And, of course, UConn-Syracuse.
If you were unaware the Huskies and Orange had a gridiron rivalry worth preserving, UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni wants to set you straight. Pasqualoni says maintaining the school's rivalry with Syracuse should be a "big factor" in UConn's decision whether to leave the Big East Conference and join the Atlantic Coast Conference, The Associated Press reports.
Syracuse, along with Pittsburgh, announced over the weekend that it will bolt the Big East for the ACC.
The UConn-Syracuse rivalry is more heated on the basketball court, where both programs are national powers. But that rivalry is more a result of their mutual success and their existence as conference foes than any bitter, shared history. Perhaps the greatest hardwood battle between the two was a six-overtime game in the 2009 Big East Tournament, which makes this rivalry's fabled tradition a little more than two years old.
Plus, it doesn't even have a ubiquitous nickname, like the "Backyard Brawl." Maybe they could go with "Fidos vs. Fruit" or the "Pasqualoni Bowl" in honor of the man who has coached both programs?
Pasqualoni clearly was not talking about basketball, though. He referenced the addition of Texas Christian to the Big East, and TCU is a football school first, second and third.
UConn wants in to the ACC for the same reason everyone else does: As the first "super conference," the ACC could haul in boatloads of cash. The Huskies' interest in the ACC has more to do with green than Orange.
