple and UMASS with Cuse or Pitt or BC for that matter is a stretch in my mind. And it matters very much who is in the conference.

 

[UCFBfan]

I'm sorry but I don't feel like Rutgers is our rival... Sure they are the closest regionally, but it always felt forced. You can't just say these are our rivals and expect it to stick. Have we had close games? yes. Are we on our way to having them as a rival? possibly. right now we have a competitive series where we are both jockeying for position. That's it.

If you go by this train of thought we really don't have a rivalry with anyone in CFB. I agree that the Rutgers game has been called our rivalry game and it never was allowed to become the rivalry it will eventually be. UConn doesn't have much history in the FBS level and so you need to take what you get. However, like you said, Rutgers and UConn have had close games that can help lead to this become our rivalry but it's not there yet.

I also agree that BC would be more of a rivalry game for us because of the hatred there is between the fan bases, more so from UConn's end. Syracuse could also become a rival with time because of the rivalry that already exists from basketball. However, for all of this to happen, we need to join the same conference that these programs reside in.

 

[Adios]

UMass football is older than Michigan football. May be a great selling point for UMass if they get into a major BCS conference, which may be possible. Our rivalry with UMass goes back to 1897. Oldest rivalry we have.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

While I agree that an emotional response is seldom the best response to a tactical issue, I disagree with your logic. I think any instability in the other five conferences is a good thing for UCONN, even if we end up in a "second tier" ACC. If you believe that the B1G is not a realistic option (and I tend to agree), then the ACC is our only logical improvement over the disaster of a conference we currently have. That means waiting around for them to maybe go to 16 and hoping upon hope we are one of the two. Both time and selection are completely out of our control. If left out, we are in a really bad place.

A "second tier" ACC almost under any reasonable scenario puts us with meaningful regional rivalries and a much more promising path to continuing to build this program as opposed to staying in the Big East. I am already tired of playing games against the likes of SDSU and Memphis and we haven't even played them yet. I doubt I am alone in that thinking. It is my hope that FSU and Clemson bolt, because almost under any reasonable scenario that puts UCONN in the ACC.

The last thing I'll say is this. I think the whole four super conferences feeding a four team playoff is a red herring. Legally and politically I don't think it stands a chance.

Exactly. The complaint about the BCS was it's restrictive trust-like organization that allowed only six conferences access to the big dollar bowls. Complaints and threats caused the BCS to adopt, mostly cosmetic, changes occasionally allowing access to the great unwashed. The new "thing" seems to take the original BCS restrictions to a level that sounds like BCS(exponential). Any active TV involvement in team/conference "ordination" will take things to a higher level of collusion. Politicians will posture. Attorneys will prosper.

That's my opinion, but remember it's based on media interpretation and "leaks;" mostly links documented on this site. I could be reacting to total BS.

 

[observer]

Seriously, do you people not "get" it? There is glee that the ACC is being squeezed out towards second tier status? Seriously? How dumb are we as a board?

If the ACC becomes a 2d tier league, and its members are severely disadvantaged, it means one of two things. First, that UConn will be severely disadvantaged because we join the ACC when FSU and someone else leaves it. Or, second, that UConn stays in the Big East and the Big East is severely disadvantaged because the Big East, at best, will have the status that the ACC does. In no reasonable scenario (and thinking we are joining the Big Ten is not a reasonable scenario) does the movement of ACC teams to the Big XII help our program stay on the level it's on now, where it can in theory (because there are structural disadvantages having nothing to do with conference) compete with anyone for national football championships if we are good enough.

I know people like to hate their enemies, and I know the ACC is an enemy, but don't people care about what is good for UConn more than what is bad for the ACC and its members?

Bingo!!

BL gets it completely.

The death or decimation of the ACC does absolutely nothing good for UConn. The ACC is the absolute best shot UConn has of landing in one of the five power conferences.

I can understand the folks from WVU wising ill to the ACC because they got turned down for membership but the difference is that WVU has a home in a real conference so they can wish for the death of another conference because that would not really affect them.

 

[UCFBfan]

Bingo!!

BL gets it completely.

The death or decimation of the ACC does absolutely nothing good for UConn. The ACC is the absolute best shot UConn has of landing in one of the five power conferences.

Sorry I stopped reading right there. You are kidding yourself if you truly think that the 4 major conferences are going to let the ACC sit at the big boy table. Not a shot. Whether it happens this year or in a year or two, FSU/Clemson/VTech will be gone from the ACC and then there will be 4. Whatever happens beyond that (conferences expand, reform regionally, break away from the NCAA) will determine UConn's fate. Until that day, I'd rather be in a FSU/Clemson -less ACC than the current BE set-up.

I know you will go to the grave defending the ACC and all it's merits and I'm not going to argue with you over it but honestly, it's not going to ever be a Big Boy conference. People in the Big 4 conferences are saying the right things currently in terms of there being "five major conferences". They are just putting on a show until the reality of it all begins and they start cherry picking from the ACC like the ACC did to the Big East.

 

[UConnDan97]

Sorry I stopped reading right there. You are kidding yourself if you truly think that the 4 major conferences are going to let the ACC sit at the big boy table. Not a shot. Whether it happens this year or in a year or two, FSU/Clemson/VTech will be gone from the ACC and then there will be 4. Whatever happens beyond that (conferences expand, reform regionally, break away from the NCAA) will determine UConn's fate. Until that day, I'd rather be in a FSU/Clemson -less ACC than the current BE set-up.

I know you will go to the grave defending the ACC and all it's merits and I'm not going to argue with you over it but honestly, it's not going to ever be a Big Boy conference. People in the Big 4 conferences are saying the right things currently in terms of there being "five major conferences". They are just putting on a show until the reality of it all begins and they start cherry picking from the ACC like the ACC did to the Big East.

It makes him feel better to say 5 power conferences and not four or six. Let him have his moment. (Let me also pre-emptively stop his response by reiterating what UCFBfan said, that I am aware of the fact that members of the Big12 have mentioned "5" power conferences recently...that is only to deflect what they are about to do in the next month or two).

 

[observer]

Warning, from a BC sourse, but a lot of good links: http://www.bcinterruption.com/2012/...ion-rumors-florida-state-clemson-georgia-tech

Of course, everyone is lying and just plotting the ACC's demise.

I actually heard a rumor that the aliens we have hidden at Area 51, Sasquatch and the Easter Bunny are all part of the plot to destroy the ACC.

 

[whaler11]

Warning, from a BC sourse, but a lot of good links: http://www.bcinterruption.com/2012/...ion-rumors-florida-state-clemson-georgia-tech

Of course, everyone is lying and just plotting the ACC's demise.

I actually heard a rumor that the aliens we have hidden at Area 51, Sasquatch and the Easter Bunny are all part of the plot to destroy the ACC.

That's no different than the people here who promote the factoids that fit their narrative and ignore those that don't.

It doesn't matter what anyone says. Nothing anyone has said the last two years has mattered.

 

[UConnDan97]

Let me be fair by saying I have no clue what is going to happen next (CTMike, if you're out there, that one was for you). But there are certain facts (yes, facts) that are piling up that are leading to my own speculation. Those facts are 1) The Big12/SEC and the Pac12/Big10 newly formed Championship Bowls were formed, right on the heels of the four-team playoff discussions, 2) Texas has finally conceded the 13-year grant of tv rights in order to finalize the Fox/ESPN new contract (if that is legally binding), and 3) The Big10, Pac12, and SEC all have championship games before the "new championship games."

It would seem to me (yes, yes, big-time speculation) that the Big12 would desire to push towards that championship game, in order to make the extra 15 million or whatever it is nowadays for the conference, before playing in that guaranteed SEC champion bowl, because they risk nothing by doing it. You are already guaranteed to play the SEC champion. So that would leave the Big12 to acquire 2 more teams. Could it be L'Ville and Cincy or BYU? Sure, but why would it, when you have already heard through the grapevine that Clemson and FSU would join you?

 

[CL82]

Warning, from a BC sourse, but a lot of good links: http://www.bcinterruption.com/2012/...ion-rumors-florida-state-clemson-georgia-tech

Of course, everyone is lying and just plotting the ACC's demise.

I actually heard a rumor that the aliens we have hidden at Area 51, Sasquatch and the Easter Bunny are all part of the plot to destroy the ACC.

um, eh, that's silly, um who told you that? um not that I care, um why would I care?
hey, hey, ...no seriously who told you?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Bingo!!

BL gets it completely.

The death or decimation of the ACC does absolutely nothing good for UConn. The ACC is the absolute best shot UConn has of landing in one of the five power conferences.

I can understand the folks from WVU wising ill to the ACC because they got turned down for membership but the difference is that WVU has a home in a real conference so they can wish for the death of another conference because that would not really affect them.

If you read the second hand account of Neinas' comments in the link you provided, he lumps the ACC in with the Big East and everyone else:

"Interestingly, the Tallahassee Democrats' Jim Lamar also noted that Chuck Neinas mentioned that if the eventual playoff model excluded other leagues like the ACC, "we'd be in front of Congress the next day.""

The emphasis should have been on "other leagues like the ACC".

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Seriously, do you people not "get" it? There is glee that the ACC is being squeezed out towards second tier status? Seriously? How dumb are we as a board?

If the ACC becomes a 2d tier league, and its members are severely disadvantaged, it means one of two things. First, that UConn will be severely disadvantaged because we join the ACC when FSU and someone else leaves it. Or, second, that UConn stays in the Big East and the Big East is severely disadvantaged because the Big East, at best, will have the status that the ACC does. In no reasonable scenario (and thinking we are joining the Big Ten is not a reasonable scenario) does the movement of ACC teams to the Big XII help our program stay on the level it's on now, where it can in theory (because there are structural disadvantages having nothing to do with conference) compete with anyone for national football championships if we are good enough.

I know people like to hate their enemies, and I know the ACC is an enemy, but don't people care about what is good for UConn more than what is bad for the ACC and its members?

The other part of me that likes the karma of all this because the ACC's demise will be directly linked to the colossally stupid decision by Swofford to add Pitt and Syracuse instead of UConn.

 

[whaler11]

The other part of me that likes the karma of all this because the ACC's demise will be directly linked to the colossally stupid decision by Swofford to add Pitt and Syracuse instead of UConn.

This is just absurd. If it were Syracuse and UConn it would be no different. We even heard rumors that FSU didn't want UConn.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The other part of me that likes the karma of all this because the ACC's demise will be directly linked to the colossally stupid decision by Swofford to add Pitt and Syracuse instead of UConn.

I think it would be more so taking Pitt instead of West Virginia.

Though, I think the argument could be made you could have taken West Virginia, Pitt, Syracuse and UConn/Rutgers and just in effect ended the Big East as a football conference entirely.

 

[jostar1]

This is just absurd. If it were Syracuse and UConn it would be no different. We even heard rumors that FSU didn't want UConn.

There were two articles from last October:
It has long been rumored that Connecticut and Rutgers are the leading candidates to fill the 15th and 16th slots in the conference. If the Big East does start to crumble due to the Big 12's expansion efforts, it is unlikely that these two schools would sit idly by. Instead, both would likely reach out to the ACC in hopes of receiving official invitations.

Even though Connecticut and Rutgers joining the ACC is a logical scenario should things play out as expected, some in the ACC may take exception to the addition of two more schools with relatively weak football programs. Florida State would be one of the schools that would probably object to the conference closing out its expansion efforts in this manner.

"Not particularly, no," Florida State Board of Trustees Chairman Andy Haggard said of whether he would be in favor of the conference adding Connecticut and Rutgers. "But I would have to hear more about it. I'd have to see where Connecticut is, and Connecticut is playing good football right now, and where Rutgers is football wise, basketball wise, TV exposure, the elements of the country that they are in and all that.

"It certainly wouldn't be my pick but it wouldn't be my decision; it would be Swofford's and the ACC presidents. But I've heard a lot of backlash against Connecticut and Rutgers coming in because it would make us more of a basketball (conference) not a football (conference). That's what I get from fans, alumni, boosters and so forth."
http://floridastate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1280822

Then there was this (sorry no link):

Stephen Voigt, a Florida State graduate living in Sarasota, wrote to Barron that he was fine with the league and perfectly happy with the addition of Pitt and Syracuse. But with rumors swirling that the ACC might continue its expansion into the Northeast by plucking Rutgers and Connecticut, Voigt implored Barron to convince the league to look elsewhere.

"The next two teams should not be weak northern teams like UConn or Rutgers," Voigt wrote. "That would dilute the football quality even further, and that will hurt FSU."

Barron did not specifically mention either school in his reply, but he explained that the options are limited. He noted that the members of the SEC and Big Ten -- two of the closest conferences geographically -- appear to be firmly entrenched.

"That means that in reality, the only path to a (16-team) super conference, were that to happen, is the Big East and the Big 12," Barron wrote. "And, the only way to have it be meaningful is if it opens up TV markets that net the conference money. Combined, these two factors mean that there are really very few universities out there that can even be considered."

 

[The Funster]

It makes one wonder just how knowledgable BOTs, boosters and fans of these big football schools really are. UConn for sure has played better football than Syracuse and Pitt and yet somehow no one associated with FSU knows this? How intelligent or well informed do you have to be to know that Syracuse has been the worst BE FB team in recent years and hasn't had much success at all since the 90s? If some of the geniuses are going to bring up "brand" or "perception" then I'd say they aren't very bright, are they? Are we to believe that these forward thinkers have determined that two moribund football "brands" are supposed to team up with the face-planted BC franchise and somehow revitalize all three programs? Really?

I'm conflicted by the idea that the ACC is our best hope and the fact that they were too ignorant to realize that UConn the best choice for them.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is just absurd. If it were Syracuse and UConn it would be no different. We even heard rumors that FSU didn't want UConn.

FSU would have taken Rice and UAB if it resulted in them getting $20MM/year/school. By a) raiding the Big East instead of merging into it, and b) taking two schools, Pitt and Syracuse, with limited market value, the ACC guaranteed the eventual departure of FSU. The ACC was behind the 8 ball with its TV deal in terms of keeping FSU because it had already locked up long-term with ESPN, but grabbing two useless programs guaranteed a bad answer from the worldwide leader.

 

[06029]

It makes one wonder just how knowledgable BOTs, boosters and fans of these big football schools really are. UConn for sure has played better football than Syracuse and Pitt and yet somehow no one associated with FSU knows this? How intelligent or well informed do you have to be to know that Syracuse has been the worst BE FB team in recent years and hasn't had much success at all since the 90s? If some of the geniuses are going to bring up "brand" or "perception" then I'd say they aren't very bright, are they? Are we to believe that these forward thinkers have determined that two moribund football "brands" are supposed to team up with the face-planted BC franchise and somehow revitalize all three programs? Really?

I'm conflicted by the idea that the ACC is our best hope and the fact that they were too ignorant to realize that UConn the best choice for them.

Name Uconn's 3 best players all time.
Name Pitt's 3 best players all time.
Name Cuse's 3 best players all time.
Name WVU's 3 best players all time.

Compare the answers.

The truth is that someone in FL, TX, CA and anywhere else can name at least 2 of the 3 best players from WVU, Pitt and Cuse but not Uconn. Ask someone about remembering a Pitt, WVU and Cuse FB game and they will come up with some games but might remember only that Uconn lost big to OK in the Fiesta Bowl. The name and history actually does matter to the BOT, influential boosters and the people in charge.

Success is cyclical and can fall very quickly when a successful coach is replaced by a mediocre or flat out bad coach. That Uconn has a better record over the last 5 to 7 years versus Pitt and Cuse is a plus but is and was not a big enough plus.

What irks me are that programs like Louisville and Cinci are considered very attractive expansion candidates when they were C-USA a very short time ago. While Lville was competitive in C-USA, Cinci was a middle of the pack team and was added to BE as much for BB as FB. Those schools are not superior to Uconn in any way, shape or form in terms of success, TV markets and fan support. And at this point, if one or either of them leave, the BE will have morphed from BCS to C-USA. And they only get to leave because the BE provided them the base to grow. Every other school that left was the base that allowed the BE to grow.

 

[The Funster]

Name Uconn's 3 best players all time.
Name Pitt's 3 best players all time.
Name Cuse's 3 best players all time.
Name WVU's 3 best players all time.

Compare the answers.

The truth is that someone in FL, TX, CA and anywhere else can name at least 2 of the 3 best players from WVU, Pitt and Cuse but not Uconn. Ask someone about remembering a Pitt, WVU and Cuse FB game and they will come up with some games but might remember only that Uconn lost big to OK in the Fiesta Bowl. The name and history actually does matter to the BOT, influential boosters and the people in charge.

Success is cyclical and can fall very quickly when a successful coach is replaced by a mediocre or flat out bad coach. That Uconn has a better record over the last 5 to 7 years versus Pitt and Cuse is a plus but is and was not a big enough plus.

What irks me are that programs like Louisville and Cinci are considered very attractive expansion candidates when they were C-USA a very short time ago. While Lville was competitive in C-USA, Cinci was a middle of the pack team and was added to BE as much for BB as FB. Those schools are not superior to Uconn in any way, shape or form in terms of success, TV markets and fan support. And at this point, if one or either of them leave, the BE will have morphed from BCS to C-USA. And they only get to leave because the BE provided them the base to grow. Every other school that left was the base that allowed the BE to grow.

Pitt's best players were 25+ years ago. Syracuse's might be as little as 15 years ago. I didn't include WVU because they have recent relevance. I'm sorry, if it's all cyclical, Pitt and Cuse are on some pretty darn long cycles. If being able to name some players from the past as opposed to looking at facilities and evaluating recent trends tops the list of important criteria then you've only underlined my point. I mean, Flutie is still doing wonders for BC, right?

Cinci and Lousiville are more centrally located than UConn and for that reason are more desirable than UConn. Which, if you think about it, kind of shoots the whole "well once you get on the plane distance doesn't matter so much" theory out of the water.

We don't have conferences so much as we have little fiefdoms populated by greedy, short-sighted and somewhat inept decision makers and followed by impulsive, even more short-sighted fans. Most aren't making decisions based on logic. They are being made by $ and emotion. Maybe the only exclsuion is the B1G, which is accused of moving at a glacier's pace but in reality, may be the best run, most forward thinking of all.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Not sure I understand your point. But, obviously equating Temple and UMASS with Cuse or Pitt or BC for that matter is a stretch in my mind. And it matters very much who is in the conference.

Your point was that you want to play regional schools. we are playing Temple, MD, rutgers, and Umass...

 

[Rondogg]

The reason I am hoping for ACC defections is because I really want to be in a league with the remaining ACC. Then the ACC would own the entire East Coast from NC to MA. No way the legislators would allow them to lose a place at the table. Defections = change and I feel confident we are the next domino to be picked up. Hoping that nobody changes conferences from now on is short sighted. Hoping that the ACC will pick us up without defections is silly. I do not want to get used to the NNBE. I want to play NC and BC and Pitt and Syr and Duke and Maryland, etc.

The road trips would be Epic.

 

[jostar1]

Karma Catching Up With ACC?

Painful as it may be for ACC adherents, there’s another storyline here, surely clear from a distance. Listening to university leaders talk openly of leaving the league for supposedly greener pastures, we should acknowledge the peculiar, almost biblical tang of the moment.
The ACC is reaping what it sowed.

But whatever happens, you’ve got to admit there’s a certain poetic justice in watching the ACC suffer the same sort of uncertainty it so readily inflicted on others.

http://www.accsports.com/articles/2012060412900/jacobs-karma-catching-up-with-acc.php

 

[UConnDan97]

Karma Catching Up With ACC?

Painful as it may be for ACC adherents, there’s another storyline here, surely clear from a distance. Listening to university leaders talk openly of leaving the league for supposedly greener pastures, we should acknowledge the peculiar, almost biblical tang of the moment.
The ACC is reaping what it sowed.

But whatever happens, you’ve got to admit there’s a certain poetic justice in watching the ACC suffer the same sort of uncertainty it so readily inflicted on others.

http://www.accsports.com/articles/2012060412900/jacobs-karma-catching-up-with-acc.php

I share your sentiment of "F those motherf'ers" over there in the ACC. However, with every war, there is collateral damage. Be careful what you wish for sometimes. It's not clear to me that a destroyed ACC is good for UConn or for the NBE.