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But DeFilippo has been replaced at Boston College by Brad Bates, a man Manuel says is a close and longtime friend. Both played football at Michigan and were athletic directors in the Mid-American Conference before taking their respective jobs in the last year. Even before Bates was hired, Boston College this summer welcomed UConn as the newest member of the region's premier hockey conference, Hockey East.
But that doesn't mean UConn is a no-brainer to join BC in the ACC. Louisville -- and to a lesser extent South Florida -- have also been mentioned as potential targets for the league, and there has been no indication that the conference will act quickly to replace Maryland.
UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma put it this way to reporters in Texas on Sunday, after the Huskies beat Texas A&M.
"You can desire to get invited to a lot of parties in Connecticut, but if you don't get an invite, you ain't going," he said. "I think everybody knows right now that every school in the country, every league in the country -- you go to meetings, you look each other in the eye, you tell each other the truth and you go on from there with the understanding that it could change tomorrow."
As for the student-athletes, a lot of this won't affect them long term. They're going to play where they are told to play. But senior tight end Ryan Griffin is into it, regardless, and said they are watching the shuffle intently. They are concerned about the future of the program they have helped build. They don't want to be left behind in a fading Big East.
"With all this movement, it's kind of up in the air right now, with the conferences and stuff," he said. "Hopefully I can come back here as an alumni and enjoy some football games -- Big 10, ACC, the Big East in San Diego, who knows."
[Associated
Press;
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