(07-08-2019 07:14 AM)TerryD Wrote:  

(07-05-2019 09:02 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(07-05-2019 07:17 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-05-2019 07:04 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(07-05-2019 06:55 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  UConn was the favorite to replace Maryland not Louisville.

Link/source?

FWIW... If I had been the King of the ACC, I actually would’ve taken UConn over Louisville. I understand that the ex-BE contingent hated UConn and was blackballing the Huskies. But it still kind of surprises me that they went with UL.

Quote:ACC reportedly considering USF, UConn, Louisville, Cincinnati to replace Maryland after the Maryland Terrapins announced they would leave the ACC for the Big 10, the conference is reportedly in talks with four Big East schools. UConn is reportedly the favorite.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...eplacement

Thank you for the response.

The article you linked from sbnation actually cites the tweet from Jon Wilber as the source of the idea that UConn was in the driver’s seat. So I guess I’d honestly ask if anybody besides him was saying that.

Either way, I thought UConn was in a strong position and if not for the hostility from the ex-BE caucus I believe they would have been — and objectively, “should” have been — picked to replace the Terps. UL has created a lot of PR-headaches for the ACC. I wonder if privately any of the ACC leadership regrets that selection.

It was not the "ex-BE caucus" that doomed UConn's hopes o join the ACC.

FSU and Clemson were opposed to UConn's admission to the ACC.

They wanted a stronger football school, hence Louisville.


"The decision was based on "perceived football superiority," according to a UConn source. Academic issues surrounding the UConn men's basketball program — the program is banned from postseason play by the NCAA — was less of a reason, the source said.

An ACC source said that the conference's strong basketball schools (Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia) supported UConn. There was reportedly a fear that the conference's strong football schools (Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson) could seek another conference home if the ACC did not bolster its football side. This season, Georgia Tech (6-6) will play in the conference championship game. Seven of the 12 teams in the ACC were below .500 in football. UConn (5-6 overall, 2-4 in the Big East) did pull off the upset Saturday against Louisville (9-2, 4-2 in the Big East), but the programs are in different places — Rentschler Field holds 40,000, while Louisville's Papa John's Cardinal Stadium holds 55,000. The Huskies have not sold out a game this season, averaging 34,984 in five home games. Louisville averaged 49,991 this year."


https://www.courant.com/business/hc-xpm-...story.html

Yea, FSU and Clemson had lined up a move to (likely) the Big 12 and used it as leverage to pick their preferred candidate. Accepting Louisville was the price of keeping FSU/Clemson (plus whoever else, the B12 had the green light to go to 14 with the right schools) in-house and signing a GOR, so any regrets that anyone has would be more along the lines of "I wish the football schools hadn't done that" rather than "we never should have accepted Louisville".