tute79 wrote:
To illustrate my point, HOW MANY National chmpionships has UConn won in men's and women's basketball ?
OODLES !
And how much attnetion has that earned them from the Big Ten / ACC when considering expansion ?
Agree with this thought as a surface point with distinct parameters. As to the B1G haven not taken UConn so far, they use the AAU as part of their driven cause, and adding Maryland and Rutgers was much about a market decision with perhaps more to come.
In my opinion, it is the ACC that, comparatively, could have made more plausible and strategic choices with expansion. The ACC purports to value basketball so much, but they pass on UConn? And while UConn football lacks lofty distinction, they have played in a BCS game before and have won some minor bowl games in their relatively short history on their current level.
Pitt has not been a consistent football power since what, the late 70s? Syracuse has very dated history as a football power. BC has been up and down since the Flutie days, and have not turned out to be, so far, the New England goldmine that the ACC had expected.
And it is the ACC that took Notre Dame without complete conference football.
The ACC had said 'no' repeatedly to West Virginia who had strong football credentials. And WVU basketball had been doing very well during the last round of expansion.
The ACC cost themselves Maryland, and added Louisville as a replacement. Granted, Louisville has been on a roll in basketball and football. But the ACC also tossed their 'academic elitism' argument on this selection, and certainly deviated from the 'east coast' mantra they traditionally claimed. The same geographic factor applies as to Notre Dame though Notre Dame sees the east as a prime part of their implied national domain. Now of course, Notre Dame seeks more from the south.
UConn had strained relations with the ACC stemming from the first ACC raid on the BE around 2003. Recall UConn spent money on facilities and staff to upgrade for BE fb, only to see the BE start to crumble. Then the lawsuits. Add to this, BC was no friend to UConn in any of this and fought to keep UConn from better options such as serious ACC consideration. BC wants the New England turf as all theirs for big time fb and related. The problem with this notion is that BC is not delivering on it, and there is the fear UConn could do the better job with it.
SEC expansion was smart methodology and it has showed. B1G expansion met their objectives to date, but the Maryland acquisition has been a messy process and what the B1G shall ultimate gain from them and Rutgers is unclear. PAC12 expansion with Utah and Colorado remains a work in progress in hopes of showing great results. The Big 12 is stuck in 'more with less' and 'see what happens' mode.
Dealing with much less revenue and resources, and having generally more modest and lower profile schools (left-outs) to choose from, I perceive conferences such as the AAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA, with a few exceptions, have approached expansion, replacements, and re-aligning, with better skill applications, compared to the very petty, controversial, and flawed strategic approaches the ACC has displayed.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
