University of Delaware's Real Estate Woes

I'm going to try and help a disgruntled Blue Hen find a community where he feels more comfortable.

“There Goes the Neighborhood”

As someone who writes a lot, even if it’s just to get my own thoughts out there and hopefully others to enjoy (I don’t make money off of this as of yet), I know words and phrases are incredibly important when trying to paint a picture. The best writers can paint vivid images, elicit strong emotions, and perhaps enable readers to feel how the writer feels because of the choices the writer makes with their words. Similarly, messages, subliminal and not so subtle can be sent in the same way. 

This is why when Kevin Tresolini uses Hampton as his scapegoat for why Delaware should be fleeing the CAA and uses the phrase “There goes the neighborhood” to refer to a storied Historically Black College (and also Baptist school Campbell and Byrant), it’s a little more than just words on a page. Mr. Tresolini has been writing for over 40 years and given that I’m guessing has seen the boom of the suburbs following desegregation, even in Delaware. By using this phrase, he knew exactly what he was doing. What he maybe did not expect was that folks affiliated with Hampton and HBCU’s at large would go behind the paywall to find his thoughts. 

He thought he was just punching down to Hampton, when in reality his use of those exact words, “There goes the neighborhood”, spoke to those not only in HBCU spaces, but anyone who has ever been perceived as an “other” in a place where folks don’t expect to see them. I would be interested to see if Mr. Tresolini had these same sentiments when Albany, Elon, and originally football member only Stony Brook joined the CAA following the exit of ODU, George Mason, and VCU. 

However, I am not here to litigate the malice or intent of Mr. Tresolini’s intentional or not intentionally charged language. In fact, as someone who went to a school who recently joined another neighborhood, I would love to be your academic/athletic real estate agent! So, you’re unhappy with new neighbors bringing down your property value Mr. Tresolini? Allow me to help you try and find a suitable solution that will fit your academic, athletic, and perhaps geographical prowess. We’ll start with FBS options. 

Big Ten/SEC

This is tongue and cheek but there’s at least a couple Delaware fans out there that think they are important enough to just skip right past the other conferences and jump straight here. I just wanted to put that out there. Delusion makes me giggle. 

New Northern FBS Conference

This may have been a viable option a couple months ago for Delaware. UCONN, UMASS, and Army were all northern independents in football. UCONN And UMASS are old rivals, and academically the schools all believe they’re in the same space. Could they have tried to pull Temple and Navy out of the AAC while maybe hoping Villanova or William & Mary would make a jump with them to FBS? It’s not the worst conference ever. I saw floated folks would want JMU to also be there as well, again, which made me laugh. However, with the news today that the AAC will be accepting Army as a football only member in 2024, these hopes are dashed. Plus, unless the AAC kicked Temple and Navy out, they wouldn’t want to give up that revenue.

SunBelt

If the SunBelt were to expand, I highly doubt it would look to Delaware as a viable option unless Navy or an ECU/Memphis came along with them. This also stretches the conference away from what are all drivable Football and Basketball division rivalries. And there’s also that part, rivalries. They would have JMU and kind of ODU but beyond that, I don’t think Delaware moves the needle for excitement amongst other SunBelt institutions. 

MAC

Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State decided not to join the MAC which basically saved CUSA from completely imploding. The MAC is a tight knit geographical conference even with Buffalo, so I’m not sure if Delaware alone coming in would do much for them. They would likely need another school to join as well, and with the increased entrance fee to FBS, I don’t see many FCS schools making the jump moving forward. 

FBS Independent

Delaware could be an FBS independent and try to find a place for their other sports. Liberty did this with the blessing of the NCAA after all. However, the NCAA isn’t likely to do that again, and unlike Liberty, Delaware can’t launder sizable online tuition money through athletics to show that they can support their student athletes. Delaware has old money, but they would have a harder time justifying spending it. Gotta feel for the Blue Hens a little there. Harder to clean that 1.78 billion dollar endowment to push it straight into sports. 

So…in the immediate future Delaware's aspirations for the FBS look pretty bleak at best, so, maybe there’s a viable FCS option that suits their needs? After all, they just can’t be affiliated with Hampton now, can they? Let’s look at some FCS options. 

MVFC

Undoubtedly would be a step up in football competition as the FCS is currently constructed. However, the MVFC has just added Murray State and Delaware is again a bit of a geographic outlier. Furthermore, they would again have to find a place for their other sports as some MVFC members play in different leagues for different sports. Great for football, not so much otherwise. 

Patriot League

This is an academic slam dunk. It’s a geographical slam dunk. Even their other sports would fit in here perfectly. It does not match the football aspirations at all. Even with the Patriot League improving over the years, this would be a step back for the football program and would move them further away from the FBS than they already are. 

Ivy League

Lol just kidding. I think the reasons are self-explanatory.

FCS Independent/A-10 Other Sports

Is Delaware desperate enough to move out of its current neighborhood to be a football nomad while putting the kids in A-10 boarding school until they find a home for everyone? Well, being a football independent is becoming more and more difficult unless your name is Notre Dame, and even they have a loose ACC tie in for football. But what is probably the most glaring thing about this move making it unlikely to ever to happen is the fact that the A-10 is a BASKETBALL conference through and through. Programs in this conference make Final Fours on occasion and the Sweet Sixteen on the regular. I don’t think Delaware’s basketball team would be the added value that was obvious when VCU and George Mason joined. 

Real Estate Impasse

So, Mr. Tresolini, Delaware nation, these are some of the options I have for your program doing a quick search of the real estate landscape of college athletics. I understand that you don’t like it when your kids play with the kids from that Hampton school, or those crazy Southern Baptist kids over there at Campbell, but as of now, it’s difficult to move. There doesn’t seem to be any good options and unless you get invited and accepted into a gated community, you’re kind of stuck. And independence seems like an undesirable option at best, especially considering athletics on the whole. 

So let me give you some advice, Mr. Tresolini. Get to know your new neighbors. Find some common ground. You may not be with them forever but sticking your nose up at them and belittling the contributions they can make to your community isn’t good for anyone on the whole. Who knows, maybe by having these new neighbors affiliated with you and other institutions in your neighborhood, things on the whole will improve. 

But seriously, dude. Choose your words more wisely. I took a somewhat satirical approach to what you said because I wanted to put into perspective what the landscape looks like for Delaware in the real world. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Saying “There goes the neighborhood” anywhere near people of color finding themselves in new places, especially black people in America? Not a great look. There’s a bit of history there. You’ve been at this for 4 decades. I am sure you can do better. Your initial points were quite valid, until you decided to put that phrase in your writing.