(02-14-2014 10:26 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  Guys these conference movements all have major undertones with claiming geographic turf, brand collection and cable box accumulation.

BC is the long established brand in New England for high major sports. UConn is the upstart challenging that position. BC from what I have read prefers to stay the ACC's sole NE team.

Connecticut is actually a rich turf area where NY/Boston pro teams wage brand battle. This creates insecurities for UConn fans as they realize their state is a battle ground between pro sports teams in other states. In fact SW CT is basically a bedroom community for high income NY'ers. They (UConn) are the State Land Grant but still not on a scale as all the other P5 schools. UConn upgrading to Div 1A has cemented a college fan base that is CT first (it was already there in BB but it exploded in FB after they upgraded) but that is under attack again as the AAC has been relegated to mid-major status (rightly or wrongly). UConn's stadium is nice and has good amenities but it's main drawback is it is 25 miles from campus (but a few miles from the Capital). Tailgating is first rate (better than Cuse and BC who are handicapped by urban footprint). UConn seems like a no-brainer to me for ACC inclusion but for now the ACC is pressing on without them. UConn would flourish in the ACC.

UConn's biggest disadvantages: Not much of a FB brand, reputation for drunk T-shirt fans being jerks towards visitors, and the lawsuit which created ill will in the ACC.

BC looks happy having their next major conference competitor about 5 hours away. I know Cuse hates UMD leaving and I'm not so sure they would prefer Cincy over UConn if one spot was offered.

I agree with most of this except 2 things:

- BC is the long-established brand in NE for football and hockey.

- Every team has a few of those fans (especially from what we've seen the past few weeks in basketball), but they tend to not represent an entire fan-base.