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Kevin Clark at the Wall Street Journal asks a good question today...why are Syracuse, Rutgers, Army and Notre Dame so busy trying to stake claim to New York City when it's one of the worst markets in the nation for college football?
There's Rutgers: "We're not just claiming that. We are New York City's team," coach Greg Schiano said.
Syracuse: "Not a day goes by where I think we aren't New York City's college football team or we have to grab the market, it's ours," coach Doug Marrone said, noting the amount of alumni and history in the region.
Regardless of its interest in college football, NYC is still NYC. It's talent-rich with solid recruits. Oh and in a shocking twist...there's a lot of money in it. Rutgers gets almost double to play in the New Meadowlands than it does to play a regular home game. Army will also double its gate.
DOC Gross talks about his plan to own the New Meadowlands. Specifically, he wants to re-start a version of the Kickoff Classic, except this time one of the opponents is always Syracuse.
But Dr. Gross, the Syracuse AD, said his plan is to have a new version of the Kickoff Classic, which was a staple of Giants Stadium until 2002. Syracuse's Meadowlands games all occur in early September.
Dr. Gross's ideal plan would be to play 10 games in the New York region over the next 20 years. The Penn State series is his ideal model, with one game at Penn State, one game in Syracuse and one in the Meadowlands.
Gross admits that all the planning and posturing in the world doesn't matter unless you win football games. At the end of the day, that's the only thing NYC notices. A winner in their midst. For SU, Rutgers, Army and Notre Dame, the race is two-fold. Put yourself in a position to win the NYC market and then win every single game you possibly can.