Interesting report on Uconn that you seldom read from national media ....from Berry Tramel : a lifelong Oklahoman, who has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist for The Oklahoman since 1991.
points he makes:
* The ACC consistently has skipped over UConn, for reasons both valid (lethargic football) and invalid (politics; the Boston Globe reported that BC blocked Uconn ). But if given a redo, the ACC almost surely would prefer UConn to Syracuse or Boston College.
* When forming a conference, or adding to a conference, the goal is universal. Find a like-minded school. Find a peer institution .The Big 12 is made up primarily of state universities. I know that most of us don't consider or care about academics. But the decision-makers do. All the Big 12 presidents. For what it's worth, U.S. News & World Report's 2015 rankings of American universities has Texas 52nd, UConn 57th and BYU 66th.
* Connecticut is the most populous state in the union without its flagship school being in a Power-5 conference....The Huskies own the college market in Connecticut, which has about 3.6 million residents, which makes it slightly smaller than Oklahoma.
* The changing face of television.... UConn in the Big 12 would mean more digital sales than Houston or Memphis or Cincinnati could provide. and says:
* FOOTBALL UPSIDE IS OVERRATED
* GEOGRAPHY IS OVERRATED
Mentions travel not a big deal for high profile sports..but talks about dropping some of the Olympic sports and WVU's travels issue with them now that they are in the Big 12. I don't think it make senses unless they we're put in some other conference ( Title nine) ?
Full read: Why UConn should join BYU as Big 12's best expansion candidates
points he makes:
* The ACC consistently has skipped over UConn, for reasons both valid (lethargic football) and invalid (politics; the Boston Globe reported that BC blocked Uconn ). But if given a redo, the ACC almost surely would prefer UConn to Syracuse or Boston College.
* When forming a conference, or adding to a conference, the goal is universal. Find a like-minded school. Find a peer institution .The Big 12 is made up primarily of state universities. I know that most of us don't consider or care about academics. But the decision-makers do. All the Big 12 presidents. For what it's worth, U.S. News & World Report's 2015 rankings of American universities has Texas 52nd, UConn 57th and BYU 66th.
* Connecticut is the most populous state in the union without its flagship school being in a Power-5 conference....The Huskies own the college market in Connecticut, which has about 3.6 million residents, which makes it slightly smaller than Oklahoma.
* The changing face of television.... UConn in the Big 12 would mean more digital sales than Houston or Memphis or Cincinnati could provide. and says:
* FOOTBALL UPSIDE IS OVERRATED
* GEOGRAPHY IS OVERRATED
Mentions travel not a big deal for high profile sports..but talks about dropping some of the Olympic sports and WVU's travels issue with them now that they are in the Big 12. I don't think it make senses unless they we're put in some other conference ( Title nine) ?
Full read: Why UConn should join BYU as Big 12's best expansion candidates
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