Question of the Day: Would you rather have UConn win two men’s hoops titles or join the ACC?

On Monday, UConn Blog contributor and UConn Twitter legend @tcf15 posed a hard-hitting question for the masses: Would you rather have the men’s basketball team win the next two national championships or have UConn join the ACC?

After nearly 1,600 votes, 55 percent of people preferred to have the Huskies cut down two more banners instead of the payday and lifetime of security that comes with landing in the ACC.

Why was that? Mostly to beat out Duke and a few other “blue bloods.”

As far as the other side of the coin goes, TCF did a pretty good job outlining the case of why it makes more sense to choose the ACC over banners.

Daniel Connolly: I understand the argument for the ACC. It’s a life raft for the athletic department in dire need of one and would realistically transform UConn athletics.

Think about what winning two straight titles would do for the men’s basketball program. Dan Hurley already has the program going back in the right direction and winning back-to-back titles would only make it easier to sustain winning in the future, even in the American.

There’s no guarantee UConn’s basketball success continues in the ACC. Just look at Pitt or Syracuse. Financial security shouldn’t be overlooked but if we’re not playing for titles, then what’s the point of all this?

Ask yourself this: Would you rather be a Rutgers fan that has the safety of the Big Ten but with no success in any sport ever, or a UConn fan with six men’s basketball titles in the American with the current financial situation? I know which one I’d pick.

Aman Kidwai: In a vacuum, the pick is two titles. Conference success is a weird thing to brag about when your team isn’t the one winning big games. Titles last forever and mean way more than the list of successful teams you get to play against every year, and if they’re unlikely—like an AAC champion would be—all the better.

Perhaps even the American would gain greater respect as a basketball conference since people wouldn’t have the “Big East Recruits!” defense for these two titles.

However, ACC membership is the obvious choice. For evidence, I offer up the fact that UConn women’s hoops is an absurd 111-0 in AAC play and then pose a common sense question: Why are we sending our precious wonderful basketball players to Tulsa and Wichita? What court-ordered penalty are they serving? These are some of the best basketball players in the world, at one of the best basketball schools in the country. Why the heck are we paying to put them on planes to Oklahoma?

More importantly, Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Rutger all lose that financial and football recruiting edge over UConn. The most important thing in The Game of Thrones major college athletics, is to do some slightly above average football, be part of the top tier, make that paper, and let winning in other sports figure itself out.

Syracuse and Pitt haven’t been great at basketball but they are having success on the all-important gridiron. The Orange just had their best football season in like 20 years and have been just fine at basketball. And for its relative lack of hoops success compared to UConn, Pitt was still very much in the running for the services of Dan Hurley this past offseason. The Pitt job should never be in the same conversation as the UConn job. That’s why I’d pick the ACC.

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What do you think would be the best choice for UConn in this crazy hypothetical world? Let us know in the comments!