All Realignment Talk Here

Metro America Conference
East Division
Providence /Providence, Rhode Island
St. Johns/ New York (Jamaica), New York
Seton Hall/ South Orange Near New York
Villanova/ Villanova (Philly), Pennsylania
Georgetown/ Washington D.C.

West Division
Butler/ Indianapolis, Indiana
Xavier/ Cincinnatti , Ohio
Dayton/ Dayton, Ohio
Marquette/ Milwaukee, Wisconsin
DePaul/Chicago, Illinnois.

Possibles
East
Northeastern/Boston, Mass (want that city represented, more than the school)
VCA/Richmond, VA

West
St Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
Creighton, Omaha, Nebraska (it least it is one the east side of the state)
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So many possibilities.

I'm still reading FOX wants 12 teams. Gonzanga and St Mary's would be great but very, very difficult.
If they're not in the equation my guesswork is

Western Division
Marquette, DePaul, Butler, Xavier, St Louis and either Creighton or Dayton (still hearing Xavier doesn't want to share Ohio with another school).

Eastern Division
Providence, St John's, Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgetown and either Richmond or VCU.
 
Philadelphia is the 6th largest city in the US, Seton Hall is outside NYC, Providence is the smallest city of the 7.
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My point is Villanova is NOT in Philly. They are in a suburb. South Orange may be close to Newark but Seton Hall has no connection to New York City. And, you said it.....Providence is not a big city.......so at least 3 of the members of the BCC would not be located in a BIG city.
If the C7 ever add Creighton or St. Louis or VCU, they may as well call themselves the National Basketball Conference (NBC). NBC would love to promote themselves that way........NBC on NBC...LOL!
 
Philadelphia is the 6th largest city in the US, Seton Hall is outside NYC, Providence is the smallest city of the 7.
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Villanova is in the burbs, isn't it? And I can probably get to Manhattan from Garden City in at least the same time it would take from Seton Hall, but no one is saying that Adelphi is a NYC school.
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If you look on the ESPN New York covered colleges, they consider NYC area schools to be: SJ, Manhattan, Iona, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Columbia, Fordham, LIU, Hofstra, St. Francis, Wagner, and Stony Brook. Adelphi is definitely a NYC area school, but probably since it's not D-I no one pays attention.
 
I suggested name The Big City Conference on another thread because it was keeping with the original mission of the Big East when it was first formed, Dave Gavitt (along with Jack Kaiser from St. John's, Frank Rienzo from Georgetown, & Jake Crouthamel from Syracuse) wanted the "best team in every major city" in the northeast. In fact, when they went to Philly no school was available yet so they waited for Villanova which joined in year two. I agree with Joe 3. To suggest that Nova doesn't count just b/c they are in suburb of Philly is a joke. They are part of the Big 5 in Philly and are covered by all of the Philly sports media outlets. Whether we like it or not, Seton Hall has & will always be part of the NYC sports scene, along with Rutgers. I don't see any problem with Seton Hall being in our market b/c it creates a fun rivalry, especially when both schools are doing well (remember the early 90s). That being said, I would still prefer we find a way to keep the name Big East. That's just my preference. Maybe we can agree to play them Former Conference USA members in some type of cross-conference agreement or something, to make them happy, or maybe a financial settlement. It won't be the end of the world if we don't keep the name but I personally like what the Big East once stood for (the best hoops league) and hopefully will continue that tradition in the future.

As to who to add, I say just Xavier & Butler. Lets keep it a 9 team conference like it used to be before Miami joined and started to ruin things. We can play everybody twice (remember those days) and have much more flexibility to schedule quality non-conference opponents.
 
If Villanova will accept a second Philadelphia school in that market, Temple makes more sense. Temple has several similarities with the Catholic 7 - 1) City school 2) Rich basketball history. Negatives, include: 1) Undergraduate enrollment of 24,500 vs DePaul (largest Cat 7) 13,500. 2) Currently supports football. If Philly is the market one has to be in, then St. Joes is not out of the question. Having more schools with a geographic area seems like it would increase the rivalry factor, creating some buzz. It also makes it more difficult for another conference to takemarket share.

I would look to grab any school in Boston (Northeastern). Boston has a population of 4.1 million or roughly the size of Washington D.C. and more populous than Cincinnati, Detroit, or St. Louis. Northeastern is a private, non religous school (no State funding of facilities (like Uconn)), located in downtown Boston and not insignificantly provides a local rival for Providence. Note - Providence's enrollment is about 3,800, which makes it the smallest school, in the smallest city (1.1 million) in the Catholic 7. Providence is all alone in New England, with no geographic rivals, with St. Johns and Seton Hall the closest schools, more than an hour drive.
 
I understand your thinking Steve but i have never seen a Northeastern fan in Boston. St Joe's and St Louis may not be the answer either but i think both could thrive in the new conference. I based my thinking on basketball only and not taking in consideration any other sport.
 
Is that enough for a conference tourney? I would want St Joe's or St louis as the 10th.
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Yes, for years the Big East Tournament was 9 teams (before Miami joined). You had the 8 vs 9 seed play in the "play in game" & then the quarterfinals were the next day, with the winner of the 8/9 game playing the 1 seed. It was a great day, a double header during the day & a double header at night, the semi-finals were the next day followed by the finals (initially it was played on Sunday on CBS, followed by the ACC Championship game, which was then followed by Selection Sunday but then we moved our championship game to Saturday night for ESPN). Those were great Tournament days I remember as a kid, just 4 days & only 9 teams.

Another reason I am against more teams is because the bigger the conference, the less teams end up going to the NCAA. For the past few years half or almost half of our teams didn't go (yes I know we had that one year with 11 teams but generally it was 8 or 9 teams with another 8 or 9 not going). Does anyone think a 9 team conference with the Super 7 plus Butler & Xavier would ever have to worry about that? Lets face it, barring an off year, Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, Butler, Xavier & St. John's (if we keep making progress with Lavin) will always be in the NCAA mix. Seton Hall, PC & DePaul would need to step things up but they've been there before & I am sure they will turn things around also
 
The issue with Northeastern isn't media market. Boston would be perfect. But theres some sort of equation here like school size + (media market size x market penetration of school) + out of market exposure + basketball tradition and recent successes. Northeastern has one of these 5 pieces of data going for them. This all means its never going to happen.

St Joe's will never work because their mentality is too mom and pop. The A10 fits them perfectly and they would need to upgrade way too much to fit in with the rest of the C7 IMO. Besides, I feel that the Villanova market overlaps with the SJU market a bit too much whereas the Temple fans and the Nova fans are totally separate. The difference between Villanova and Temple are like night and day. I wouldn't worry about Temple's football program because they parked it in the MAC for a few seasons and seemed to be OK with it. Lets be honest, most city schools in the northeast don't give a rat's a$$ about college football…at least not a local school's. If Temple would be willing to sign a pretty binding contract I think they would be a great addition. Villanova probably wouldn't agree…but then again they also thought they could move to FBS football ;)

I like a 12 team conference but I don't want the quality spread too thin…at least not initially. I think 10 would be good for now and maybe we could gobble up Notre Dame if the ACC blows up. A lot can change in 5 years. Look at Butler and VCU. Where were they 5 years ago? I'd say 10 for now with Xavier, Butler, and St Louis. Creighton, Dayton and VCU on deck for now and pending some changes of status maybe Notre Dame, Temple, or UMass.
 
From the New York Post

The Group of Seven may be forced to make a quick decision, because it’s crucial for them to keep their league championship tournament at the Garden. Several college basketball sources told The Post the Garden has no interest in a league headlined by UConn and Cincinnati. The Garden is very interested in keeping the Group of Seven league.

But suddenly there’s a new player in town. When rumors surfaced the ACC was exploring moving its championship tournament to the Garden, it met a quick end because the ACC wanted to try it on a one-year basis.

Sources said the ACC recently came back to the Garden seeking a five-year deal.

So now the Garden is in a great place: It can go with the ACC, which would bring its tournament to New York for the 2015-16 season. Or it can go with the Catholic 7, which has a deal in place through 2026.

Even if the ACC decided after five years to rotate its tournament site — a move that might be necessary to placate the Southern schools in the league, it would continue to return.
 
I like a 12 team conference but I don't want the quality spread too thin…at least not initially. I think 10 would be good for now and maybe we could gobble up Notre Dame if the ACC blows up. A lot can change in 5 years. Look at Butler and VCU. Where were they 5 years ago? I'd say 10 for now with Xavier, Butler, and St Louis. Creighton, Dayton and VCU on deck for now and pending some changes of status maybe Notre Dame, Temple, or UMass.[/quote]
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Notre Dame is not coming back the new conference is called. Not ever.
 
From the New York Post

Quote:
The Group of Seven may be forced to make a quick decision, because it’s crucial for them to keep their league championship tournament at the Garden. Several college basketball sources told The Post the Garden has no interest in a league headlined by UConn and Cincinnati. The Garden is very interested in keeping the Group of Seven league.

But suddenly there’s a new player in town. When rumors surfaced the ACC was exploring moving its championship tournament to the Garden, it met a quick end because the ACC wanted to try it on a one-year basis.

Sources said the ACC recently came back to the Garden seeking a five-year deal.

So now the Garden is in a great place: It can go with the ACC, which would bring its tournament to New York for the 2015-16 season. Or it can go with the Catholic 7, which has a deal in place through 2026.

Even if the ACC decided after five years to rotate its tournament site — a move that might be necessary to placate the Southern schools in the league, it would continue to return.
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't think the ACC Tourney to The Garden will ever happen. I just think that the good ol boys (Carolina, Duke, NC State, etc) won't go for it. If you think about it, the only school it really benefits is Syracuse, maybe Pitt.
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't think the ACC Tourney to The Garden will ever happen. I just think that the good ol boys (Carolina, Duke, NC State, etc) won't go for it. If you think about it, the only school it really benefits is Syracuse, maybe Pitt.
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Assuming the ACC doesn't implode (and I think it will survive) Duke, UNC, Nc State, Syracuse, PITT, Louisville, Notre Dame, old faves VaTech and Miami, and possibly UCONN and Cincy present a solid package.

I could see the new league playing in Butler's hometown. Almost half of the league will be MidWest teams.

I don't want to but could see this happen. This news comes on a day where other sources are reporting the football schools will be keeping the Big East name.
 
I don't think it will be receivers eel at the Garden either. Also, I don't think those ACC fans will sit for I t either.
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Here is an update to the Post story.


“The Garden is more important to the Catholic 7 than the Catholic 7 is to the Garden,’’ said one source.

If this should happen, if the Catholic 7 doesn’t get its ducks in a row and the Garden goes with the ACC, there could be, let’s call it arena realignment.

Barclays Center has the Atlantic 10 postseason tournament. But if Butler, Xavier and St. Louis, among others, leave the A-10 for the Catholic 7 conference, that league could move to Barclays. Sources said Barclays has even had a couple of “feeling out” conversations with the Big Ten.
 
I would like see a 12 team league right from the start with the C7 adding Xavier, Butler, VCU, St. Louis and Dayton. If Xavier Balks at Dayton because they don't want tp share Ohio in the league anymore like they do now then I would invite Creighton. If you look at Dayton's roster now though, they're going to have a very good team there. Archie Miller (Sean's brother) is doing a great job there.

This league needs the Garden, period. That's why I feel the pressure is on ST. Johns to become very good real quick because the better we are, with our relationship and history with the Garden, STJ can drive this thing.
 
The ACC will not stage its tournament at MSG every year and MSG wants something guaranteed. I am no way shape or form concerned about losing MSG for the tournament.
 
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