The 12-Pack Locks Down the East: The SBN Conference Re-Draft

The Twelve Pack is going to need to rename itself the 24 Pack (The Case, for short) in order to accomodate all the National Titles, academic laurels, and the money it is raking in.  After 7 of the last 10 picks looked further to the west, the 12-Pack stayed east and picked up another unrivaled pair of good athletic and academic programs located in large markets by adding the Virginia Cavaliers and the Boston College Eagles. 

In doing so, the 12-Pack added the highest revenue earner still available in UVA, got a firm grip in the mid-Atlantic and huge Washington DC and New England markets, and completed our noose around the coutry by adding our footprint in the northeast.  We got the numbers 25 (UVA) and 31 (BC) ranked schools per USN&WR, and racked up some fantastic non-rev sports programs to boot.  Hockey, soccer, and lacrosse are ours.

The honors of introducing UVA will be left to Patroclus tomorrow, so I will give a quick intro and welcome to our new conference mates from Boston College, and their oustanding site at BC Interruption.  If that place sounds familiar, that's because our Dear Commssioner Brian is a Manager at BCI, and he has been killing it in putting this conference together.  Lest anyone accuse him of homerism (Sorry Cal fans, that's not an Iliad reference) his conference mates have been pushing for BC for some time now.  With the Eagles, we get a very good school with good football and basketball programs, a great traditional rivalry with Notre Dame, and a hockey program that conference mate Wisconsin knows all about (those two have won 3 of the last 6 NCAA titles, with BC besting those Badgers in 2010).  We also get the spotlight of college sports in a huge TV market.  While there are something like 4,297 colleges and universities in and around Boston, no one is tuning in to watch Tufts or Wellesley.  That college market belongs to BC.  And now it is part of the 12-Pack.

As for a destination...How does a road trip to Boston sound to anyone?  The Freedom Trail.  Classic Fenway Park.  Lunch at Quincy Market or Faneuil Hall.  A jog through the Commons.  A trip out to the Cape.  Mountain biking in The Fells.  The Sam Adams Brewery.  Italian food in the North End or Seafood at Anthony's.  A night at The Pops.  MIT girls (don't laugh, I married one).  Oh, well, ok, then how about the BC girls themselves?   And the coolest bars you could ever want.   Hopefully, Brian will jump in here and list a few more of the thousands of things I'm leaving out.  Book my trip now. 

The first 8 rounds, plus our initial pick in Round 9 are below (table from BCInterruption)

Comissioners and Conference names: BCI: Twelve Pack;  BHGP: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; TSK: The Empire (working title); BECB: Conference TMZ; HoS: House of a Thousand Sanctions; RCR: The Cult Of Les Miles.

We're deservedly proud of the Twelve Pack at this point.  No other conference can match our athletic tradition, our academics top to bottom, and well, frankly, our bank account.  All the others are playing for second at this point.  A distant second.  So distant it's more like fourth.

It is still a little ways until our next pick, but never too early to share your opinions as we update the draft board.  Who should the Twelve Pack get next.  Post your thoughts here or over at BC Interruption, where Brian is not just the Commissioner, he's also a member.