ACC looking to add UConn as 16th member

[NKR1978]

Play along with me for a moment.

If you asked college BB fans around the country to name top 10 BB programs, how many would name UCONN?

How many would know Shabazz?

How many would know Kemba?

How many would know our current coach? previous coach?

How many could name 5 past/present UCONN players?

How many would know our women's BB coach?

Now, could Pitt do better? Rutgers? BC? Wake Forrest? NC State? Villanova? Wisc? TX? AZ? KS? UNC?

I think UCONN would do more like those at the end of the list than the beginning.

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately for most of those fans don't know you play football. To be fair, those same fans still think Greg Robinson is our coach but that is the percreption.

Kind of curious if this run is hurting your perception in that it cements the notion UConn is just a basketball school.

 

[rrlbees]

I was at the Elite 8 soccer game between UCONN and UCLA a few months ago. UCONN fans were louder than UCLA fans. I can show you the link on Youtube. I wore UCONN gear this weekend in Encinitas while shopping and running errands. I got stopped at least a dozen times by people who knew UCONN and Shabazz. Go on the boneyard and look who tweeted congrats to Ollie/UCONN/Shabazz. Some of the best BB players in history. NBA franchises. Celebrities. Talking heads. Everyone knows UCONN. Its like saying FL St isn't a national brand because they only have 3 NC and they are all in the last 25 years.

Oy. Did you fill Miami's arena? USF? Take over Gtowns arena? SU fans are everywhere. Even out west like LA. Have people heard of UConn? Sure. But you're not a national brand nor have a national following.

PS: talking heads and media tweets don't make a following. Fans do. No wonder UConn didn't get in the ACC, they don't know what it takes.

 

[Guinness]

Oy. Did you fill Miami's arena? USF? Take over Gtowns arena? SU fans are everywhere. Even out west like LA. Have people heard of UConn? Sure. But you're not a national brand nor have a national following.

PS: talking heads and media tweets don't make a following. Fans do. No wonder UConn didn't get in the ACC, they don't know what it takes.

To be fair neither Pitt nor BC do those things either. I can live with Pitt in the ACC bit UConn is a much better choice than BC ever was. I have to think at this point the ACC regrets BC.

 

[NKR1978]

To be fair neither Pitt nor BC do those things either. I can live with Pitt in the ACC bit UConn is a much better choice than BC ever was. I have to think at this point the ACC regrets BC.

Those Matt Ryan BC teams that got as high as #2 in the BCS justified them. BC fans are like ours. If they have a good product their fans will come.

 

[Guinness]

Those Matt Ryan BC teams that got as high as #2 in the BCS justified them. BC fans are like ours. If they have a good product their fans will come.

The problem is all of their sports have fallen off the map. I would also add that the over all fan base is not very big. They are virtually non-existent on the internet where as UConn fans are seemingly everywhere. I have never met a BC fan in person. I am starting to believe they don't really exist.

I know we are supposed to hate everything UConn but long term they were and still are a better choice that BC imo.

 

[OburgOrange]

I was at the Elite 8 soccer game between UCONN and UCLA a few months ago. UCONN fans were louder than UCLA fans.

I can show you the link on Youtube.

I wore UCONN gear this weekend in Encinitas while shopping and running errands. I got stopped at least a dozen times by people who knew UCONN and Shabazz.

Go on the boneyard and look who tweeted congrats to Ollie/UCONN/Shabazz. Some of the best BB players in history. NBA franchises. Celebrities. Talking heads.

Everyone knows UCONN.

Its like saying FL St isn't a national brand because they only have 3 NC and they are all in the last 25 years.

Did you sign any autographs?

 

[ssbriefcase]

BC over UConn in the ACC is hard to justify. I'd enjoy the ACC much more w UConn. I know...

 

[orange79]

I was at the Elite 8 soccer game between UCONN and UCLA a few months ago. UCONN fans were louder than UCLA fans.

I can show you the link on Youtube.

I wore UCONN gear this weekend in Encinitas while shopping and running errands. I got stopped at least a dozen times by people who knew UCONN and Shabazz.

Go on the boneyard and look who tweeted congrats to Ollie/UCONN/Shabazz. Some of the best BB players in history. NBA franchises. Celebrities. Talking heads.

Everyone knows UCONN.

Its like saying FL St isn't a national brand because they only have 3 NC and they are all in the last 25 years.

Elite 8 soccer game? You're embarrassing yourself. Even more than usual.

 

[OburgOrange]

Elite 8 soccer game? You're embarrassing yourself. Even more than usual.

Wait... There's a link on YouTube!
:rolling:

 

[Trueblue25]

You just named the same fans and gave it 3 different names. They do not have a national following and are not a brand. Dixon and Calhoun are 2 different animals.

More people live in NYC, Connecticut and New England than entire regions of the United States.

 

[Moontan]

BC over UConn in the ACC is hard to justify.

Why? At the time if the first ACC raid, Yukon was playing 1-AA football. Some would claim that they still are.

 

[orangefan13]

I t It won't happen but I honestly would like to grab nova gtown, Providence, St johns(for msg), maybe marquette(if they want in) while at it and split it into a north/south.

Heres what everyone is missing. Basketball didn't kill the big east, bad football did. The more competitive the conference the better. As fun as rivalries are I don't think we would have enjoyed playing duke a 3rd time. The only thing that could counter it would be the big 10 and big 12 or sec and big 12 combining. And that wouldn't work well as stjohns ,providence, gtown, and Marquette are basketball only.

north- syracuse, uconn, nova, pitt, Gtown, providence, st johns,ND, Marquette
South - unc, duke, ville, virginia, florida state, nc state, wake, georgia tech. virginia , clemson.

Thats what made the big east so good, jumping into somehting bigger take a stand.

 

[cuse522]

Play along with me for a moment.

If you asked college BB fans around the country to name top 10 BB programs, how many would name UCONN?

Good question - right now it's biased in your favor because you're in the Final Four. If you asked a couple of weeks ago, I would think that Florida, Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UNC, Syracuse and Louisville would all get more responses. Arizona might too. I'll say that a large percentage of CBB fans would name UConn in the top 15. How's that?

How many would know Shabazz?

How many would know Kemba?

The vast majority, which I don't think separates you from the others in the top 15 or so.

How many would know our current coach? previous coach?

Not as many would get Ollie as you think. I'd think most would get Calhoun. But not on the same level of Coach K, Izzo, Williams, Boeheim at this point.

How many could name 5 past/present UCONN players?

Outside former Big East fans, not as many as you think.

How many would know our women's BB coach?

How many would care that they knew your women's BB coach? How many have watched more than 5 minutes of any women's game in the past 5 years?

Now, could Pitt do better? Rutgers? BC? Wake Forrest? NC State? Villanova? Wisc? TX? AZ? KS? UNC?

I think UCONN would do more like those at the end of the list than the beginning.

I don't know what you're looking for here. Yeah, UConn has a better hoops program than several of those schools. However, football is what really drove all of this. So why don't you run through all of your questions and make them football versions and answer them.

Also, if your gripe is over being left out vs. Rutgers and BC, okay, you've got a gripe. But it was all about money, television and football. Also, when BC got in the ACC, things were very different. If your gripe is over Wake Forest and NC State, then your gripe is really with the way the Big East was run vs. the ACC. If the ACC collapsed instead, those would be the types of programs that might be in trouble finding a new home too.

Right now as a Syracuse fan I'd kick BC out and take UConn from a fan perspective. I have no love lost for UConn, but I enjoy hating UConn and playing you guys in basketball. However, if you tasked me with running the conference in the best interest of the ACC, I'd keep BC for the Boston television market.

Ironically, UConn probably would have been better off from a hoops perspective without football, because you might have managed to get into the Catholic version of the Big East since you wouldn't have had one foot out the door for greener pastures that may or may not ever come.

 

[orange79]

I t It won't happen but I honestly would like to grab nova and gtown and Providence, St johns(for msg), maybe marquette(if they want in) while at it and split it into a north/south.

Heres what everyone is missing. Basketball didn't kill the big east, bad football did. The more competitive the conference the better. The only thing that could counter it would be the big 10 and big 12 or sec and big 12 combining. And that wouldn't work well as stjohns ,providence, gtown, and Marquette are basketball only.

north- syracuse, uconn, nova, pitt, Gtown, providence, st johns,ND, Marquette
South - unc, duke, ville, virginia, florida state, nc state, wake, georgia tech.

I can't hate this enough. No more hybrids! ND is a special case - SJU, Providence, Gtown, and Marquette aren't special at all.

 

[cuse522]

I t It won't happen but I honestly would like to grab nova and gtown and Providence, St johns(for msg), maybe marquette(if they want in) while at it and split it into a north/south.

Heres what everyone is missing. Basketball didn't kill the big east, bad football did. The more competitive the conference the better. The only thing that could counter it would be the big 10 and big 12 or sec and big 12 combining. And that wouldn't work well as stjohns ,providence, gtown, and Marquette are basketball only.

north- syracuse, uconn, nova, pitt, Gtown, providence, st johns,ND, Marquette
South - unc, duke, ville, virginia, florida state, nc state, wake, georgia tech. virginia , clemson.

Part of what killed the Big East was having a hybrid league where some schools needed football concerns addressed and others didn't care about them. That's why this could never happen and never work. It'd basically be a bigger version of what the Big East was. Plus, it'd be bad for the football programs at 'Cuse, Pitt, ND and UConn to be grouped in with the basketball only portion of the conference.

What kind of voting rights will the basketball only schools get? How will FSU and Clemson feel about that? Because if they are the least bit unhappy, sayonara football powers and sayonara ACC.

I'd love to see a North/South split, and I think it's the smart way to go for branding, travel, fans, etc. That said, it should be more like this:

North
1. Syracuse
2. Pitt
3. Boston College
4. Virginia Tech
5. Virginia
6. Notre Dame
7. Louisville
8. TBD - ND Partner/UConn

South
1. Duke
2. UNC
3. Florida State
4. Clemson
5. Georgia Tech
6. Miami
7. NC State
8. Wake Forest

Ideally you'd do this with Notre Dame coming on full and giving them a partner of their choosing, or UConn. Of course, I can't imagine UVA liking being grouped into the North. Not sure how VT would feel about it. The other interesting alignment would be to swap UVa for Miami, which would literally make the North a hodge podge of Big East past and nearer past. Of course, how would Miami feel about that? They're probably more "Northern" than UVa.

At this point, though, what is a reasonable partner that ND would want that would make sense? I'm not sure there is one.

 

[creatorsgam]

Elite 8 soccer game? You're embarrassing yourself. Even more than usual.

Hey, easy on the soccer. You should have seen the orange in Chapel Hill for the men's soccer game this past fall (relatively speaking, as this is a non-revenue sport). We were also the louder fan base that evening, if only because we were the only fan base that had thrown a couple cold ones back before the game (although that is pure speculation, I'll generalize the behavior of the entire pro-Orange crowd based on my own pre-game activity).

 

[orangefan13]

Maybe give them a notredame like deal, enter the acc for basketball only or don't, only get to vote on basketball. I would guess every one of the old AAC and Big East schools would buy in without turning it down for money and basketball marketing alone.

Just having the philly, dc, and nyc areas back would be really solid, and you could have two tournaments one at msg and one in the south so everyone is happy.

 

[sdhusky]

The problem is all of their sports have fallen off the map. I would also add that the over all fan base is not very big. They are virtually non-existent on the internet where as UConn fans are seemingly everywhere. I have never met a BC fan in person. I am starting to believe they don't really exist.

I know we are supposed to hate everything UConn but long term they were and still are a better choice that BC imo.

BCU wanted to make more money.

I don't know if they hang banners every time they cash an ACC check, but they should.

They stopped trying after getting in.

Matt Ryan was recruited to the BE.

 

[cuse522]

Maybe give them a notredame like deal, enter the acc for basketball only or don't, I would guess every one of the old AAC and Big East schools would buy in without turning it down.

Just having the philly, dc, and nyc areas back would be really solid, and you could have two tournaments one at msg and one in the south so everyone is happy.

Again, that hybrid model is a big part of what killed the Big East. I don't think any Big East schools would take it. I think UConn and Cinci would.

Again, why would the ACC even want to do this? The only schools that would have a chance to even add legit TV money to basketball would be UConn, Villanova and Georgetown.

It would just create a monstrosity of a confusing hybrid conference, which would probably do more harm than good to the brand.

As far as I'm concerned the ACC should have three goals right now:

1. Get ND in for football. This is probably a pipe dream, or, at least, several years away.

2. Solidify yourself as a national brand and the dominant conference in the Northeast. IMO the best way to do this is MSG for the conference tourney.

3. Increase the value of your TV deals and create more TV content. 1 and 2 do this, as does adding a major media market with the 16th school. However, you can't give away the 16th slot until you know what's up with ND.

So what's all of that mean? It's not in the best interest of the conference to do anything right now that doesn't involve ND.

 

[orange79]

Hey, easy on the soccer. You should have seen the orange in Chapel Hill for the men's soccer game this past fall (relatively speaking, as this is a non-revenue sport). We were also the louder fan base that evening, if only because we were the only fan base that had thrown a couple cold ones back before the game (although that is pure speculation, I'll generalize the behavior of the entire pro-Orange crowd based on my own pre-game activity).

Not ragging on soccer. Just ragging on his use of college soccer to justify his argument that UConn has a 'national' following.

 

[NineOneSeven]

BCU wanted to make more money.

I don't know if they hang banners every time they cash an ACC check, but they should.

They stopped trying after getting in.

Matt Ryan was recruited to the BE.

Are you going to respond to cuse522's post above? Not even trying to be a , I'm truly curious for your rebuttal.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Again, that hybrid model is a big part of what killed the Big East. I don't think any Big East schools would take it. I think UConn and Cinci would.

Again, why would the ACC even want to do this? The only schools that would have a chance to even add legit TV money to basketball would be UConn, Villanova and Georgetown.

It would just create a monstrosity of a confusing hybrid conference, which would probably do more harm than good to the brand.

As far as I'm concerned the ACC should have three goals right now:

1. Get ND in for football. This is probably a pipe dream, or, at least, several years away.

2. Solidify yourself as a national brand and the dominant conference in the Northeast. IMO the best way to do this is MSG for the conference tourney.

3. Increase the value of your TV deals and create more TV content. 1 and 2 do this, as does adding a major media market with the 16th school. However, you can't give away the 16th slot until you know what's up with ND.

So what's all of that mean? It's not in the best interest of the conference to do anything right now that doesn't involve ND.

So the plan is to get a 16th member, hopefully ND for both football and bball? Ou seem well versed in this subject.

 

[Jeepers]

UConn is a large state school. That means a lot to the B10. 3.5 million people live in Connecticut. They may not add decent recruiting (a la Rutgers), but that's a lot of eyeballs. And I meet plenty of UConn fans.

All it really takes is another grab. If the B10 had their eyes on two schools, and could only land one, it's not a big deal to grab UConn to round it out. Plus, we don't really know what the end game is. Maybe one day the conferences will go up to 20. Could split it down the middle and the old timer B10 schools would be pretty happy.

I really think AAU and the B10's CIC means a lot to them. I heard that Rutgers was first approached at an AAU meeting.

Anyways, no hybrids, please. I still don't see ND joining full-time.

 

[cuse522]

So the plan is to get a 16th member, hopefully ND for both football and bball? Ou seem well versed in this subject.

I'm not sure what your point is. There's no point in adding the 16th before ND gets in or out fully, and I was responding to someone who was talking about forming some hybrid conference. My point was the ACC is not in a spot where that makes any sense.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I'm not sure what your point is. There's no point in adding the 16th before ND gets in or out fully, and I was responding to someone who was talking about forming some hybrid conference. My point was the ACC is not in a spot where that makes any sense.

Huh? My point is I asked you a question because I wanted an answer.