Duh. Along with Louisville. And possibly Cincinnati. Sagarin ratings still say the Big 12 is better than the ACC overall now, whether you and I like it or not. Keep beating that ACC drum. Cannot understand the ACC love when it is not close to being the most profitable option for our athletic department. Being focused on basketball will not get us anywhere. Why? Because it doesn't bring in the most revenue. Most revenue = hire best coaches in all sports. Golly gee willigers. Heck, ACC schools would leave for the SEC or the B1G in a heartbeat and some of you want to go to the ACC?
The US used to be a heavily manufacturing based economy. I am sorry you didn't know that.
Manufacturing because we had natural resources to manufacture...i.e. iron, coal, etc. Ever play the game Civilization?
As far as revenue...maybe the B12 is pulling it in now, but what if Texas bolts? Regardless, once the 4 super conferences of 16 are settled, I really think the difference in revenue will be negligible. UConn will be able to hire mostly any basketball coach it wants. As far as football...I doubt even if we moved to the B12 that we'd get a first crack at top coaches.
As far as B12 being hire in the Sagarin...ok. So basically, the B12 is a conference of mediocrity. They're all decent, but none of them are great (at least this year.) I'd rather be in a league that has perennial top 5 teams much like the Big East does today. You'll get that with the ACC. Duke and North Carolina will almost always be there because they get the best talent. The reason why there are many good Big East schools is because top players want to play against top competition. Let me say, you're not going to get a New York kid like Kemba excited by playing the general mediocrity where every team has a few good players. No...Kemba wanted to go against the top talent and prove that he had game...and so he came to Connecticut and then became a 1st round draft pick and forever immortalized as one of UConn's greatest players for running the gauntlet against some of the best teams in the country (which some happened to be in the Big East). Therefore, I don't mind playing against a BC as long as we could play Duke and UNC every year. The idea of playing Kansas and Texas every year does not make me excited at all.
And being focused on basketball is what we should do. The fact is, our football program is still light years behind other programs. Yes, we've been able to get to a BCS game, but let's be honest. In a world of 4 super conferences, we're hardly going to crack the top without a serious change in culture (and I really don't think moving to one conference over the other will change that. Need an example...see Colorado, or Iowa State, or Ole Miss, etc. etc. etc.) UConn should be committed to football, but they should be making any decision with at least 50% of the input coming from the basketball program. Without that program, UConn could possibly fade from public limelight.
I want our football program to succeed, but I also know that right now, we're a long long long way from being a household name in college football.
