(02-26-2013 08:52 AM)RUScarlets Wrote: (02-26-2013 08:40 AM)gocards#1 Wrote: So what? WVU is an eastern team. Getting exposure in Texas does nothing. They may as well be getting exposure on Pluto. WVU's having a difficult time recruiting Florida because of this. How many high school kids in Florida want to play in Ames and Lubbock and Lawrence and Waco and Stillwater for four years? You're also failing to realize how poorly situated WVU is geographically. If the Big 12 doesn't get any eastern teams in the next few years WVU is completely screwed.
It is another BC type situation. BC used to be a nationally ranked program. They thought they could take their recruiting into the south while maintaining the best near home. We know what happened. Their program went into the crapper. It was simply unsustainable. There is no one the Big 12 can realistically add from the ACC that will help WVU. UL and UC together would have stabilized the conference. Then the ACC would have ended up with UConn and everyone would have been happy. Except USF... hehe.
I agree with your general point about BC, but let's not get carried away with the idea that their program has gone in the crapper just because they've had a couple of losing seasons.
The fact is that BC had 6 straight winning seasons and went to 6 straight bowls after joining the ACC. They were nationally ranked at the end of the season 4 times (2005-08) and played in 2 ACC championship games (2007-08).
The move to the ACC is one factor, but so were other factors like changing coaches.
Compare the last 8 years in the ACC with their last 8 years in the Big East when they also had 2 losing seasons and their winning seasons weren't as good as the winning seasons they've had in the ACC. They were ranked only twice in those 8 years and didn't have a single season as good as 2007 when they were ranked in the top ten. BC had 4 straight losing seasons at one point in the Big East.
The BC football program has clearly had more success in the ACC than it had in the Big East. But even if BC were as bad as you say since joining the ACC, how do you explain Miami? When they were on an island in the Big East, they were one of the top programs in the country, winning the national championship and playing in multiple BCS bowls. Now that they have moved their program into a conference in their own region, the program has clearly declined.
For your theory to be valid, it would have to work both ways.
IMO, the worst thing for BC since moving to the ACC has been losing Miami from its football schedule. Maintaining a rivalry with Miami was ostensibly one of the major reasons for BC to make the move. And the love was apparently reciprocated as Miami fought to get BC into the ACC with them. But BC and Miami have now played each other only 4 times in 8 years since BC joined the ACC. I guess that's better than nothing, but I don't think it's what they had in mind. Playing Florida State has been a far higher priority for Miami than playing BC. And I think that BC is more excited about having Syracuse back on their schedule than playing Miami.
The other loss for the BC program has been basketball prominence. They were a very successful program in the Big East, but they no longer go the NCAA tournament as often as they used to and are now experiencing their 4th losing season in the past 6 years.
As I said at the beginning, I agree with your overall premise. Outside of Boston, no one in the East cares about BC any more, They used to have a high profile in the NY/NJ area, but they no longer have a presence there.
The best thing that has happened to them has been the additions of Syracuse & Pitt to the conference. But they don't restore the NY presence. BC has an enormous number of alumni in & around NYC. The Rutgers game meant that they were playing football in NJ every other year. They were in the city & NJ for basketball at least once a year - either St. John's, Seton Hall, &/or Rutgers - for basketball and they were in the Garden for the tournament annually. Syracuse will do nothing to restore that presence. Many fewer alumni will drive the 250 miles to Syracuse than would go to the Meadowlands and there is no basketball nearby. Pitt is obviously a poor trade for Maryland in the Northeast as far as BC and its alumni are concerned.
BC has lost its traditional rivals and it has lost access to its alumni at its games except for the ones who live in Boston, which is probably a minority of them. In that sense the move to the ACC has been a disaster for them regardless of how well or poorly they do on the field and on the court.
/
State of affairs at WVU
