As if it was wasn't already abundantly clear that the Connecticut Huskies want out of the Big East and would like to join the Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers in the ACC, Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy made sure to douse the bridge connecting them to the Big East in kerosene one more time yesterday.
Governor confirms UConn interested in moving to ACC if conference goes to 16 teams, says barring that "you fall back to the Big East."
The Big East is officially UConn's safety conference.
As Missouri, West Virginia and Oklahoma have shown us, just because you say you really, really want to join a conference, that doesn't mean they want you too. The leading rumor is that the only school the ACC covets is Notre Dame and if they were somehow able to get the Irish to move over, they'd then add UConn to solidify their NYC-area stranglehold. Others say UConn and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the more logical options, especially considering there is absolutely zero chance ND would ever go to the ACC.
As Syracuse fans, the question worth pondering is whether or not we even want our current/soon-to-be-former Big East mates joining us in the ACC. It might be a very easy question to answer, depending on who you are, but there are pros and cons to consider.
UConn/Rutgers Joining The ACC Pros...
- We maintain one of our best basketball rivalries (UConn) and, whether we like to admit it or not, one of our best football rivalries (Rutgers).
- The ACC North, assuming that's what happens, will contain a lot of former Big East buddies (SU, BC, Pitt, UConn, RU). Miami could somehow find its way in there as well. The gang would be back together (sorry, West Virginia).
- UConn, somehow, has a very good academic standing. Rutgers, too. I'm not sure how...
- UConn gets to play Maryland in football, which will make it awesome to watch Randy Edsall squirm.
- Makes the ACC that much stronger. The conference would basically own the entire Eastern seaboard. (What about Providence? To which I would say, what ABOUT Providence?).
UConn/Rutgers Joining The ACC Cons...
- If you owned a McDonald's franchise, the last thing you want to see is McDonald's open up two other franchises in the area. It's great for McDonald's because they get more coverage in town. It sucks for you because that siphons off some local customers who now go to the closer McDonald's for their Egg McMuffin instead of schlepping it across town to yours.
- Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers are the McDonald's franchises and NYC is the town. Syracuse has moved Heaven, Earth and every notable football game to the NYC Area in order to make sure everyone knows we are New York's College Team. If we're the only team in the ACC vying for NYC, there's a lot of value in that. Bring in Rutgers and UConn, who also lay claim to NYC, and all of a sudden we're back to fighting for our rightful spot.
- Recruiting. As the ACC gets stronger, the Big East gets (theoretically) weaker. So there's more value in being an ACC school. And when Syracuse goes into NY/NJ/Conn/PA high schools to recruit top talent, that means something. UConn and Rutgers negate that advantage if and when they jump over.
- Rutgers smells and UConn steals stuff a lot. I mean, A LOT.
So, what say you? Do you want to see UConn and Rutgers in the ACC too?