college conference reallignment, the future of the big east

[patrickgpe]

this continues to be a very dark time in college athletics as money and green and trumpeted natural rivalries and tradition.

 

i think with Louisville's exit of the big east yesterday, the time has come for marquette to leave as well. by 2014, the big east will be a shell of its self when marquette joined the conference in 2005.

 

i think marquette has 3 options. The ideal one is to try to pair up with DePaul and move to the big 10. i would be tough since they have no football, but it gives the big east a team in chicago and gives the big 10 a team with a good decade of basketball success.

 

the second scenerio and probably the least exciting is to join the A-10. this is a conference where teams where football is not king. you would be regularly be playing the likes of butler, vcu, xavier, and dayton. these are teams that have had some success, but is a step down from playing georgetown, nova,and memphis .

 

this brings me to my 3rd scenerio is to form a conference of schools that do not have football and therefore protect each other against future teams leaving.

 

i think you could put 10 private catholic universities that have enough prestige that you could have espn or another network give you a decent tv deal

 

i would propose: marquette, xavier, georgetown, villanova, st louis, providence, st johns, seton hall, Creighton, DePaul. this effectively kills the big east and turns into conference USA, but it protece these schools.

[jjfanec]

There is no way Marquette and DePaul get into the Big 10. The Big Ten is looking at markets it doesnt and it already has Milwaukee with the Badgers and Chicago with Northwestern and Illinois. They are looking at teams like UNC, Virginia, and Georgia Tech.

 

Marquette's best bet is a basketball only league. The problem with that is TV revenue. It would be a huge step down however like you said it provides long term protection

[patrickgpe]

 

Marquette's best bet is a basketball only league. The problem with that is TV revenue. It would be a huge step down however like you said it provides long term protection

 

i think if nova, georgetown, marquette, st johns, and providence would leave to form a league, the money networks are paying to show big east basketball could easily be transfered to this new league since the big east would essesntially be conference usa 2.0. i don't think money would be the problem and this is the way to go based on how todays collegiate athletics.

[1e Corbeau]

I think it's fair to say that money from TV is the driving factor for this major swing in realignment. But, alleging that this doesn't preserve tradition discounts the details in the B1G expansion. It's about contiguous states to form new geographic rivalries; moreover, it's about academic tradition.

 

Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers: all of them are AAU members and classified as RU/VH (research university/very high; formerly "Research 1") by Carnegie. In short, these are the best of the best schools academically. This isn't meant to slight Marquette or DePaul. They're both very good institutions with lots of great programs, faculty, etc. But they are not in the same league as the B1G members. Literally.

 

Plus, the vast majority of B1G schools are public flagships.

 

Also: football, as mentioned above.

 

The B1G will look to Virginia, UNC, maybe Kansas, as they fit the academic profile.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the non-football schools.

[jjfanec]

 

Marquette's best bet is a basketball only league. The problem with that is TV revenue. It would be a huge step down however like you said it provides long term protection

 

i think if nova, georgetown, marquette, st johns, and providence would leave to form a league, the money networks are paying to show big east basketball could easily be transfered to this new league since the big east would essesntially be conference usa 2.0. i don't think money would be the problem and this is the way to go based on how todays collegiate athletics.

 

 

From what I could find online Big East schools are getting 4 million right now in their tv contract and the Conference USA schools are getting around 1 million. That is a huge difference. Losing the football schools like Cuse, Pitt, WVU, Louisville, UConn, Rutgers, etc will cost each school a lot.

 

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/8/6/3223039/new-big-east-tv-contract-money

http://marshallthunderingblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/c-usamwc-merger-tv-revenue.html

[patrickgpe]

i think if the non-football jesuit universities of the big east got together and found some schools in the a-10 and mvc to form a conference, they could get a great tv deal. staying in the big east in its current form is going to kill recruiting and revenue.

[patrickgpe]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8736716/atlantic-10-open-adding-big-east-basketball-schools-creating-21-team-conference-source

 

not sure if i like this idea better than forming a new conference but it does give Marquette some great new rivalries with some A-10 schools. This is a much better option than staying in the big east.

[berniebrewer4life]

NY post has the 7 schools leaving the Big East today.

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/big_east_basketball_only_schools_c2PMii2vTg8twF80US3G6H

[patrickgpe]

espn reported that this was likely. i hope so. i wonder if they will announce if they are forming their own conference or joining the A-10. A conference with 21 schools may be excessive. I'd probably rather see a 10 team stable conference with 10 quality schools.

[owbc]

So from what I understand, the 7 schools have the power to retain the "Big East" for themselves?

 

This is a great move regardless of whether they join the A10 or make their own basketball conference. Look what happens when the schools actually work together instead of acting in their own self-interests (or rushing to a decision without fully considering the implications).

 

As for the future, a giant A-10 conference sure looks attractive. I suspect that's where things are headed. It would be the second or third best basketball conference.

[paul253]

I'm glad this move is finally being done and I hope they continue to use the name "Big East". Football members have destroyed this conference. The most ironic thing is that had the original Big East schools remained together and expanded with certain current members, the football conference would probably be a top 4 conference. A "Big East" with BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Miami, Rutgers, UConn, Cincinnati, Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida and Temple/Villanova would be a better football conference than the ACC.

 

But basketball wise I see these 7 teams joining with the likes of Xavier, Butler, Creighton, and maybe a few others. The tv deal should be ok as they have some huge markets (NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC) and it might even help recruiting.

[fondybrewfan]

That will be a very solid BBALL conference assuming they can add atleast Xavier and perhaps St Joes, Creighton, St Louis, and Butler or some combination of those schools.

 

The Big East in all sports will officially be dead. Absolutely no reason for the remaining Big east football schools like Uconn to stick around; nothing worth staying for anymore

[patrickgpe]

its just sad that football ruined the premier basketball conference in the country.

 

the advantage of doing is that its going to help all the teams RPI's. none of schools the big east added are even close to replacements for the teams they lost, except for maybe memphis and temple.

The disadvantage is of course, just like what the big east usually deals with, these schools could be totally worn about come March and have a rough time in the tournament.

[DHonks]

I wonder if they could talk Notre Dame out of their new deal. I mean, it allows ND to compete with similar schools AND be independent for football. Lots of good Catholic and Jesuit schools...I remember as a senior at MUHS, many of us talked about how cool it would be if there were a Catholic or Jesuit conference. That was 1999. Of course, I went to college in a Catholic/Jesuit conference, as every West Coast Conference team fits the bill except BYU, although they share similar religious convictions

[jjfanec]

its just sad that football ruined the premier basketball conference in the country.

 

the advantage of doing is that its going to help all the teams RPI's. none of schools the big east added are even close to replacements for the teams they lost, except for maybe memphis and temple.

The disadvantage is of course, just like what the big east usually deals with, these schools could be totally worn about come March and have a rough time in the tournament.

 

If the 7 schools add Xavier, Butler, and Creighton as advertised it will be a solid conference but nothing like the Big East at its peak. Of the 10 talked about schools only 2 are currently ranked in the top 25 and 2 more are receiving votes. It is good but not elite conference. It does have nice depth with only a couple mediocre to bad teams, but it doesnt have year in year out top 15 talent. Georgetown would be the closest thing.

[patrickgpe]

clearly this conference is not as good as the ACC or Big 10, but i think its better than the Pac 12 or Big 12 but I think its on par with the SEC. I think this is a great move for MU.

[jjfanec]

clearly this conference is not as good as the ACC or Big 10, but i think its better than the Pac 12 or Big 12 but I think its on par with the SEC. I think this is a great move for MU.

 

I am not sure on the Big 12 going forward. Kansas is elite. Kansas St is typically a solid team. Texas isnt going to stay down for long. Iowa State is on the rise with Hoiberg. Baylor has been a solid (albeit shady) program lately. West Virginia is a consistent tourney team. That is going to be a better basketball conference than people think.

 

SEC has Kentucky, Missouri and Florida. That is three top end teams but after that they dont have much.

 

The issue with the new conference for Marquette is that St Johns is not what it once was, Providence isnt very good, DePaul is awful, and Seton Hall isnt very good. Nova is even down right now. Creighton is a nice school but they have made it past the first weekend of the NCAA's one time since the 70's and players like Doug McDermott dont get there often. Xavier is a consistent top 25 team. Butler is a solid team obviously (minus a rough year last year), and that leaves Marquette and Georgetown. It is a conference where teams either lack tradition but have been good lately or have tradition but havent been good lately outside of a few schools. I just think some people are overselling the strength of the proposed new conference

[jjfanec]

clearly this conference is not as good as the ACC or Big 10, but i think its better than the Pac 12 or Big 12 but I think its on par with the SEC. I think this is a great move for MU.

 

I am not sure on the Big 12 going forward. Kansas is elite. Kansas St is typically a solid team. Texas isnt going to stay down for long. Iowa State is on the rise with Hoiberg. Baylor has been a solid (albeit shady) program lately. West Virginia is a consistent tourney team. That is going to be a better basketball conference than people think.

 

SEC has Kentucky, Missouri and Florida. That is three top end teams but after that they dont have much.

 

The issue with the new conference for Marquette is that St Johns is not what it once was, Providence isnt very good, DePaul is awful, and Seton Hall isnt very good. Nova is even down right now. Creighton is a nice school but they have made it past the first weekend of the NCAA's one time since the 70's and players like Doug McDermott dont get there often. Xavier is a consistent top 25 team. Butler is a solid team obviously (minus a rough year last year), and that leaves Marquette and Georgetown. It is a conference where teams either lack tradition but have been good lately or have tradition but havent been good lately outside of a few schools. I just think some people are overselling the strength of the proposed new conference

 

This is a nice move for Marquette but it is a significant step down from the Big East of days past

[patrickgpe]

the problem with this conference is their is no team that I can argue could be a #1 seed in the near future.The SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 all have that. I feel though this league will have more depth than the SEC and the Big 12 atleast.

[fondybrewfan]

I would say it is a pretty strong conference with the addition of Butler and Xavier

 

Marquette

Villanova

Georgetown

DePaul

Seton Hall

Providence

St Johns

Xavier

Butler

 

Georgetown is probably the cream of the crop at the moment but there are 4 teams that have struggled in recent years as well (DePaul, Providence, Seton Hall, St Johns). Still this is a better league than if these schools just stayed put. I am curious what they are going to call themselves.

[jjfanec]

the problem with this conference is their is no team that I can argue could be a #1 seed in the near future.The SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 all have that. I feel though this league will have more depth than the SEC and the Big 12 atleast.

 

Exactly. Getting true marquee wins will be tough in this conference because there probably wont be a lot of top 10 teams. Like you said even a SEC that lacks depth will probably have 2 top 10 teams each year. That will hurt the conference quite a bit in my mind. There are also reports that Georgetown is balking at the idea right now and if they get a big conference to let them in as a basketball only school then that would be a huge hit

[patrickgpe]

i was thinking the Catholic Collegiate Conference or something like that, but with the addition of Butler that can't happen, not that accuracy of conference name means anything these days with 14 teams in the big 10, boise state in the big east, etc

 

loosing Georgetown would be devastating to this conference and could blow the whole thing up IMO. I just don't see how going to say the A-10 without Butler and Xavier is a better option than joining this conference.

[homer]

If they were all jesuit schools, they could go with The Jumpin' Jesuits.

 

I like this idea. I may even start to root for MU once this comes to fruition.

[thebruce44]

the problem with this conference is their is no team that I can argue could be a #1 seed in the near future.The SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 all have that. I feel though this league will have more depth than the SEC and the Big 12 atleast.

 

MU could very well be a #1 or #2 next year.

[jjfanec]

the problem with this conference is their is no team that I can argue could be a #1 seed in the near future.The SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big 10 all have that. I feel though this league will have more depth than the SEC and the Big 12 atleast.

 

MU could very well be a #1 or #2 next year.

 

In the country or in the conference? No way they are a number one in the country type team. They will need a pg and big man if Otule doesnt get a 6th year. Even if he does someone wont be able to come back because they wont have enough schollies. Blue, Gardner, Wilson is nice but not elite. they have a very nice incoming class but that is a lot to ask for freshman

 

I see that you meant number 1 or 2 seed and there is no way I see that either, but I guess if the freshman are even better than advertised there is a chance that could be a top 15 type team