An Expansion Scenario That Actually Makes Sense

I’ve been relatively mum on the subject because I’ve been wanting to see this thing shake out a bit before I formulated my opinion, or plan if you will.  I’ve said before that my hope is that UConn ends up in the ACC when all is said and done, and that hasn’t changed.

Desmond Conner was way out in front on this thing

I have to credit my man Desmond Conner over at the Hartford Courant, who blogged on August 9th, 2009 that the Big East and ACC should merge and form a super-conference.  He went on to say if we didn’t like that, we should merge with the Big 10.  He was way out ahead of anyone else as far as I can tell; at least in the Northeast anyway.  He’s worked out all the scheduling and logistics already, so I won’t reiterate it all.

So, obviously I’m on team merge with the ACC.  From a map and footprint standpoint, it makes so much for sense for UConn, and most of our fellow Big East 8 members (football schools, I will refer to them as the 8).  As Desmond said, a merged Big East ACC would dominate the East Coast TV markets and form a ridiculous basketball league, and a legitimate power football conference.   Think of the basketball possibilities folks : Connecticut vs Duke and North Carolina, and rivalries with Syracuse and Pittsburgh would be maintained. 

From a football standpoint, look to our Rival to the north…Boston College.  We’d get to play the Eagles every year, and that my friends is good for business.  Rivalries fuel interest, and having a rival so close, would help recruiting.  We win our share of recruiting battles with Boston College, but still to this day, when we go head to head for a recruit, they win more battles than we do.  The gap is closing, but we’re not all the way there.  Play them every year, beat them, and watch how quickly that changes.  You want Connecticut kids to stay home, rather than go to BC?  Play them;  make the game huge.  Always schedule it for the last game of the year, and rotate that sucker between the Rent, the Heights and Gillette.   Or make it on Halloween every year, or something to that effect.  Give the game a moniker.  Kids growing up in Connecticut will pick a side in that rivalry, and more often than not, they’ll choose the Huskies.  Both Universities are missing the boat on this rivalry, which would surely increase revenues for both schools.

First things first, the 8 have to split from the basketball schools, immediately.    Sorry friends, but football is driving the bus on this thing, and we have to look out for our own interests.  We can still schedule  non-conference games with ‘Nova and Georgetown, don’t worry basketball traditionalists.  We can not trust that Providence is looking out for the best interests of the 8, maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, but it’s not a chance we should be willing to take.  This thing is at Defcon 3 right now, and schools need to start acting, and acting now, before Armageddon hits the East coast.  Sure, right now it’s just the Big 12 being torn apart, but don’t exhale too much…something wicked this way comes. 

Delany told Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe he was done with Big 12 schools

Jim Delany apparently told Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe that that the Big 10 is done with Big 12 schools, meaning if we take him at his word, Missouri did not make the cut for Big 10 expansion.  The Pac10 will be at 15 teams by Tuesday when Texas, Oklahoma, OK State and Texas Tech jump ship, the Big 10/SEC won’t be far behind.  SEC is already in talks with Texas A&M, who may ultimately end up in the Pac 10 anyway, but the point is the SEC is already exploring their options.  We already know the Big 10 is eyeing at least Rutgers from the Big East,  and that the ACC’s Maryland is now very much in play, and that the SEC is eyeing ACC teams, so we need to act now. 

Let’s get the 20 schools (the 8, plus the ACC) together now, to bang out an arrangement.   We don’t need a merged Big East/ACC to be 20 teams, we only need it to be 16.  Undoubtedly the Big 10 is going to pick one or two off, as will the SEC.   That’s okay.  Let’s all sit down and prearrange it.  “Okay Rutgers, we know you are hoping for a Big 10 invitation, will you agree to join the new Big Atlantic Conference (like that? We can work on it)?  Your contract will say that if the Big 10 offers you membership over the next 12 months, you are free to go.  Same for you Maryland, West Virginia, Georgia Tech or whoever.  If the SEC calls, you will be free to go, but in the meanwhile, everyone let’s agree on this.” 

I think it’s a great way for 20 schools to essentially cover their behinds.  Plus, and this is really the point, I wonder if the Rutgers, Va Techs and Marylands of the world would want to leave for another super-conference, once presented with their own.  Sweeten the pot now ACC, grab the 8, you could potentially sway a school or three you would lose over the next year to stay.  Any of the 20 should be thrilled with this solution, because it ensures long term stability, no matter how this thing shakes out.    If the Big Atlantic was plucked below 16 over the course of the next 12 months, which I don’t believe it would be, there are still viable non-BCS additions that can be made, and there’s always a possibility of striking back and taking someone like a Vanderbilt, if it became necessary.  If the 20 remain 20, then great, Desmond Conner’s plan is ready to go into effect.

Get the Big Atlantic Network crankin’ folks, Boston to Miami is covered.   The Super-conference era is upon us, in the immortal words of Dennis Hopper “Now boys, don’t get watchin’ the paint dry!”

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