1) Virginia was good enough to play on this stage. We lost a 50/50 game against Michigan State, else I think we would have had a great chance to beat UConn and make it to Dallas.
2) All week, I was thinking that the main thing separating UVA from these teams that made the Final Four was a legit go-to low post scorer. I'm talking about something better than rolled-ankle Anthony Gill. Frank the Tank Kaminski, Julius Randle, Patric Young. That concept is still true, but there's something to be said for the old cliché about guard play in the Tournament. Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, damn.
3) On the topic of Napier and Boatright... I'm [slightly] concerned that Tony Bennett isn't recruiting/landing guards with that kind of speed and athleticism. Brog is great, London Perrantes is great, but they are not anything like Shabazz Napier. Not many players are, I guess.
4) I think the ACC should just go ahead and bring in a 16th member -- UConn. They don't help in football, but they're by far the best "free agent" basketball school. Snap them up.
Go Huskies.
Totally agree about bringing UCONN in. Would be awesome for the school and conference
ReplyDeleteCurious how many existing ACC schools you would choose UConn over if they were both seeking entry. I'd take them over BC in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteBC for sure. Maybe Wake. Maryland, but they're outro anyway.
DeleteThat's about it. There's a reason UConn isn't in a P5 conference right now. I'm not trying to oversell them. I just think it'd be a good move for the ACC to lock up another college basketball blueblood while that school remains a "free agent."
But let's be honest, the B1G doesn't want/need the Huskies. Nor does the SEC, Big XII, or Pac-12. So we're good to wait as long as we want.
The difference is a 6.66% cut of the pie (with 15 schools) vs. a 6.25% cut of the pie (with 16). Does UConn bring enough value to the conference for each school to accept that 0.41% reduction in take? Currently, the answer to that question is probably no.
But with more basketball inventory for the upcoming ACC Network, I could see the value being there. So I guess we'll see.
(Note: The ACC had to move fast on Louisville, because I think they were a legit target of the Big XII. The same is probably true of Cincinnati.)
If you could somehow tie ND's full entry into football with UConn then I am aboard. What the league doesn't need however is another small football school that can't fill its small football stadium further undermining the credibility of the football league, That being said there really aren't a lot of legitimate schools out there if the assumption is that we will be unable to pull a school from one of the other P5 conferences.
DeleteForgot the last part... Not sure UConn's addition in hoops outweighs the negatives in the football department.
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