If the ACC were to add UConn then it might send the wrong message
that the ACC is content being known as a "basketball conference." Outside of Notre Dame and maybe a Big Ten school or two, I am not sure New England cares that much about college football. Also, the fact that UConn plays its home football games in East Hartford instead of Storrs (on campus) doesn't help UConn's case that it is trying to become another Louisville (assuming it wants to be good in football and basketball).
Another potential drawback is the capacity of Rentschler Field is only 40,642. Then there is the potential issue of the stadium being owned by state which could prevent the stadium from being expanded by 10-20K. UConn played both Syracuse (a supposed rival) and UVA at home this year. UConn had an attendance of 31,899 for the Syracuse game and 31,036 for the UVA game. The attendance for UConn's other 5 home games ended up being between 20-29K.
If the ACC did decide to add UConn now, then Wake and Duke would be the only ACC members with a smaller stadium. Right now I am not sure the ACC needs another Duke, Wake, or even BC to help drag down the perception of ACC football especially with all the momentum the conference has built these last couple years. Now if UConn starts selling out the stadium (or has at least 90%+ attendance) over a 5 year period and is talking about expanding the stadium to over 50K, then maybe the ACC should listen to UConn's sales pitch. It would just look bad if UConn was the only state school with a stadium capacity of under 50K.
Syracuse - 49,250
BC - 44,500
UConn - 40,642
Duke - 40,004
Wake - 31,500
FWIW GT and Louisville are the first schools with a stadium capacity over 50K. Both have a capacity of 55K.
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In response to this post by HOO86)
Posted: 12/18/2016 at 10:55PM