I agree that the pods would be for football only and that Rutgers would be a better choice than Connecticut. My only quibble is I would switch Pitt and Rutgers in your pods. ND is worth that much to Pitt and vice versa. Also, Syracuse would likely have to play their games against ND in Yankee Stadium and when Rutgers hosts ND it will be in the Meadowlands.

I think the football-only pods should look like this:

Pod 1: Northeast Division
Boston College
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Syracuse

Pod 2: Mid-Atlantic Division
Maryland
Rutgers
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Pod 3: Carolina Division
Duke
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Wake Forest

Pod 4: Southeast Division
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami

While most of the rest of the ACC would be required to play a nine game league schedule (depending on the mathematics of it all), I would only require ND to play a seven game league schedule - three against its permanent pod-mates and one full cycle through each of the other pods. So in year one, for the sake of illustration, their conference schedule might look like this:

BC, @ SU (NYC), Pitt, @ MIA, FSU, @ GT & CLEM.

That is a pretty attractive schedule.

Then they could do whatever they pleased with the other five games. I know that they have longstanding rivalries with Navy, Southern Cal, Michigan State, and Purdue and more modern rivalries with Michigan and Stanford. Some of those games would invariably fall by the wayside but that is a small price for the Irish to pay to not be locked into a longterm conference deal with a bunch of has been Catholic schools and a group of new faces from far off places.

Also, I would not be surprised to see the B1G react to this by trying to expand to destabilize the ACC.

(11-22-2011 11:58 AM)brista21 Wrote:  I'm not sure why everyone assumes UConn will be joining the Irish should they join the ACC. If UConn couldn't get the votes the first time because of BC what makes everyone think it'll happen the second time. It could just as easily be Rutgers or even Temple or some other darkhorse candidate.

The ACC may be less inclined to listen to DeFlip after his embarrassing anti-UConn rant, then subsequent apology.

With that said, it could indeed be Rutgers just as easily as UConn, but I like our chances.

(11-22-2011 02:15 PM)Murph1 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 11:58 AM)brista21 Wrote:  I'm not sure why everyone assumes UConn will be joining the Irish should they join the ACC. If UConn couldn't get the votes the first time because of BC what makes everyone think it'll happen the second time. It could just as easily be Rutgers or even Temple or some other darkhorse candidate.

The ACC may be less inclined to listen to DeFlip after his embarrassing anti-UConn rant, then subsequent apology.

With that said, it could indeed be Rutgers just as easily as UConn, but I like our chances.

Outside of basketball, what does UConn offer that trumps Rutgers?

(11-22-2011 02:22 PM)AtlanticLeague Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 02:15 PM)Murph1 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 11:58 AM)brista21 Wrote:  I'm not sure why everyone assumes UConn will be joining the Irish should they join the ACC. If UConn couldn't get the votes the first time because of BC what makes everyone think it'll happen the second time. It could just as easily be Rutgers or even Temple or some other darkhorse candidate.

The ACC may be less inclined to listen to DeFlip after his embarrassing anti-UConn rant, then subsequent apology.

With that said, it could indeed be Rutgers just as easily as UConn, but I like our chances.

Outside of basketball, what does UConn offer that trumps Rutgers?

I really don't care about the overall ACC discussion, but I will address some of the bad data that has been presented here.

Oh where do we start?

- Two blue blood basketball programs. UCONN men won 3 national titles and women's program won 7. Both are huge money makers for the school. UCONN women's basketball generate more revenue than half of the D1A football program.

- Academics. UCONN is ranked #58 on USWR and RU now #68. Our president wants up to be a top 10 public university in the country. We are #19 right now. Acceptance rate at UCONN also has go down in the 40% range. It is harder to get accepted into UCONN than Pitt, SU and RU. UCONN is moving closer to UNC and UVA range. UCONN's ranking has been climbing slowly while RU is declining slowly. Schools are going in different directions.

- Way better overall athletic program. Since 2005, UCONN has won something like 45 BE championships to RU's 8 or something.

- UCONN does not just bring basketball. We have a growing football program with top facilities. A top ranked soccer team. Top ranked baseball team, field hockey team and many other national caliber Olympic sports. Baseball team was in CWS and top ranked soccer team is in the middle of NCAA tournament right now. UCONN has way better overall athletic program than RU, Pitt and SU.

- Since joining the BE and just 8 years, UCONN has tied for two BE championships. UCONN has a bowl record of 3-2 with a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. UCONN is 4-4 against Pitt and 6-2 against SU.

- State of CT actually care about UCONN with investments of $2.3B ongoing investment. State of CT just started a $1B medical research project with UCONN. RU, on the other hand, is in deep financial trouble. You want to talk about research? Well there is $1B medical research for you.

- A state flagship university that actually carries the entire state. UCONN can bring entire state of 3.6M people. Other programs might sit in a larger state, but most people in that state don't care about them.

- CT sits right between NYC and Boston. Fairfield County with 1M people is actually part of NYC TV market in addition to New Haven/Hartford TV market.

- ESPN is in our backyard. NBC Sports/Comcast just moved their HQ to CT as well with creation of over 1000 jobs.

- Way stronger overall Athletic program financially. UCONN's $65M per year annual budget put it in the top 4 in the ACC right now. RU's $55M is behind. UCONN is also way ahead of both Pitt and SU. UCONN has higher overall athletic budget than Vtech.

- There is a reason why SNY signed a deal with UCONN giving it most exposure across the tri-states. Why? Because we actually deliver eyeballs. SNY got some of the highest ratings due to UCONN being on TV. Some other programs might sit in a bigger state, but no one cares about them.

There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

OK, Rutgers, you're up.

2 Divisions w/crossover rivals:

ATLANTIC COASTAL
Notre Dame - Pittsburgh
Boston College - Syracuse
Rutgers - Maryland
Wake Forest - N.C. State
Duke - North Carolina
Miami (FL) - Florida State
Virginia Tech - Virginia
Georgia Tech - Clemson

(11-22-2011 11:20 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Syracuse (Not a traditional Opponent)

While we're not a "traditional opponent", we've played them a lot during the last decade. Plus we have future games scheduled with them.

You missed the tweet where he says the ACC doesn't want UConn.

"Too early to tell with whom. Don't think the ACC wants UConn. ACC and ND are a good academic and cultural fit."

I prefer Rutgers over UConn, and Penn State over Rutgers.


Rutgers brings another lacrosse team, to give the ACC 7 members. 6 of which are amazing. Rutgers sucks in lax, maybe in the best lacrosse conference in the world they can get better coaching/recruits.

At the end of last regular season, here were the lax rankings.

#1.)Syracuse
#2.)Virginia
#5.)Notre Dame
#7.)Duke
#8.)Maryland
#10)North Carolina

#46)Rutgers

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 02:22 PM)AtlanticLeague Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 02:15 PM)Murph1 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 11:58 AM)brista21 Wrote:  I'm not sure why everyone assumes UConn will be joining the Irish should they join the ACC. If UConn couldn't get the votes the first time because of BC what makes everyone think it'll happen the second time. It could just as easily be Rutgers or even Temple or some other darkhorse candidate.

The ACC may be less inclined to listen to DeFlip after his embarrassing anti-UConn rant, then subsequent apology.

With that said, it could indeed be Rutgers just as easily as UConn, but I like our chances.

Outside of basketball, what does UConn offer that trumps Rutgers?

I really don't care about the overall ACC discussion, but I will address some of the bad data that has been presented here.

Oh where do we start?

- Two blue blood basketball programs. UCONN men won 3 national titles and women's program won 7. Both are huge money makers for the school. UCONN women's basketball generate more revenue than half of the D1A football program.

- Academics. UCONN is ranked #58 on USWR and RU now #68. Our president wants up to be a top 10 public university in the country. We are #19 right now. Acceptance rate at UCONN also has go down in the 40% range. It is harder to get accepted into UCONN than Pitt, SU and RU. UCONN is moving closer to UNC and UVA range. UCONN's ranking has been climbing slowly while RU is declining slowly. Schools are going in different directions.

- Way better overall athletic program. Since 2005, UCONN has won something like 45 BE championships to RU's 8 or something.

- UCONN does not just bring basketball. We have a growing football program with top facilities. A top ranked soccer team. Top ranked baseball team, field hockey team and many other national caliber Olympic sports. Baseball team was in CWS and top ranked soccer team is in the middle of NCAA tournament right now. UCONN has way better overall athletic program than RU, Pitt and SU.

- Since joining the BE and just 8 years, UCONN has tied for two BE championships. UCONN has a bowl record of 3-2 with a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. UCONN is 4-4 against Pitt and 6-2 against SU.

- State of CT actually care about UCONN with investments of $2.3B ongoing investment. State of CT just started a $1B medical research project with UCONN. RU, on the other hand, is in deep financial trouble. You want to talk about research? Well there is $1B medical research for you.

- A state flagship university that actually carries the entire state. UCONN can bring entire state of 3.6M people. Other programs might sit in a larger state, but most people in that state don't care about them.

- CT sits right between NYC and Boston. Fairfield County with 1M people is actually part of NYC TV market in addition to New Haven/Hartford TV market.

- ESPN is in our backyard. NBC Sports/Comcast just moved their HQ to CT as well with creation of over 1000 jobs.

- Way stronger overall Athletic program financially. UCONN's $65M per year annual budget put it in the top 4 in the ACC right now. RU's $55M is behind. UCONN is also way ahead of both Pitt and SU. UCONN has higher overall athletic budget than Vtech.

- There is a reason why SNY signed a deal with UCONN giving it most exposure across the tri-states. Why? Because we actually deliver eyeballs. SNY got some of the highest ratings due to UCONN being on TV. Some other programs might sit in a bigger state, but no one cares about them.

There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

^ What he said.

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

You must have missed his tweet that said the ACC doesn't want UConn.

(11-22-2011 05:05 PM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

You must have missed his tweet that said the ACC doesn't want UConn.

You must missed all the insider comments about UCONN was ahead of Pitt in the selection if not for some backroom dealings.

Either way, I really don't care. We will be fine wherever we land. It still does not change the fact UCONN has a ton to offer and is just a better overall athletic programs than many programs out there including your own.

(11-22-2011 05:05 PM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

You must have missed his tweet that said the ACC doesn't want UConn.

You must have missed all of the sentence where he writes doesn't think the ACC wants UConn, so he doesn't know and neither does any of us.

(11-22-2011 05:21 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 05:05 PM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

You must have missed his tweet that said the ACC doesn't want UConn.

You must missed all the insider comments about UCONN was ahead of Pitt in the selection if not for some backroom dealings.

Either way, I really don't care. We will be fine wherever we land. It still does not change the fact UCONN has a ton to offer and is just a better overall athletic programs than many programs out there including your own.

Bull$hit. The only "proof" you ever provided was an opinion piece from a local writer in UCONN land. BC was only one of 11 other schools, and it is clear that the FB schools of the ACC did not want UCONN. Accept it and move on.

(11-22-2011 05:25 PM)miko33 Wrote:  Bull$hit. The only "proof" you ever provided was an opinion piece from a local writer in UCONN land. BC was only one of 11 other schools, and it is clear that the FB schools of the ACC did not want UCONN. Accept it and move on.

This^

Boston College is an ACC n00b. If the rest of the conference wanted UConn then they'd be in. Boston College doesn't have enough cache to swing the conference. They aren't good at either revenue generating sports right now.

(11-22-2011 05:25 PM)miko33 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 05:21 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 05:05 PM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(11-22-2011 03:06 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  There are more but I will leave it for now. Yeah, we don't offer much

You must have missed his tweet that said the ACC doesn't want UConn.

You must missed all the insider comments about UCONN was ahead of Pitt in the selection if not for some backroom dealings.

Either way, I really don't care. We will be fine wherever we land. It still does not change the fact UCONN has a ton to offer and is just a better overall athletic programs than many programs out there including your own.

Bull$hit. The only "proof" you ever provided was an opinion piece from a local writer in UCONN land. BC was only one of 11 other schools, and it is clear that the FB schools of the ACC did not want UCONN. Accept it and move on.

The Mark guy from Boston Globe who broke the BC Flipper/ESPN story is a liar?

Yeah.. Like I would believe your word or Orangejuicecrusher's words over his? You must have a pretty inflated view of yourself and your Pitt program.

Here are money quotes from the actual article from a nationally respected writer:

Quote:The first target was Syracuse, which had been on the original ACC expansion list eight years ago. The Orangemen, like BC, were disappointed when they didn’t make the final cut, passed over for Virginia Tech and Miami.

Under coach Jim Boeheim, Syracuse was clearly one of the elite basketball teams in the country and would boost the ACC’s stature in that sport.

The second target was Connecticut, which was part of the Northeast footprint the ACC wanted, and was coming off the daily double of a BCS bid in football and a championship in men’s basketball (the third for Jim Calhoun).

In addition, the women’s basketball program under Geno Auriemma had established itself as the most dominant in the sport over the past 15 years.

With growing instability in the Big East, both schools were bound to accept any offers.

While Syracuse presented no problem, UConn did - to BC, which was still fuming over what it perceived to be vitriolic comments made when BC was finally invited to join the ACC and started competing in 2005. UConn and Pittsburgh filed a lawsuit against BC, and Calhoun made comments about never playing BC again.

DeFilippo does not deny that BC opposed the inclusion of UConn.

Here is the link to the whole story which made national headlines on every media except on ESPN:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/ar...?page=full

If the story is untrue, why did BCU AD Flipper apologize to the ACC in the media? Mark Blaudschun is a well known sports writer. I would take his opinion over Internet trolls like yourself and Orangejuicecrusher any day of the week.

(11-22-2011 10:44 AM)ndlutz Wrote:  If they're all in then OK. If they want special provisions, no way.

I don't think there's any chance the ACC will take in any "Partial" members. Anybody that wants "in" has to come all-in or stay all-out.

UConn will not be invited to join the ACC.

(11-22-2011 06:14 PM)XLance Wrote:  UConn will not be invited to join the ACC.

If the SEC does manage to pach to ACC schools, who else would they take to get back to 14, much less 16?

(11-22-2011 06:14 PM)XLance Wrote:  UConn will not be invited to join the ACC.

Frankly, I don't care either way. If UCONN is in the BE, we will help build the BE into the best conference it can be. Bottom line is UCONN will be an asset to any conference it belongs to.

None of the fans have any saying in any of this crap anyway. I simply presented facts for the thread because it is part of the discussion. There are way too many people spinning false info for their own agenda.

Why in the world is there so much friction between BC and UConn? With the sheer amount of people crammed into New England, there should be more than enough talent to sustain both programs. What am I missing?