In the past eight years, five universities have bolted the Big East for the green of the ACC. The smart money says the University of Connecticut is next, even if nemisis Boston College quietly tried to squash such a notion.
New UConn President Susan Herbst is off to a solid start. She's doing the meet-and-greets. She's making key personnel changes. She's championing UConn as a burgeoning research, health care and bioscience magnet. And she insists that academics and recruiting compliance will be a major focus of her top-flight athletic programs. Herbst even gave a six-figure donation to her new school.
Here is where Herbst needs to be very careful. UConn's 15th president has to make sure her words match her actions (and the truth) when it comes to UConn's commitment to the Big East.
UConn's Herbst Caught In Athletic Money Squeeze (Courant.com)
7 months ago
Brian Favat
59 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
Rutgers is the bteer choice
If the ACC is looking to the BE for another team, Rutgers is a much better choice than UConn. Better football. Better TV market, better stadium, and no whiny punks like UConn. Sure, they are not prefect, but could be a good fit – another Maryland, if you will
I think I'd rather have UConn
I think the football gap isn’t that big, and Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams are a huge boon.
I like Turtles!
Follow @RedTerrapin
Need football schools
The football gap may not be large between Rutgers and UConn (not sure I agree with that, but OK), but there are much more attractive football expansion options than either.
Editor, BC Interruption
Others
21. West Virginia Mountaineers $141.2 million
45. Central Florida Knights $53.8 million
49. South Florida Bulls $38.9 million
65. East Carolina Pirates $6.2 million
81. Temple Owls $0
83. Connecticut Huskies $0
93. Rutgers Scarlet Knights -$19
Editor, BC Interruption
I think if the ACC expands again
WVU and UCONN will be on top of the list, if no Penn State or Notre Dame is available. Also ECU will get a shot, but a slim one at best. Personally I think the conference is done expanding for the a while, going into wait and see mode with the rest of the country.
Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano
Agreed
Now that the Pac-16 is dead for a while, no conference is really in a rush to go out on a limb and try to make 16 work.
Editor, BC Interruption
ECU — no way….
WVU — no way either
UConn or Rutgers — maybe as to each as #16 if, adn really only if, a heavy-weight #15 arrives or the ACC needs a replacement #14 and Vandy ain’t interested
No ACC team will leave
Outside of FSU to the SEC. Raising the penalty fee made it so most can not leave without some sort of massive loan, and no one will take that.
As for UCONN & Rutgers, only one of them is technically viable now, but I don’t believe either will be in the next round of expansion. Both are going to be hurt playing in the current 6 team conference (WVU will own that league), and if the Big East expands into some sort of Massively Stupid Geographic Nightmare that doesn’t include ECU, UCF, Memphis, but does have Boise, AF, SMU, Houston, then I don’t believe any of those currently in the league will be worth anything.
WVU & ECU do not bring TV markets, but what they do bring are credible in conference rivals and television viewership. Not to mention actual Fans at actual games. Academics and tv markets they do not bring, Good, quality, meaningful matchups they do.
Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano
r u nutz!
it must be a Clemson perspective, but simply entertaining the notion of allowing ECU or WVU to join is repugnant.
No Calhoun slimy recruiting, no Evil Empire of women's basketball
No Connecticut in the ACC.
by vp19 on Oct 17, 2011 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, I guess between UCONN and Rutgers, Rutgers wins if only because they are the most popular team in NYC (according to NYTimes, with ND second), and that’s about it. Even if I take my BC bias out of it, both UCONN and Rutgers aren’t very appealing, but UCONN is caught in a tough place between two metro areas and with little football pedigree. Part of me thinks even Louisville might be a better pick up than Rutgers, if we’re talking BE teams.
by chicagofire1871 on Oct 16, 2011 5:46 PM EDT reply actions
Obviously academics would make this an impossibility (not to mention the fanbase...)
But from a purely football (or even an exclusively football/basketball) perspective, would prefer WVU as a +1 with ND.
by Eagle in Brighton on Oct 16, 2011 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions
West Virginia is a clear #1 from providing any sort of football value. Also adds a valuable rivalry to the conference in the Backyard Brawl.
In terms of football value, in the Big East it’s really West Virginia and everyone else.
Editor, BC Interruption
Where did I say West Virginia is getting an invite? All I said is that West Virginia is (by far) the most valuable football program that represents any sort of geographic fit.
I’m going to have to buy you a "Jump to Conclusions" mat, ww.
Editor, BC Interruption
Obviously ...
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 16, 2011 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
All I said is that West Virginia is (by far) the most valuable football program that represents any sort of geographic fit.
This.
by Eagle in Brighton on Oct 16, 2011 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Comparing the academics of current ACC members to expansion candidates is moot. All those schools are already in.
Editor, BC Interruption
I really think it's a moot point
The only way I see the ACC expanding any time soon is if it’s ND, and ND can pick #16 if they come. If they want UConn, BC can’t stop it. If they don’t want UConn, there’s nothing Herbst can do either.
Why would Notre Dame pick UConn?
The Irish have very publicly dropped UConn from the future non-conf schedule due to an unwillingness to play any games at the Rent.
Any Irish interest in UConn is fabricated by the Courant and Blauds. If Notre Dame calls the shots, I can see them inquiring about Rutgers due to TV market and (much) better on-campus facilities.
Editor, BC Interruption
ACC expansion decision tree
- If you want a football school, invite West Virginia.
- If you want a TV market, invite Rutgers.
- If you want a women’s basketball school, invite UConn.
- If you want academics, then throw a Flutie-esque Hail Mary and see if you can poach Vanderbilt.
- If you are dumb enough to give the Irish a home for their Olympic sports without also landing their football program, invite Villanova.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 16, 2011 8:44 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I wish Nova had a good FBS football team
Then they’d be a nice addition to the conference. But it is not to be.
I really hope that the ACC is smart enough to not accept the Irish unless they bring their football program into the league. The Big East made that mistake … it hasn’t helped ’em.
I’d take Nova over Georgetown any day. Gives the conference a presence in the Philly market, as opposed to overlapping the Maryland market.
But I’m a Terp, so I hate Georgetown anyway.
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
Maryland is relevant in the DC market like UConn is relevant in Boston (after Blauds gets bought out).
Editor, BC Interruption
Maryland grads live throughout the DC market (the market which includes nearly 2 million people in the nearby Maryland suburbs).
The Washington (com)Post covers the Terps at least as much as they cover G-town. The Terps campus is only about 4 miles from the DC border.
Why would you think Maryland is not relevant in the DC market?
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
Rephrased: Maryland football isn’t very relevant in the DC market. The Big Ten would have a hard time getting the BTN on regular cable in both DC and Baltimore if they expanded to Maryland.
BC and Maryland football share a lot of the same problems wrt relevance in their home market, cities dominated by pro sports.
It doesn’t help that BC and Maryland have arguably the worst game-day experiences in the conference.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 17, 2011 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions
fair 'nuff
Maryland football just isn’t very relevant, period. It should be … Maryland should be able to recruit well from PA and NJ. The Terps are perpetual underachievers on the gridiron. People definitely pay more attention overall when basketball season rolls around.
DC folks have a habit of supporting a winner and ignoring a loser (unless it’s the Redskins, which they always pay attention to). B-more fans are a bit less fickle but they eventually tune out too (witness the Orioles).
Overall UMD is definitely more of a basketball school than a football school, and the fact that they have to compete against the Redskins and Ravens makes it even tougher for the gridiron team. In some ways it would be better for the university if it was located much closer to Baltimore than to DC … but it is what it is.
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
Overall UMD is definitely more of a basketball school than a football school, and the fact that they have to compete against the Redskins and Ravens makes it even tougher for the gridiron team. In some ways it would be better for the university if it was located much closer to Baltimore than to DC … but it is what it is.
Agreed. Maryland is a basketball first school. Also agree that if UMD was closer to Baltimore, the school may be more embraced by the rest of the state and casual fans more.
Editor, BC Interruption
See -- BC and Maryland do have something in common...
…both are served by a Green Line. (And both have one-seat trips to their local major-league ballpark.)
shrug
It’s about a 1.5 mile uphill hike from the metro station to Byrd Stadium. Most folks headed to the game go to the vast parking lots (or garages) on the campus. The rail line won’t be convenient to most folks within Maryland going to a game anyway.
If the Terps win, folks will show up. Otherwise they’ll just pay attention to the pro team (whichever one they support).
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
I’ve been to Byrd. No offense, but probably the worst football game day experience I’ve experienced in the ACC (I’ve been to about 3/4 of the conference’s football stadiums).
We parked near the Comcast Center and it felt like a 1.5 mile hike from our car to the stadium. When you get to the stadium, they seat visiting fans in the triple upper deck with a nice view of the U.S. Capitol. Of course, it didn’t help that Maryland upset an 8-1 BC team, but still, one of my least favorite ACC trips, sad to say.
Editor, BC Interruption
Actually, that's not the Capitol...
…it’s the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Michigan Avenue in Northeast DC, near Catholic University. The U.S. Capitol is further down, near the Washington Monument (you can see neither from the upper deck at Byrd).
October 14, 2011 - Monumental Day in the Development of a Twitter Novice...
By the way, not sure if anyone noticed, but Blauds recently deviated from his “We” based Twitter prefix…
The power of the #Blaudstweets hashtag perhaps? Public ridicule is a powerful force…
by Eagle in Brighton on Oct 16, 2011 9:50 PM EDT reply actions
Blauds
For real though, the amount of mud he throws against the wall (regarding conference expansion) in hopes that it sticks is on par with Bleacher Report content.
by Eagle in Brighton on Oct 16, 2011 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think Bleacher Report is higher quality imo. With how well the Globe is doing, I could see Globe’s Sports content getting outsourced to BR.
Editor, BC Interruption
“How is Mountain Conference USA going to thrive without Boise State, UCF, SMU or Houston?”
I think you mean the Mount USA Conference, Blauds. #letsmountamerica
Editor, BC Interruption
We think it will live on so long as we have a home at The Globe of Boston #BlaudsTweets
by DCash on Oct 16, 2011 10:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on BC Interruption
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
