(12-11-2017 04:12 PM)megadrone Wrote: Talon Energy Stadium would be great for Villanova as an FCS program if their on-campus stadium has to get replaced.
If Villanova were to upgrade and play in the MAC, the same stadium would be serviceable. But pinning your hopes on the soccer team/stadium management to upgrade the stadium in 3 phases to 24K seats was not viable for an AQ/P conference and RU, WVU and Pitt were right to say no when Villanova presented the plan. The ACC would likewise say no.
Villanova would have needed to use Franklin Field and schedule around Penn games, which the Big East hated during Temple's first tenure in the conference.
You're giving Villanova too much credit for citing that venue as
the solution for FBS play in that infamous plan (when those guys were still members). From what I remember, some venue possibilities were listed, but there was a lot of "TBD" and a lot of expectation of financial assistance to sop up basically any risk or expenses Villanova didn't want to assume. And spreading out possibilities probably gave Villanova (or so they thought it would) the ability to maneuver their case for possible ACC consideration. If there wasn't a lot for Talon on that first go-around, but some for LFF or CBP, that may have been why, as those venues could handle better crowds. Citizens Bank Park seemed like it was the school's first choice early on, and that is probably more crazy than any of the options given all of the work that would have had to go into the venue to make it football-suitable.
The plan would become a little more comprehensive thereafter, and while Talon would emerge as the odds-on favorite (maybe because the ACC turned them down), there was still a lot unknown. One of those is the total possible capacity for Talon. The "proposed" 5-7K expansion I've understood to be a hodge-podge of "solutions," from a partial ring of added decks to a combination of decks and temporary seating. Talon won't ever be 35K range, but it could approach 30K. Considering nobody was really filling their stadiums in the Big East at that time except for maybe West Virginia, imo...the venue would have been fine. Optics and ego force this capacity issue, nothing more.
And optics is probably why Villanova or Temple playing in UPenn's field has been looked down upon so poorly. Not "scheduling challenges," but a major school playing sports in another school's venue. Come on, where does that happen at all at FBS? Conferences aren't exactly fond of teams playing in pro venues; gotta love the years when you'd see Eagles or Phillies stuff during Temple games at the Vet. The venues are completely serviceable. It's all ego that schools should have their own football stadiums, not much else. "We have one, so must you."
I don't disagree, though. There's enough Villanova did and didn't do to warrant the anger from others. I feel bad for their coach, who really did his best to get the program up to that level, having been the same guy who brought them back from no program at all, but, the right decision was made that go-around. I don't agree it was the right decision to pass when UConn upgraded, though. At the heart of all of this is a school that wants to be like Boston College. They had a shot at that.
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Greenberg: UConn Should Be in Big East
... No thanks.
