I'm not here to talk about how amazing UConn is - if I were a B1G fan, I wouldn't want UConn either, especially after adding the likes of Maryland and Rutgers. But there were some kind of absurd comments in this thread that I had to address.
1. UNC, Virginia, Duke, etc. would be better options for the B1G ... but they don't seem interested in leaving the ACC. I can't for the life of me figure out why not, but UNC especially seems to be set on keeping the ACC alive (they are pretty much the center of power in that conference, so they might not want to relinquish that by leaving).
2. As for UConn's stadium, it was built with the idea in mind that it could easily be expanded. UConn could add about 10-15,000 seats in an offseason if need be. Not gonna defend the stadium being off-campus, though - it absolutely sucked to have to drive there as a student.
3. By itself, I don't think UConn is a huge addition for the B1G. But when you add UConn to Rutgers and Penn State, the conference has a pretty solid footprint in NYC. There seems to be a battle going on between the ACC and B1G for NYC, and out of all the schools left, UConn has by far the biggest presence in the Big Apple. (Heck, UConn has more of a presence in NYC than Rutgers and Syracuse.)
4. I had to laugh at the poster who criticized UConn for being in the middle of nowhere. Uh, aren't most big state schools? What would you call Nebraska? Penn State? Yeah, Storrs is surrounded by pretty much nothing, but it's an hour from Boston and 2 hours from NYC. We're not talking about University Park here.
5. I also had to laugh at the poster who said he'd rather have Syracuse than UConn. Last year, SNY showed a Syracuse men's basketball game on tape delay ... so it could air a UConn's women's basketball game live.
6. UConn also would give the B1G a little bit of penetration into the Boston market. I live a half hour from Boston and get every UConn football, men's basektball and women's bball game on TV. Admittedly, though, college sports aren't big here at all.
Again, I'm not some naive UConn fan who thinks they're this great prize to be won - if we do get into the B1G, it will probably be because better options were not attainable. I just wanted to clarify a few misconeptions out there.
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Sorry in advance for the essay.
I'm not here to talk about how amazing UConn is - if I were a B1G fan, I wouldn't want UConn either, especially after adding the likes of Maryland and Rutgers. But there were some kind of absurd comments in this thread that I had to address.
1. UNC, Virginia, Duke, etc. would be better options for the B1G ... but they don't seem interested in leaving the ACC. I can't for the life of me figure out why not, but UNC especially seems to be set on keeping the ACC alive (they are pretty much the center of power in that conference, so they might not want to relinquish that by leaving).
2. As for UConn's stadium, it was built with the idea in mind that it could easily be expanded. UConn could add about 10-15,000 seats in an offseason if need be. Not gonna defend the stadium being off-campus, though - it absolutely sucked to have to drive there as a student.
3. By itself, I don't think UConn is a huge addition for the B1G. But when you add UConn to Rutgers and Penn State, the conference has a pretty solid footprint in NYC. There seems to be a battle going on between the ACC and B1G for NYC, and out of all the schools left, UConn has by far the biggest presence in the Big Apple. (Heck, UConn has more of a presence in NYC than Rutgers and Syracuse.)
4. I had to laugh at the poster who criticized UConn for being in the middle of nowhere. Uh, aren't most big state schools? What would you call Nebraska? Penn State? Yeah, Storrs is surrounded by pretty much nothing, but it's an hour from Boston and 2 hours from NYC. We're not talking about University Park here.
5. I also had to laugh at the poster who said he'd rather have Syracuse than UConn. Last year, SNY showed a Syracuse men's basketball game on tape delay ... so it could air a UConn's women's basketball game live.
6. UConn also would give the B1G a little bit of penetration into the Boston market. I live a half hour from Boston and get every UConn football, men's basektball and women's bball game on TV. Admittedly, though, college sports aren't big here at all.
Again, I'm not some naive UConn fan who thinks they're this great prize to be won - if we do get into the B1G, it will probably be because better options were not attainable. I just wanted to clarify a few misconeptions out there.