Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 425970, member: 837"] This is what I've been saying for a long time. I've never quite understood why folks want RU and Uconn and others to wither and die. I like playing relatively "local" teams and forging some rivalry and history. I hate that UConn got donyell marshall but it stoked what eventually became a really good hoops series and back-and-forth battle between two giants in college hoops. You can hate schiano but RU becoming a legit program, while it hurts us short term, should be a good thing long-term b/c it's a meaningful regional rival. Yes, it hurts us in recruiting to a degree but you have to simply figure that out and find a way to beat them. And there are the examples of the after-effects of the move -- BC moved conferences and the only thing they have more of is money. They haven't killed it in recruiting by any means, it's still not a job coaches are lining up to get, they don't have any more fans or more interest than they did. They simply have more money and more travel. But I think the biggest point the powers that be seem to be missing is that while TV rights are really important, respect, interest and long-term stability comes from building a conference that makes sense and is marketable. Take the ACC -- it's hoops have been pretty brutal for a while but ask a talking head about the best conference in america and you'll at least get an ACC mention in the discussion. Why? B/c they have marketed themselves as this hoops heavyweight forever and sold the whole tobacco road narrative to the rest of the country. But now, a random program like UMD from the east coast signs up to play a bunch of midwest schools when it's only true identity is that of a strong basketball school in an 'elite' hoops conference is gone. What they become in the Big 10 is a complete mystery. They have to be looking at BC right now and thinking, "That won't be us, right?" [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?