'UCONN: The One That Got Away'

[Adios]

B1G hockey was a unanimous vote. Minnesota DID NOT WANT to create a B1G hockey league, and I guarantee their "true vote" was against.

Despite Minnesota's opposition, the B1G hockey league has the chance to be the 1st or 2nd best in the country.

 

[BCINGYA]

No link just Anderson's Tweet

From his twitter

Ryan Anderson @_AndersonBC12 Follow
Received full release from BC, restricted from New England area but I'm free to go anywhere else. Thank you @BostonCollege for everything!

10:47 AM - 9 Apr 2014

Thanks for sharing......rather sad and childish....must be a little more to this then meets the eye...would def like an explanation as to the N.E. off limits clause in his release. Never have I heard of that, just the clause prohibiting a transfer to fellow A.C.C. schools. Appreciate the info/heads up.

 

[upstater]

Huh ? I don't think we're on the same page .Where did I state on here that BC doesn't want Uconn, particularly its football program , in the ACC ? BC football factions at the school would not shed a tear if Uconn football shrivels up and dies. And conversely, If BC football shriveled up and died, Uconn would shed no tears either. Both football camps at both schools would probably like this as a matter of fact. Its just the nature of the beast. Both these things are a given it seems to me. I don't think either one of us is in " denial " of either one of these current football faction sentiments at both schools. You are aware that Uconn Hockey 's application for admittance to the Hockey East came up for a vote recently and BC voted " yes ", correct ? And that BC, crappy in Basketball, offered to schedule Uconn in Basketball for 2015 ( and against Calhoun's wishes ) and the school of Uconn accepted ? So while the acrimoney between both school's football factions is real and ongoing, I'm not sure the caricature that "BC wants Uconn to die multiple times "is a truly representative assessment of things of late between the 2 schools ... at least not beyond football anyway.

Caricature? You seriously want me to pull up those links to the article from your AD? They want the sports program at UConn to die.

 

[Yawkey Way]

.

But you guys will still be a parasite on the ACC's butt, the accidental unaborted baby.[/quote]
I don't even know what this phrase even means as " parasite " and " unaborted baby " conection don't make much sense. But I get the full brunt of your hate, and so that was your intention anyway, and so it came thru loud and clear on this part anyway.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Caricature? You seriously want me to pull up those links to the article from your AD? They want the sports program at UConn to die.

Yes, that would ok, as that nitwit AD didn't say this, ie " wants Uconn sports to die ".. only that he did not want Uconn in the ACC. But why are you bringing up the since retired BC's AD's words, when the also since retired Calhoun said he didn't want to ever see the Uconn school ever play BC again in anything, but the 2 schools got together anyway to schedule future basketball and hockey games, and then reports surfaced ( accurate or not ) that Calhoun would consider coaching at BC. Do you agree with the Calhoun's heat of the moment words that Uconn and BC should never schedule any games with one another ever again ? O do BOTH these former employees at their former schools words need to be now viewed as ancient history ? Just asking mind you.

 

[btstimpy]

Based on what was said, written, rumored, etc. when the ACC lost Maryland, the ‘vote’ with regards to UConn was as follows:

· For: 1) UVA, 2) UNC, 3) Duke, 4) Wake Forest, 5) NC State
· Against: 1) BC, 2) Clemson, 3) Florida St, 4) Miami
· Unknown: 1) Georgia Tech, 2) Virginia Tech
· Not Voting: 1) Maryland, 2) ND, 3) Syracuse, 4) Pittsburgh

BC clearly stated that did not want UConn under any situation same with Miami. Clemson and Florida St. did not have a specific negative view of UConn; but, they did not want another northern, basketball oriented school in general in the ACC and thus used the ‘threat’ of leaving for the XII to get their way. Syracuse, while not able to vote, expressed a negative viewpoint of UConn, primarily to protect their turf as the ‘NYC' school for the ACC. Thus, the Tobacco Road schools were faced with 4 solid no votes and lacked the 2/3 majority needed for an addition, even after Syracuse and Pittsburgh were added as Syracuse would also be a solid no vote. Also, there was the threat of losing the conference’s two best football brands. So, they caved and agreed to add the ‘hot’ program in Louisville. In addition, Louisville, to their credit, pushed and marketed themselves very well within ACC. UConn was caught flatfooted as they focused on recovering from the APR penalty and transitioning new leaders in both the Athletic Department and the schools main product, men’s basketball.

I don't think it was this cut and dried. I think that the AD and President of Louisville really worked hard convincing Florida State, UNC, Syracuse, and Clemson to sponsor them. Syracuse didn't vote, but was consulted. They made sure that everyone on that list was able to recite to each other the benefits of Louisville. They literally worked the committee and convinced the committee that the programs that Dr. Ramsey at Louisville has implemented there are improving the academics, and that Tom Jurich has implemented strong academic support programs for student athletes. This put Louisville in the lead given their athletic facilities improvements. Then there was support for adding 3 schools total (Louisville, UConn, and Cincinnati). But the committee talked itself out of that as biting off too much at once. With the exception of possibly Boston College, and I don't really know what they said this time, I think there was more of a Pro Louisville sentiment than an Anti UConn sentiment. And the sales blitz that Jurich and Ramsey put on the committee created this. Don't forget the Cincinnati President was sending a copy of his stadium expansion plans to every ACC president. Cincinnati was working the committee hard too. I honestly don't know what Herbst and Manuel were doing. I know UConn worked hard at promoting itself after Syracuse and Pitt joined, but I don't know what they did after Maryland left.

 

[upstater]

Yes, that would ok, as that nitwit AD didn't say this, ie " wants Uconn sports to die ".. only that he did not want Uconn in the ACC. But why are you bringing up the since retired BC's AD's words, when the also since retired Calhoun said he didn't want to ever see the Uconn school ever play BC again in anything, but the 2 schools got together anyway to schedule future basketball and hockey games, and then reports surfaced ( accurate or not ) that Calhoun would consider coaching at BC. Do you agree with the Calhoun's heat of the moment words that Uconn and BC should never schedule any games with one another ever again ? O do BOTH these former employees at their former schools words need to be now viewed as ancient history ? Just asking mind you.

It's not only the retired AD, it's Bob Ryan reporting in the BG years before that. Come on, the whole point of preventing UConn from joining the ACC is killing off UConn sports. How can you possibly deny that?

 

[kingdobbs]

Despite Minnesota's opposition, the B1G hockey league has the chance to be the 1st or 2nd best in the country.

And they left what was probably close to the consensus #1 league to do so.

The fact that all of a sudden there's two pretty small and top heavy Western hockey leagues, and a third which is big and bottom heavy, where there used to be two which were pretty evenly tiered all told, means that there's a good chance that in any given year, the B1G and NCHC may end up with a bunch of teams hovering around .500 because they spend all season beating the crap out of each other.

Case in point, this year. Michigan had just a weak enough record in B1G play that one conference tournament upset (Denver, finishing sixth in the NCHC) was enough to bounce them from making the finals.

 

[btstimpy]

Have you ever been on a committee? When someone blackballs you, by stating something is in their interests, you better have a good reason for crossing a colleague, because once you do, you have an enemy. This is why committees try to generate consensus.

This has been covered in the news media. The Presidents of Duke and North Carolina characterized BC's stance as totally ridiculous (according to journalists who published that fact). In each case, there was an alternative to UConn. Pitt. And then Louisville.

Timing is a variable ingredient with all of this. Few on the committee wanted Virginia Tech in 2002, but UNC's and Duke's cold feet on expansion enabled UVA to get Virginia Tech included. At that time UConn wasn't established in FBS football. If WVU had still been around after Maryland left, would they have been looked at? I would guess yet, but they had already gone to the Big XII. Louisville had worked very hard to get into the Big XII a year earlier than their invite. There is a good bit of timing and circumstance to this. I don't think that the Big Ten is much different. I think that the ACC politics is more documented and that the UConn fans already know the Big East politics. With so many former Big East schools some of it is destined to cross over into the ACC.

 

[Yawkey Way]

It's not only the retired AD, it's Bob Ryan reporting in the BG years before that. Come on, the whole point of preventing UConn from joining the ACC is killing off UConn sports. How can you possibly deny that?

Because I don't see Uconn as quite the victim here that you do. Nobody is( your words ) " killing off Uconn Sports ". Uconn just won 2 National Championships within 24 hours. I don't see Uconn has being " killed off " in their sports at all. If Uconn wins their league in football ( should be able to, given the quality of teams ), they will be ranked and get all the national exposure and props they covet here too, imo.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Timing is a variable ingredient with all of this. Few on the committee wanted Virginia Tech in 2002, but UNC's and Duke's cold feet on expansion enabled UVA to get Virginia Tech included. .

With all due respect, thats not quite accurate. Syracuse was to go into the ACC, but a combination of Virginia politics exercised at the highest level within Virginia during this timeframe, coupled with unexpected last minute pressure by Boeheim and basketball forces up at Syracuse making Syracuse momentarily paralyzed with indecision, allowed Virginia Tech to come into the ACC before what was expected to be Syracuse. It wasn't so much that " UNC and Duke got cold feet", it was more a case of the ACC having astute political influence exercised upon them by the goings on in the state of Virginia while Syracuse was split right down the middle between the football factions at their school ( wanting to go with Miami and BC to the ACC , as was the original plan) and the basketball factions at Syracuse wanting to stay in the BE at that time. Virginia Tech was all in on going to the ACC as they are predominently a football oriented school. Syracuse at the time got the " cold feet", and it took them years to acknowledge their mistake of indecisiveness back then that allowed Virginia Tech to step into that void and come into the ACC before Syracuse did.

 

[btstimpy]

With all due respect, thats not quite accurate. Syracuse was to go into the ACC, but a combination of Virginia politics exercised at the highest level within Virginia during this timeframe, coupled with unexpected last minute pressure by Boeheim and basketball forces up at Syracuse making Syracuse momentarily paralyzed with indecision, allowed Virginia Tech to come into the ACC before what was expected to be Syracuse. It wasn't so much that " UNC and Duke got cold feet", it was more a case of the ACC having astute political influence exercised upon them by the goings on in the state of Virginia while Syracuse was split right down the middle between the football factions at their school ( wanting to go with Miami and BC to the ACC , as was the original plan) and the basketball factions at Syracuse wanting to stay in the BE at that time. Virginia Tech was all in on going to the ACC as they are predominently a football oriented school. Syracuse at the time got the " cold feet", and it took them years to acknowledge their mistake of indecisiveness back then that allowed Virginia Tech to step into that void and come into the ACC before Syracuse did.

Here are a couple of linked articles that will allow you to get up to speed on what actually happened. The cold feet by Duke and UNC enabled UVA's vote to matter. UVA's President John Casteen had previously told the Committee that he would only vote yes if Virginia Tech was included. Casteen told everyone this long before the first Virginia Politician could ever spell the acronym ACC. Yes Former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia likes to take credit for a done deal that he stumbled upon in saying he pressured John Casteen. It's an accomplishment to change a Yes vote to a Yes vote I guess in politics.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/news/2003/06/09/acc_expansion_ap/

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...0_1_virginia-tech-james-barker-boston-college

Jim Boeheim was totally against joining the ACC in 2003. Jake Crouthamel at Syracuse was for it, and he discounted Boeheim by saying that Jim can act like an old lady sometimes. Syracuse and Boston College were the plan along with Miami. UNC and Duke basically screwed up the plan, and Virginia Tech benefited.

 

[buddy]

BC in your view is evil. I get that.

It is not a view. It is the truth.

 

[buddy]

I don't think it was this cut and dried. I think that the AD and President of Louisville really worked hard convincing Florida State, UNC, Syracuse, and Clemson to sponsor them. Syracuse didn't vote, but was consulted. They made sure that everyone on that list was able to recite to each other the benefits of Louisville. They literally worked the committee and convinced the committee that the programs that Dr. Ramsey at Louisville has implemented there are improving the academics, and that Tom Jurich has implemented strong academic support programs for student athletes. This put Louisville in the lead given their athletic facilities improvements. Then there was support for adding 3 schools total (Louisville, UConn, and Cincinnati). But the committee talked itself out of that as biting off too much at once. With the exception of possibly Boston College, and I don't really know what they said this time, I think there was more of a Pro Louisville sentiment than an Anti UConn sentiment. And the sales blitz that Jurich and Ramsey put on the committee created this. Don't forget the Cincinnati President was sending a copy of his stadium expansion plans to every ACC president. Cincinnati was working the committee hard too. I honestly don't know what Herbst and Manuel were doing. I know UConn worked hard at promoting itself after Syracuse and Pitt joined, but I don't know what they did after Maryland left.

Herbst and Manuel were monitoring the situation

 

[SAMCRO]

UVA's President John Casteen had previously told the Committee that he would only vote yes if Virginia Tech was included. Casteen told everyone this long before the first Virginia Politician could ever spell the acronym ACC.

Isn't that interesting..... a school President actually working to support another local school/potential rival. And then there's Father Leahy and of course Flipper who....
"seemingly confirmed what many had been reporting/presuming over the past month -- that BC blocked UConn from receiving an invite to the ACC.
"We didn't want them in,'' DeFilippo told the Globe. "It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.''

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I don't think it was this cut and dried. I think that the AD and President of Louisville really worked hard convincing Florida State, UNC, Syracuse, and Clemson to sponsor them. Syracuse didn't vote, but was consulted. They made sure that everyone on that list was able to recite to each other the benefits of Louisville. They literally worked the committee and convinced the committee that the programs that Dr. Ramsey at Louisville has implemented there are improving the academics, and that Tom Jurich has implemented strong academic support programs for student athletes. This put Louisville in the lead given their athletic facilities improvements. Then there was support for adding 3 schools total (Louisville, UConn, and Cincinnati). But the committee talked itself out of that as biting off too much at once. With the exception of possibly Boston College, and I don't really know what they said this time, I think there was more of a Pro Louisville sentiment than an Anti UConn sentiment. And the sales blitz that Jurich and Ramsey put on the committee created this. Don't forget the Cincinnati President was sending a copy of his stadium expansion plans to every ACC president. Cincinnati was working the committee hard too. I honestly don't know what Herbst and Manuel were doing. I know UConn worked hard at promoting itself after Syracuse and Pitt joined, but I don't know what they did after Maryland left.

We are basically saying the same thing and I know it is likely not this cut & dry; but, I was not on the inside, I can only gon on what has been in the press and publically rumored.

Louisville definitely did a better job selling itself to the ACC. No question. UConn clearly did not know that Maryland was leaving the ACC and was focused on getting it's house in order with a new AD in place and dealing with the APR debacle (in more ways than one).

As for the votes, UConn needed to get 8 of 11 votes (2/3) at the time to be accepted. BC and Miami openly said no while Clemson and Florida St said no because of the football issue. G Tech seemed to be indifferent. V Tech would likely have followed UVAs' vote considering the debt V Tech owes UVA. NC St also appears to have been indifferent; but, likely would follow UNC's lead. So even if G Tech voted in favor of UConn, UConn still did not have the votes (7). Now, if the 3 newcomers (ND, Pitt, and Syracuse) had supported UConn, UConn would had had 10 of 14 , which would have met the 2/3 qualification. But, Syracuse came out against UConn. Thus, UConn could not get to 10 even with ND and Pitt support, which I do not know if they did or not. With 5 guaranteed no votes, UConn was locked out. Tobacco Road saw this and to save face externally, votes with the majority to add Louisville.

In an ironic twist, reading some of the Syracuse fan board, they now seem to realize that they have made a mistake, especially as the team they believed was their top basketball rival, G-Town, seems to be sinking into obscurity, while St. John's has been missing for a long time now. Without their old 80's rivals, the Orange are waking up to the fact that their first priority has to be to make sure that Orange is NYC's basketball team. That is their brand and the value that they add. Louisville does noting for them in the Big Apple. The problem is that NYC loves winners and UConn has now won 4 (or 20%) NCAA men's titles in the last 20 years. Syracuse has won 1. Plus, in 1 year UConn has answered two huge questions with a resounding YES!- 1) who replaces Calhoun and can they be successful (all 'Cuse fans are wondering what happens after Boehiem retires, likely in the near future) and 2) can UConn still win on the national stage after being delegated to a non-P5 conference. Until Syracuse proves otherwise, UConn is NYC's college team and the only way to take that away from UConn is on the court.

 

[upstater]

Because I don't see Uconn as quite the victim here that you do. Nobody is( your words ) " killing off Uconn Sports ". Uconn just won 2 National Championships within 24 hours. I don't see Uconn has being " killed off " in their sports at all. If Uconn wins their league in football ( should be able to, given the quality of teams ), they will be ranked and get all the national exposure and props they covet here too, imo.

Keeping UConn out of the P5 kills UConn sports. You act like winning a national championship was somehow preordained. The difference between $2m and $25m is huge. UConn absolutely needs to get to a P5 conference. It's survival depends on it.

 

[btstimpy]

Isn't that interesting..... a school President actually working to support another local school/potential rival. And then there's Father Leahy and of course Flipper who....
"seemingly confirmed what many had been reporting/presuming over the past month -- that BC blocked UConn from receiving an invite to the ACC.
"We didn't want them in,'' DeFilippo told the Globe. "It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.''

John Casteen at UVA and Charles Steager at Virginia Tech were good friends. They worked together to promote the improvement of Public Education in the state. When this expansion opportunity came along, there was no talking John Casteen out of supporting Virginia Tech. And believe me, the UVA athletic department didn't want Virginia Tech. They were overruled.

I wish John Casteen had still been at UVA in 2011 and 2012 since I support adding UConn. He has ties to UConn. He may have been able to be a stronger sponsor for UConn. UVA's current President Teresa Sullivan does not. And during all of this she was fighting for her own job with the UVA Board of Visitors especially during 2012.

 

[kingdobbs]

Because I don't see Uconn as quite the victim here that you do. Nobody is( your words ) " killing off Uconn Sports ". Uconn just won 2 National Championships within 24 hours. I don't see Uconn has being " killed off " in their sports at all. If Uconn wins their league in football ( should be able to, given the quality of teams ), they will be ranked and get all the national exposure and props they covet here too, imo.

You're looking at how things stand right now. Right now, UConn is able to cobble together enough cash from a paltry TV contract, the last year of the auto-BCS, and the remainder of exit fees from all the exoduses allocated to remaining Big East members in the AAC to at least pretend they can match the bottom end of the P5 for available revenue.

That won't be the case in three or four years, unless one of the following things happen: (1) UConn gets invited to a P5 conference and gets a taste of their TV contracts, (2) UConn drops football entirely, (3) the TV bubble bursts again and *no one* is making $20M+ a year, or (4) the AAC manages to pull off a coup in their next series of negotiations and nab at least $10M a year in TV revenue.

UConn will not likely to be able to sustain success at the same level when they're on the short side of the revenue gap. This includes UConn's marquee sport of basketball; the playing field gets a lot different when teams would be able to throw the same amount of money at basketball *as an afterthought* from football tv revenue as UConn could leverage by doing everything in its power.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Here are a couple of linked articles that will allow you to get up to speed on what actually happened. The cold feet by Duke and UNC enabled UVA's vote to matter. UVA's President John Casteen had previously told the Committee that he would only vote yes if Virginia Tech was included. Casteen told everyone this long before the first Virginia Politician could ever spell the acronym ACC. Yes Former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia likes to take credit for a done deal that he stumbled upon in saying he pressured John Casteen. It's an accomplishment to change a Yes vote to a Yes vote I guess in politics.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/news/2003/06/09/acc_expansion_ap/

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...0_1_virginia-tech-james-barker-boston-college

Jim Boeheim was totally against joining the ACC in 2003. Jake Crouthamel at Syracuse was for it, and he discounted Boeheim by saying that Jim can act like an old lady sometimes. Syracuse and Boston College were the plan along with Miami. UNC and Duke basically screwed up the plan, and Virginia Tech benefited.

This was an in depth look at the detailed but slow sausage making within the state of Virgina, but then finally brings us up to speed and culminates in your final arrival in your last 2 sentences here with what my my central point made above. Essentially, we agree that Miami, BC, and Syracuse ( not Virginia Tech ) were the original plan to the ACC, with Miami the catalyst. Once Miami, unhappy for several years with the direction of the BE, decided to leave the BE for the ACC, just about everyone could see the handwriting on the wall for the BE. Football, as I'm sure you understand, drives the revenues in college sports, and without Miami in the BE, the BE in football would quickly unravel.... and thats precisely what ultimately happened.

 

[Yawkey Way]

UConn will not likely to be able to sustain success at the same level when they're on the short side of the revenue gap. .

It all depends how the AAC develops as a league. You are looking at this from where it is now in its infancy. I do not dismiss the challenges and obstacles to overcome for Uconn football. I think ND is the wild card now in all this. The ACC is keeping a spot open for ND to come in as a full member. Its probably not going to happen right away, but if ND came in as the 15th member, the ACC would immediately go to 16, and my guess that 16th team becomes Uconn. ND is already a quasi member in football in the ACC ( with half their schedule guaranteed to be ACC teams.) The telling point for me with ND was that they bypassed the Big in its new Hockey league to have their Hockey program ask to be invited to Hockey East. .. and were accepted. That signifies that ND continues to look East , not Midwest. Uconn's acceptance into the Hockey East gets little mention on this site from my observation, but it is not insignificant in Uconn 's final destination in the future. ( I don't see Uconn withdrawing from HE, to go to the Big, and I see no evidence of any serious effort of the BIG to move further East, as Rutgers ( as crappy as they are ) give the BIG the TV concentration in the Big Apple they wanted. Uconn will be in the ACC in a couple of years, imo once they get their football program in fast accelearation and win out in the AAC

 

[DarthGrumpy]

It all depends how the AAC develops as a league. You are looking at this from where it is now in its infancy. I do not dismiss the challenges and obstacles to overcome for Uconn football. I think ND is the wild card now in all this. The ACC is keeping a spot open for ND to come in as a full member. Its probably not going to happen right away, but if ND came in as the 15th member, the ACC would immediately go to 16, and my guess that 16th team becomes Uconn. ND is already a quasi member in football in the ACC ( with half their schedule guaranteed to be ACC teams.) The telling point for me with ND was that they bypassed the Big in its new Hockey league to have their Hockey program ask to be invited to Hockey East. .. and were accepted. That signifies that ND continues to look East , not Midwest. Uconn's acceptance into the Hockey East gets little mention on this site from my observation, but it is not insignificant in Uconn 's final destination in the future. ( I don't see Uconn withdrawing from HE, to go to the Big, and I see no evidence of any serious effort of the BIG to move further East, as Rutgers ( as crappy as they are ) give the BIG the TV concentration in the Big Apple they wanted. Uconn will be in the ACC in a couple of years, imo once they get their football program in fast accelearation and win out in the AAC

ND has always wanted to associate itself with the East Coast and not the Midwest. That said, ND will not join the ACC as a full member unless the emergence of a D1 football playoff boxes them out of getting into the championship came due to their independence. Then they will join the ACC full-time.

The only way I see ND joining the B1G at this juncture is if they are blocked from the playoffs and the ACC implodes instead of the XII as the addition of UVA, UNC, Georgia Tech and Florida St would be attractive and reduce the view that B1G is the Midwest. Less likely, is if the XII implodes first and the B1G gets Texas (and likely Oklahoma). ND wants access to the Texas market and that maybe enough of a treat to pull them in.

As for today, the ACC needs to be very careful. ND looks out for itself first and foremost. That did not work out well for the Big E.

 

[Stray_Dog]

[quote="as for today, the ACC needs to be very careful. ND looks out for itself first and foremost. That did not work out well for the Big E.[/quote]

Most understated comment yet....and one that I am sure will be echoed often. I suggest saying nothing. Believe me, the fans of the ACC think this relationship will be much different, especially as they see it they hold all the cards. The one difference this time - the Big East is gone...who else currently offers ND the markets they want? Well, no one, but whould realignment get hot again and many players move especially out of the ACC and choices will present themselves for ND. I get that ND looks out for itself..funny how a catholic institution will put a black canvas over a Cross so this backdrop wont bother Obama, funny how when it comes to catholic teaching they spout off, but in practice...well Jesus had Judas, we have Notre Dame!!!

 

[Yawkey Way]

As for today, the ACC needs to be very careful. ND looks out for itself first and foremost. That did not work out well for the Big E.

ND indeed does " look out for itself first" but as much as I'm no fan of ND, I recognize that all schools" look out for itself first", as this is the fiduciary responsibility that all school officials have as their calling, as its the schools that pay them for that duty to their employer.

 

[Yawkey Way]

[quote="as for today, the . Believe me, the fans of the ACC think this relationship will be much different, es!

I frankly don't sense this sentiment at all among the ACC fanbase that I encounter in my travels to ACC games to their locales, ie " ACC fans think that the ND relationship with them will be much different". than it was in the BE. Most ACC fans from ACC schools I meet don't expect ND to be much different at all, as a matter of fact. That said, I'm pleased that ND is a full member of the ACC in sports, ,and a quasi member in football. I put this acceptance of their ACC application for membership .. and their acceptance of the ACC invite by member schools.. into the realm of long suggested wisdom to : " keep your friends close, and your enemies closer ".