"New England's Team?" How much weight does UConn carry in the region?

[BoatShow]

I've seen plenty of info-graph type maps that show a majority of New Englanders consider themselves fans of UConn.

 

[Fishy]

Love the total disregard and minimization of BC and UMass. I too think it will have to be a team effort to bring New England in the fold, question I still have is how is UConn doing right now, especially without the Big East cache in the northeast anymore. Different interest level when opponent is St Johns or Syracuse vs Houston or Southern Miss.

It's not a disregard - it's just how things are.

UMass is a non-starter - they're in the western hills of Massachusetts and there's just not enough there for them to get a serious toe-hold in Massachusetts let alone New England. It's not their fault and there's nothing they can do about it. Boston College is a small, private school outside of Boston. If you're a fan of Boston College, it's because you went to Boston College. Not their fault and nothing they can do about it.

Unless you think URI, UNH, Vermont or Maine at Orono can capture the hearts and minds, you basically have one national program in the region.

 

[uconndogs]

Boston College could have looked a lot like Stanford. They had the chance to get on the map with Flutie and some pretty good hoops in the 80s. They manage to constantly step on their Johnson and so now they are what they are. In some feeble and small minded place they do have the fact that UCONN is not yet in a P5 conference, so they do have that to fall back on. Winning sure as hell doesn't seem all that important to them.

They're too small minded and too duck*ing stupid to realize that UCONN in the ACC actually helps them. But, that's another story entirely.

So, to my way of thinking......it is their fault a little bit.

 

[BigRonBuckeye]

I've seen plenty of info-graph type maps that show a majority of New Englanders consider themselves fans of UConn.

Can you post one of those maps... I've never seen one.

 

[JayRU09]

Some stuff

NIT finals against Michigan. We took over the Garden. Just because we don't go when we suck (which, be honest, if UCONN sucked CT fans wouldn't be making the trek either), doesn't mean we don't travel to the Garden when we have good reason to.

 

[UMass]

It's not a disregard - it's just how things are.

UMass is a non-starter - they're in the western hills of Massachusetts and there's just not enough there for them to get a serious toe-hold in Massachusetts let alone New England. It's not their fault and there's nothing they can do about it. Boston College is a small, private school outside of Boston. If you're a fan of Boston College, it's because you went to Boston College. Not their fault and nothing they can do about it.

Unless you think URI, UNH, Vermont or Maine at Orono can capture the hearts and minds, you basically have one national program in the region.

We've got the Lenox and Montague markets locked up!!

 

[BigRonBuckeye]

I thought Delany was on record saying the same thing about the B1G and how the B1G would go to DIII if athletes were ever regarded as employees.

I also read Delany saying that doing some commentary after O'Bannon dropped. I think what drew that response was the O'Bannon lawsuit wanting 50% of TV revenue for athletes (almost exclusively Football and Basketball since they make all the revenue. )

 

[Fishy]

We've got the Lenox and Montague markets locked up!!

That is an excellent point.

I won't give you credit for Lee, though - they've been leaning towards Westfield State for generations.

 

[ZooCougar]

All the vitriol and hatred for BC aside.....here is my take.

As others have mentioned, college sports is just not as big of a deal in the Northeast as it is in the rest of the nation. But where some see a place that is essentially a wasteland for college sports (only really one successful program in the region being UConn M/W Basketball) I see an opportunity.

In New England, I really don't think most people see BC and UConn Football as "bigtime". BC gets some name programs in town, and they have produced some fine NFL QBs but they have never really been an "elite" program. It's also clear that getting into the ACC never gave them a big push in that direction, in fact they have basically regressed for a ton of different reasons and so has UConn for that matter.

So all you have is BC and UConn. Whether one or the other can deliver the whole region is debateable.

UConn has indisputably has the strongest Hoops program in the nation. It's completing a $40 Million basketball facility with private funding.. It's upgrading hockey and is Hockey East. Football is floundering but it can only improve from where it is now.

BC has the best Hockey in the nation. Tasted success in basketball, tasted greater success in football but has a small fanbase regardless.

What happens if the B1G decides to really shake things up and invites both UConn and BC? Their 6 team Hockey conference is instantly bolstered, to say the least. But what it really gets is the chance to integrate the last major market in the US that really doesn't care college sports at the moment.

The thing of it is, people in the northeast generally think that elite college football happens somewhere south and west of it in some flyover state or Florida, California or even Oregon. But if you could possibly bring an entire region into that fold by adding two schools then goodness, why wouldn't you explore that?

 

[Dooley]

NIT finals against Michigan. We took over the Garden. Just because we don't go when we suck (which, be honest, if UCONN sucked CT fans wouldn't be making the trek either), doesn't mean we don't travel to the Garden when we have good reason to.

Possibly. But then again, we wouldn't be this bad either.
http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/rutgers/2013/11/28/rac-attendance-hitting-historic-lows/

 

[noeynox]

@ZooCougar too bad BC can't see how having UConn on a level playing field would be beneficial to them. Rivalries matter in college sports. BC basketball has turned into Rutgers basketball, basically playing to crowds consisting of friends and family. Oh well. We will see how this all shakes out.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

For a dying business it seems more popular than ever, with room to flourish in NE if someone has the foresight to give us the chance.

Rather than waiting for someone to give us a chance, we need to seize the opportunity right before us.

 

[CAHUSKY]

NIT finals against Michigan. We took over the Garden. Just because we don't go when we suck (which, be honest, if UCONN sucked CT fans wouldn't be making the trek either), doesn't mean we don't travel to the Garden when we have good reason to.

You took it over and lost. Well done.

 

[JayRU09]

Point being?

Hell for all of your fuss over how your fans travel for basketball, they sure as heck don't for football, which last I checked was the sport 'driving the bus'.

Take over Yankee stadium and then let's talk.

 

[BigRonBuckeye]

All the vitriol and hatred for BC aside.....here is my take.

As others have mentioned, college sports is just not as big of a deal in the Northeast as it is in the rest of the nation. But where some see a place that is essentially a wasteland for college sports (only really one successful program in the region being UConn M/W Basketball) I see an opportunity.

In New England, I really don't think most people see BC and UConn Football as "bigtime". BC gets some name programs in town, and they have produced some fine NFL QBs but they have never really been an "elite" program. It's also clear that getting into the ACC never gave them a big push in that direction, in fact they have basically regressed for a ton of different reasons and so has UConn for that matter.

So all you have is BC and UConn. Whether one or the other can deliver the whole region is debateable.

UConn has indisputably has the strongest Hoops program in the nation. It's completing a $40 Million basketball facility with private funding.. It's upgrading hockey and is Hockey East. Football is floundering but it can only improve from where it is now.

BC has the best Hockey in the nation. Tasted success in basketball, tasted greater success in football but has a small fanbase regardless.

What happens if the B1G decides to really shake things up and invites both UConn and BC? Their 6 team Hockey conference is instantly bolstered, to say the least. But what it really gets is the chance to integrate the last major market in the US that really doesn't care college sports at the moment.

The thing of it is, people in the northeast generally think that elite college football happens somewhere south and west of it in some flyover state or Florida, California or even Oregon. But if you could possibly bring an entire region into that fold by adding two schools then goodness, why wouldn't you explore that?

1 BC doesn't fit the B1G profile.
2. If basketball prowess isn't factored in... No way hockey is involved in the decision process.

 

[noeynox]

NIT finals against Michigan. We took over the Garden. Just because we don't go when we suck (which, be honest, if UCONN sucked CT fans wouldn't be making the trek either), doesn't mean we don't travel to the Garden when we have good reason to.

Wow an NIT finals reference. I was just starting middle school the last time I was excited about an NIT Final. For the record UConn took over the garden then too.

 

[SellersElbow]

From when I lived in the Central Valley of VT and NH for a few years, I remember UConn B-ball being the only team besides the Pats/Bruins/Sox that got the majority of the bar engaged in a game. I can't recall ever seeing BC on the TV...unless Sportscenter was running a bloopers real.

 

[Dooley]

Point being?

Hell for all of your fuss over how your fans travel for basketball, they sure as heck don't for football, which last I checked was the sport 'driving the bus'.

Take over Yankee stadium and then let's talk.

Gentlemanly wager: if UCONN doesn't beat at least half of these attendance figures (I included your MetLife game too because I was feeling generous), then I will change my avatar pic to something Rutgers (you post the pic, I will replace Obama holding a UCONN jersey) for a week following our game against Army. If we do, then your name becomes JayUCONN09 for a week.

We haven't had a chance to take over Yankee Stadium yet because we have never played there. That ends this season when we play Army. UCONN will move 40K tickets. I am 100% confident that we will beat most of these attendance figures below.

Regular Season:
54,251 - Notre Dame @ Army (Yankee Stadium - 2010)
41,292 - Rutgers vs Army (MetLife Stadium "New Meadowlands Stadium" - 2010)
30,028 - Rutgers @ Army (Yankee Stadium - 2012)

Bowl games:
47,122 - Notre Dame vs Rutgers (Pinstripe Bowl Yankee Stadium - 2013)
39,098 - Syracuse vs WVU (Pinstripe Bowl Yankee Stadium - 2012)
38,328 - Rutgers vs Iowa State (Pinstripe Bowl Yankee Stadium - 2011)
38,274 - Syracuse vs Kansas State (Pinstripe Bowl Yankee Stadium - 2010)

 

[BoatShow]

Can you post one of those maps... I've never seen one.

http://espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=sportsnation&pollId=4267753

 

[ZooCougar]

1 BC doesn't fit the B1G profile.
2. If basketball prowess isn't factored in... No way hockey is involved in the decision process.

Well, you guys added Maryland and Rutgers. So there is no way football figured in the decision process.

 

[Dooley]

http://espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=sportsnation&pollId=4267753

I enjoy seeing that everyone outside of Kentucky hates Kentucky. SEC country rallied behind Florida.

 

[JayRU09]

You got yourself a deal. Let's make it you have to beat the average Yankee stadium attendance for those games, 41,183 and a half people.

Now the half could be a midget or a torso.

 

[ZooCougar]

I enjoy seeing that everyone outside of Kentucky hates Kentucky. SEC country rallied behind Florida.

I like the picture that was posted. I liked the graph that the link brought me to even more.

 

[ZooCougar]

Now the half could be a midget or a torso.

Or a Shalala.

 

[Dooley]

You got yourself a deal. Let's make it you have to beat the average Yankee stadium attendance for those games, 41,183 and a half people.

Now the half could be a midget or a torso.

I'll be sure to pack mini Dooley for the trip. I knew that little guy would come in handy one day.