New Michigan AD Is Advocate For UCONN

[IthacaMatt]

Basketball is a consideration as well .

Not financially. There are too many basketball games during the season to get good ratings for any of them. Over-saturation of the product. Football games make so much more money and get such higher ratings. That's what drives the bus when it comes to conference re-alignment. See? You DON'T get it.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Basketball played a role in SU getting into the ACC. You think it was solely football and TV?

It's about brand, in the end. Our brand was strong enough. But our football history was very important, IMO. We have been to around 20 or so bowl games, for several generations. We have tons of players in the Hall of Fame, NFL, etc. The UConn fans don't understand that that matters, too.

 

[Moontan]

It's about brand, in the end. Our brand was strong enough. But our football history was very important, IMO. We have been to around 20 or so bowl games, for several generations. We have tons of players in the Hall of Fame, NFL, etc. The UConn fans don't understand that that matters, too.

Nothing matters before Yukon's first hoops title. In football, everything before their move to D1-A is ancient history*.

* we're also expected to ignore their Pasqualoni years and the start of Diaco's reign.

 

[Btstimpy]

Precisely. But the real question is, why would UNC and UVA ever leave a conference that they, effectively, run in favor of being a step-child of somebody else's league? Money? I don't think the difference in revenue is enough to warrant throwing away your tradition. Maryland fans were not at all happy about the move to the B1G, and it had to be done in secret for them to get away with it in relation to their own fans! The ACC makes enough money and gets enough exposure for UNC and UVA to never ever ever consider moving to a league that is based in the midwest with a different time zone.

I can't think of any reason why UVA would want to do that. There would be perhaps some opportunity to make a little more money in the B1G than the ACC. But it would take 7 years to get full share. Maryland is having to wait for that. And it would be too expensive to change, paying exit fee, losing local rivalries, and joining a region that we have no history with.

 

[Btstimpy]

NYC does not care about the Big Ten or ACC.

NYC does not care about college football. Its Giants/Jets and the NFL during FB season.

During college hoops the city will give some attention to college hoops but its Knicks then St.John's/Syracuse/UConn in that order.

The Big Ten WILL NEVER CAPTURE NYC. Nor will the ACC. It is a losing proposition.

The ACC is playing its tournament at the Barclay's Center. They will have a NYC presence.

UConn does not tilt the balance one way or the other. The Big Ten did all the financial studies and found Rutgers to be more valuable.

The Big Ten could add UConn tomorrow and it wouldn't change NYC ONE IOTA. Not one bleeping iota.

The Northeast is not like the South/Midwest/Southwest/Northwest. It is pro sports dominate.

Agreed on most of this. I think NYC is fool's gold. It is not an area where casual fans follow college sports regularly. They'll watch the national championship in football and March Madness in basketball. But day to day it is professional sports that gets attention.

I do however have one reason that the ACC might have interest in UConn. It has to do with student recruiting. The ACC has a collection of private universities with high tuition, and it has state schools looking to supplement their finances with out of state tuition. The northeast is a wealthy region of the country that has high school kids looking to go to college that perhaps are most capable of paying these high private university tuitions and out of state tuitions. Connecticut is one of the wealthiest of the lot.

I could see ACC presidents seeing New England as attractive for student recruiting, and I could see UConn as a supplement to Boston College in gaining more visibility in that region. This has nothing to do with athletics, but remember it's university presidents involved in these decisions along with faculty.

Looking at population, North Carolina has about 10 million people. We have 4 ACC schools there along with 1 NFL, 1 NBA, and 1 NHL team. The combined populations of Massachusetts and Connecticut is about 10.5 million. We only have 1 ACC school there. It has 1 NFL, 1 NBS, 1 MLB, and 1 NHL team in Boston. I could see room for 1 more ACC school to service the 10 million area and create local rivalries.

I don't know if it is in the cards for the ACC, but I don't see UConn as a bad idea. Rutgers, on the other hand, bad idea. UConn would at least create interesting matchups.