Why the ACC took Louisville

[Calamitous]

I assume you're serious. I have no idea why but I assume you are. You're "vindication" scenario is like trumpeting a replacement at second base because the new guy went two-for-four. Or calling a pitching change brilliant because the new pitcher's first pitch was a strike. What the hell is your/the ACC's time horizon on deciding on proposed new membership? We want the team that's likely be the best performer through the middle of next week. And what's your strategy? Find out who's most pissed off and let them pick the next member? I'm not saying Louisville won't turn out to be a good add. I like Louisville and wish then well. I'm saying that you're celebration of the Louisville add is more reminiscent of a 5-year-old wanting to be a fireman because the class visited the firehouse today than a deliberative response. I'm saying that that decision making process won't serve you well in the future. Perhaps you got lucky this time. Time will tell. But you've also gotten stung by Boston College and Miami, and likely Syracuse...maybe Pitt.

UL's membership in the ACC was a band aid on the open UMCP wound. Losing UMCP hurts the ACC in every way imaginable. A lot of ACC fans are in denial and say good riddance. I'm not one of those... losing UMCP stings badly. Adding UL as the replacement did not make me feel better. It feels like settling to me.

But congratulations to UL and their first ACC win over Miami. UL fans may want to temper that excitement though, as Miami historically tends to take large gambles in the 4th quarter when they are down. A great example was the long pass play that could have gotten Miami within 3 to 5 points of UL, but was negated for a dumb ineligible receiver penalty. Next thing you know, UL has a short field and pads on another 7 points to make it look like a blow-out. Don't get me wrong, I think UL deserved to win that game and was the better team, but I don't think FSU has anything to worry about. Everyone handles Miami these days, including Duke, Wake and UVa.

In all this excitement, UL may want to be careful going into the quiet confines of Scott Stadium. Many have a false sense of security when playing there. I wonder if UL can handle the silence

 

[NickyNewark]

UL's membership in the ACC was a band aid on the open UMCP wound. Losing UMCP hurts the ACC in every way imaginable. A lot of ACC fans are in denial and say good riddance. I'm not one of those... losing UMCP stings badly. Adding UL as the replacement did not make me feel better. It feels like settling to me.

But congratulations to UL and their first ACC win over Miami. UL fans may want to temper that excitement though, as Miami historically tends to take large gambles in the 4th quarter when they are down. A great example was the long pass play that could have gotten Miami within 3 to 5 points of UL, but was negated for a dumb ineligible receiver penalty. Next thing you know, UL has a short field and pads on another 7 points to make it look like a blow-out. Don't get me wrong, I think UL deserved to win that game and was the better team, but I don't think FSU has anything to worry about. Everyone handles Miami these days, including Duke, Wake and UVa.

In all this excitement, UL may want to be careful going into the quiet confines of Scott Stadium. Many have a false sense of security when playing there. I wonder if UL can handle the silence

The"Ville" got the VERY SAME lucky break in the last big RU/Ville game a few years ago when they stole victory from from the jaws of defeat at RU the yr they demolished Fla in the BCS bowl with TB and that was an RU home game. Funny thing though our fanbases are friendly and respectful though Jurich rubs us the wrong way!! WVU fans and RU are also friendly but that dont mean UConn would'nt have been the smarter long range add for CR purposes...I have a hunch SU/UM had a lot to say to kibosh the wiser move for selfish reasons though I can't prove it.

 

[Calamitous]

I have a hunch SU/UM had a lot to say to kibosh the wiser move for selfish reasons though I can't prove it.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

In my opinion UConn has been past over for ACC membership because the old boys in the Carolina's still have a distaste in their mouth over the ill conceived lawsuit against their league by former Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Yes, I know that other schools such as Pitts were also plaintiffs along with UConn but Blumenthal took the vocal lead on the lawsuit and the old boys of the ACC carry grudges.

Stupid ACC trolls are stupid.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Taking Louisville was a reflexive mistake by the ACC, essentially betting on Tom Jurich and Rick Pitino living forever. The school is a community college and the market sucks and is incredibly crowded. UConn should have never been outsold.

Losing out to Pitt and Syracuse was also ridiculous. Those are two good academic schools (equivalent to UConn) in dying markets. Will the Pittsburgh and Syracuse markets shrink by 10% or 20% over the next 10 years? Your guess is as good as mine, but it will be a big number. Connecticut has a much better demographics than either of those two markets, and is still growing, albeit slowly. Plus, we are as strong in NY as Syracuse, and Pitt has nothing and shares eastern PA with WVU, Ohio State and Penn State. We share NY/NE with BC and Syracuse. Neither Pitt nor Syracuse has done anything particularly interesting in football, and we have a much better basketball program than either of them. We should never have been outsold by Pitt and Syracuse.

When turnips like Rutgers and Maryland are getting into the Big 10, and Pitt and Syracuse are getting into the ACC, it is not about football. If it was, none of those schools would have been going anywhere. We got outsold.

 

[Kolumbo]

Taking Louisville was a reflexive mistake by the ACC, essentially betting on Tom Jurich and Rick Pitino living forever. The school is a community college and the market sucks and is incredibly crowded. UConn should have never been outsold.

Losing out to Pitt and Syracuse was also ridiculous. Those are two good academic schools (equivalent to UConn) in dying markets. Will the Pittsburgh and Syracuse markets shrink by 10% or 20% over the next 10 years? Your guess is as good as mine, but it will be a big number. Connecticut has a much better demographics than either of those two markets, and is still growing, albeit slowly. Plus, we are as strong in NY as Syracuse, and Pitt has nothing and shares eastern PA with WVU, Ohio State and Penn State. We share NY/NE with BC and Syracuse. Neither Pitt nor Syracuse has done anything particularly interesting in football, and we have a much better basketball program than either of them. We should never have been outsold by Pitt and Syracuse.

When turnips like Rutgers and Maryland are getting into the Big 10, and Pitt and Syracuse are getting into the ACC, it is not about football. If it was, none of those schools would have been going anywhere. We got outsold.

Have you been to Pittsburgh? The city of Pittsburgh has an awful lot going for it. Even Syracuse has more going for it than Hartford. Not saying those two schools were better choices than UCONN, but when it comes to city offerings, Hartford loses.

 

[specialisthusky]

Have you been to Pittsburgh? The city of Pittsburgh has an awful lot going for it. Even Syracuse has more going for it than Hartford. Not saying those two schools were better choices than UCONN, but when it comes to city offerings, Hartford loses.

Lol. No, Syracuse definitely does not have more going for it than Hartford.

 

[Kolumbo]

Lol. No, Syracuse definitely does not have more going for it than Hartford.

Let me know the next time you or anyone you know decides to go to Hartford just to hang around and enjoy the city.

 

[billybud]

You know...the selection of a program by a conference is sort of like a guy picking a girl to dance out of a wall of young ladies....

Sometimes the best dancer doesn't get asked, sometimes the "looker" doesn't get asked....or the girl with rich parents (markets).


What floats someone's boat is an individual thing.....and I suppose it is that way with a conference...

The B1G evidently likes the smart girls....the Big 12 is afraid to dance

 

[Dooley]

Let me know the next time you or anyone you know decides to go to Hartford just to hang around and enjoy the city.

Hartford is by no means NYC or Boston, but to say that Syracuse is a better town is crazy-talk. Syracuse is a 4-5 hour drive to the middle of nowhere. Other than Syracuse sports, what is there to do out there? You have to drive some 3 hours to get to Buffalo. 5+ hours to get to NYC. People only live out there because they either have an affiliation with the university or with Carrier.

 

[billybud]

LOL...you want to live in the middle of nowhere...try Tallahassee.

Syracuse sounds like a sister city....

 

[businesslawyer]

Let me know the next time you or anyone you know decides to go to Hartford just to hang around and enjoy the city.

There is no reason for this debate because it is not meaningful. Syracuse's market is greater Syracuse. UConn's market is not Hartford. It is the State of Connecticut.

 

[Kolumbo]

There is no reason for this debate because it is not meaningful. Syracuse's market is greater Syracuse. UConn's market is not Hartford. It is the State of Connecticut.

There is a direct pipeline from Syracuse to NYC. Again, I am saying Syracuse is a better choice then UCONN by any means. But do not underestimate Syracuse's ties to NYC and the rest of NY. SU is NYC's school. The billboards say so.

 

[businesslawyer]

There is a direct pipeline from Syracuse to NYC. Again, I am saying Syracuse is a better choice then UCONN by any means. But do no underestimate Syracuse's ties to NYC and the rest of NY.

There is a direct pipeline? WTF does that even mean? It doesn't mean that SNY showed more UConn games into Metro New York than Syracuse games when they were both in the Big East. But of course, that's a fact, as opposed to writing something meaningless like "there is a direct pipeline."

If I research your posts, am I going to find that you actually post things that a UConn fan would -- like about games -- or am I just going to find you being contrarian for no apparent reason?

 

[Kolumbo]

There is a direct pipeline? WTF does that even mean? It doesn't mean that SNY showed more UConn games into Metro New York than Syracuse games when they were both in the Big East. But of course, that's a fact, as opposed to writing something meaningless like "there is a direct pipeline."

If I research your posts, am I going to find that you actually post things that a UConn fan would -- like about games -- or am I just going to find you being contrarian for no apparent reason?

SU has a very large Jewish population. In other words, SU is not just about the greater Syracuse area. You just might find that many SU grads are either from NYC or work in NYC. More so than UCONN grads. Do you dispute that? That is what I mean by direct pipeline.

 

[uconnell]

Let me know the next time you or anyone you know decides to go to Hartford just to hang around and enjoy the city.

So you go to Syracuse just to hang around and enjoy the city? Who knew!

 

[businesslawyer]

"SU has a very large Jewish population." You're making it very difficult to take you seriously, but I'll give it one more chance.

Of course Syracuse has many graduates in Metro New York. So does UConn, largely because about a quarter of the state is part of Metro New York. I gave you a piece of objective evidence that UConn is more important to the New York market than Syracuse. There are others, like the Silver numerical determination of how the New York market follows various college football teams. In place of hard data, you threw out a meaningless ethnic generalization. Am I saying that Syracuse has no ties to the New York market? If I said that, quote it (but of course I didn't).

So is this an argument or are you just stirring the pot. Because if this is an argument, I expect something more concrete than pointing to pipelines or the "shocking" fact that a good school in the Northeast has a Jewish population.

 

[Kolumbo]

I'm not even sure what your point is business lawyer. But for anyone to suggest that Syracuse's market is the greater Syracuse area is absolutely ridiculous. No offense.
My original point was that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have more going for them than Hartford does. The cities themselves. There is no reason to go to Hartford other than to go to the XL Center, which still happens to be a dump.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I'm not even sure what your point is business lawyer.

Not surprising

 

[specialisthusky]

Let me know the next time you or anyone you know decides to go to Hartford just to hang around and enjoy the city.

I live downtown and enjoy it daily.

 

[Calamitous]

LOL...you want to live in the middle of nowhere...try Tallahassee.

Syracuse sounds like a sister city....

Those are metropolises compared to Storrs, Blacksburg, State College and Morgantown. The difference is that UConn, VT, PSU and WVU have the pulse of an entire state versus the small towns they reside in.

 

[Kolumbo]

Those are metropolises compared to Storrs, Blacksburg, State College and Morgantown. The difference is that UConn, VT, PSU and WVU have the pulse of an entire state versus the small towns they reside in.

I agree with that. Every school situation is different, of course, and Syracuse's situation is that it captures much of NY and beyond because it is a large private nonsectarian research university. Apples and Oranges, if you will.

 

[Dooley]

My original point was that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have more going for them than Hartford does. The cities themselves. There is no reason to go to Hartford other than to go to the XL Center, which still happens to be a dump.

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I'll give you Pittsburgh (been there and it's a pretty cool town), but what exactly does Syracuse have that Hartford doesn't? If the only reason to go Hartford is to go the XL Center, how is that different than the only reason why anyone would go to Syracuse is to go to the Carrierdome?

 

[Kolumbo]

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I'll give you Pittsburgh (been there and it's a pretty cool town), but what exactly does Syracuse have that Hartford doesn't? If the only reason to go Hartford is to go the XL Center, how is that different than the only reason why anyone would go to Syracuse is to go to the Carrierdome?

Pittsburgh is far superior, there is no question. Several Colleges and pro sports teams, the three rivers, just a great city.
Syracuse is a small, scenic city with lots of festivals and a unique character, in my opinion. Combine a small city with a large university anywhere and it's a great environment. Just my opinion.
Hartford has been struggling for a long time. UCONN is in Storrs. I don't think the folks at Trinity look forward to spending the evening hanging out in downtown Hartford unless they have a police escort.

 

[The Funster]

And last night Louisville put on quite a show to vindicate/justify FSU's demands. I wanted/want UConn in the ACC, but last night was a pretty strong affirmation for FSU's/ACC's choice.

I don't think any UConn fan would dispute this. What many of us bemoan is the timing. Had Pasqualoni not sucked for 3 years, or, had the selection come before Pasqualoni, UConn would have compared more favorably to Louisville than we had when L was selected. Also key criteria for selection has never favored UConn at the various times for intense CR movement.