Scooch
Living Legend
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Your point is correct but their weren't any crown jewel programs available at that point. The lawsuit is one of those things when everything is close to even you use as a tiebreaker.
The lawsuit is something that is forgiven but again not forgotten. To be honest the reason why UConn is the position they are is strictly geography. If Connecticut and Rutgers were in the exact opposite location UConn is the Big Ten and Rutgers is the AAC.
The Big Ten would have wanted UConn's WBB and MBB while making its FB tomato cans for OSU/Michigan/PSU if the state got all those cable boxes from NYC/NJ for the BTN.
The ACC lawsuit is just why they had no allies within the ACC when time came to expand to 14 or replace Maryland.
Eh, just about everyone in leadership positions at ACC schools when the lawsuit happened were long gone by 2011 and 2013. And people forget that PITT was part of the lawsuit as well. That didn't seem to derail their candidacy.
The lawsuit became this big Internet message board talking point, but the reality is that by the time the ACC wanted to add schools again it really wasn't a factor. UConn didn't get an ACC bid because of football, plain and simple. Pitt had a history as a strong program and is located in fertile Western PA recruiting grounds. Louisville had prior success and a demonstrated financial commitment to building and maintaining a strong program.