Around College Basketball

ADORAZ said:
The main issue for Gonzaga would be travel expenses for all of their other sports, but I 100% agree that if the financials work then they need to be in the Big East ASAP. Unfortunately they may want/take a Big 12 invite over us since many of those schools are closer to them. We'll see.
Click to expand...
Gonzaga’s travel budget is already insane. Spokane is on the Idaho border.

If they want to survive they will have to join a major conference. ORLANDO would be two hours longer of a flight than New York or Philly. Dallas, Waco, Houston and Morgantown would all be similar flights. Maybe basketball only?
 
Marillac2 said:
Gonzaga’s travel budget is already insane. Spokane is on the Idaho border.

If they want to survive they will have to join a major conference. ORLANDO would be two hours longer of a flight than New York or Philly. Dallas, Waco, Houston and Morgantown would all be similar flights. Maybe basketball only?
Click to expand...

Basketball needs to be tied with other Olympic sports unfortunately, can't join for basketball only. I agree their travel is already brutal since most of the teams in the WCC are in southern Cal, but still would be significantly worse in the Big East. I still believe though that the increase in revenue from TV would offset those costs, so we'll see. Main holdup now I think would be if the Big 12 offers. Hopefully all of this is resolved soon.
 
Marillac2 said:
We need to secure Gonzaga this week.

The logistics aren’t hard all. Gonzaga is flying over 8 hours to Maui this season, 6.5 to Kentucky, two trips to Seattle which is over an hour flight. They are also playing USC in Vegas which is a two-hour flight. That’s just for the OOC that’s been announced.

Conference games like San Diego, Pepperdine, Pacific, and Loyola are all over a thousand miles away…basically the same as Creighton. They play UConn at MSG next year.

Each year an eastern team will give up a home game to play Gonzaga on a neutral court in Seattle or Portland.

Obviously the next move is to go to two divisions but let’s get Gonzaga now. They have the same mission, the same profile, the same existential risks as all of our schools outside of UConn.

Fly in over Christmas break and play 3 games in NYC area. Fly east during a 4 day weekend and play Gtown and Nova. It’s not that hard.
Click to expand...

We are through the looking glass on amateurism and academic wellbeing as it is. Agree with your assessment - now is the time and the logistics for other sports is arduous but worth the brain damage. The $ is not a huge hurdle anymore. If the Zags are willing, let’s do it
 
The below link is to a UConn website that contains links to several self-aggrandizing documents submitted by Yukon to the Big 12 Conference in hopes of gaining admission.

uconn.edu

Big 12 Records | University of Connecticut

UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference In association with the University of Connecticut's p ... September 30, 2024
uconn.edu uconn.edu
 
smalley said:
We are through the looking glass on amateurism and academic wellbeing as it is. Agree with your assessment - now is the time and the logistics for other sports is arduous but worth the brain damage. The $ is not a huge hurdle anymore. If the Zags are willing, let’s do it
Click to expand...
Gonzaga is the only major play the Big East has. They can go a hundred different ways after they land them and would be in a better position to react to major conference realignment.

The Big East made Creighton work for the same reason Gonzaga will work: they are a perfect match profile wise. Creighton is in the middle of nowhere.

Imagine the TV deal with Gonzaga and UConn? Gonzaga-Duke in 2018 and 2021 were the two most viewed regular season games from 2018-2021.

West: Gonzaga, Creighton, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, Marquette

East: St. John’s, Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, Uconn
 
Marillac2 said:
Gonzaga is the only major play the Big East has. They can go a hundred different ways after they land them and would be in a better position to react to major conference realignment.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Conferences who sit idly and let the market come to them have lost out over and over again. PAC is the most recent example. Should have picked apart the Big 12 on their terms when they had the chance. ACC might well be next

With Gonzaga in the fold, a good year for the BE would have 8 or maybe 9 tournament teams, which is good for business on a few fronts.
 
otis said:
The below link is to a UConn website that contains links to several self-aggrandizing documents submitted by Yukon to the Big 12 Conference in hopes of gaining admission.

uconn.edu

Big 12 Records | University of Connecticut

UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference In association with the University of Connecticut's p ... September 30, 2024
uconn.edu uconn.edu
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that they've recently submitted documents to the Big 12, but this is from their time in the AAC it appears.
 
Marillac2 said:
Gonzaga is the only major play the Big East has. They can go a hundred different ways after they land them and would be in a better position to react to major conference realignment.

The Big East made Creighton work for the same reason Gonzaga will work: they are a perfect match profile wise. Creighton is in the middle of nowhere.

Imagine the TV deal with Gonzaga and UConn? Gonzaga-Duke in 2018 and 2021 were the two most viewed regular season games from 2018-2021.

West: Gonzaga, Creighton, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, Marquette

East: St. John’s, Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, Uconn
Click to expand...

Endorsed enthusiastically
 
Another massive advantage to adding Gonzaga: if UConn leaves, then we keep the 20 game conference schedule. This is really important for TV inventory. When UConn joined we didn't just increase the number of Big East teams by 10% (10 teams -> 11 teams), we also increased the number of Big East conference games by 22% (180 -> 220).

The math is we went from 10 teams playing 18 game BE schedules to 11 teams playing 20 game BE schedules. By adding UConn each team essentially replaced 2 OOC games that normally would've been vs mid majors with premiere games against UConn. Much better for the network and fans. This is yet another reason their addition was smart at the time.

After 11 teams this no longer works. For example, the Big Ten adding more teams doesn't mean they can go past a 20 game conference schedule. That said, going to 12 with Gonzaga would be a massive buffer against UConn leaving, because we wouldn't revert back to 10 teams and thus each team playing 18 game schedules. Each team would still play 20 game BE schedules with Gonzaga even if UConn leaves.
 
Trying to follow all of this. Two questions, sorry if already answered. 1) would adding Gonzaga help create a bigger contract with Fox next time around for the entire Big East? 2) whether or not UConn leaves, might it just make more sense for the Big East to wait until the ACC collapses and add who makes sense?
 
ADORAZ said:
Another massive advantage to adding Gonzaga: if UConn leaves, then we keep the 20 game conference schedule. This is really important for TV inventory. When UConn joined we didn't just increase the number of Big East teams by 10% (10 teams -> 11 teams), we also increased the number of Big East conference games by 22% (180 -> 220).

The math is we went from 10 teams playing 18 game BE schedules to 11 teams playing 20 game BE schedules. By adding UConn each team essentially replaced 2 OOC games that normally would've been vs mid majors with premiere games against UConn. Much better for the network and fans. This is yet another reason their addition was smart at the time.

After 11 teams this no longer works. For example, the Big Ten adding more teams doesn't mean they can go past a 20 game conference schedule. That said, going to 12 with Gonzaga would be a massive buffer against UConn leaving, because we wouldn't revert back to 10 teams and thus each team playing 18 game schedules. Each team would still play 20 game BE schedules with Gonzaga even if UConn leaves.
Click to expand...

Your %'s are correct but you doubled the number of games since there are two teams in every game. ;)
 
room112 said:
Trying to follow all of this. Two questions, sorry if already answered. 1) would adding Gonzaga help create a bigger contract with Fox next time around for the entire Big East? 2) whether or not UConn leaves, might it just make more sense for the Big East to wait until the ACC collapses and add who makes sense?
Click to expand...
(1) I would guess the contract would be for over 10 mill per team per year with Gonzaga and UConn.

-The Big East was able to get 50 mill per year a decade ago coming from the biggest position of weakness in the history of the conference and no UConn, Gonzaga, or a good St. John’s.

-St. John’s is a monster with tv views. If you go through all the teams that have eclipsed 2 million views per regular season game over the last decade, St. John’s is in or near the top 10. Indiana-St. John’s was one of the top 20 viewed games in the Big 10 last year and we sucked and had no excitement behind us.

- Big East teams have won 4 national championships since then and will have 5 teams ranked in the preseason top 25 (plus Gonzaga).

-I would imagine that a pacific time zone power like Gonzaga would be really enticing to a network to run a weekday triple-header or 4-5 games straight on a Saturday.

(2) I don’t think you can wait around anymore. Add Gonzaga now and eliminate an option from the Big 12. Then have a plan in place for when the ACC inevitably falls apart. The Big 12 looked like it was dead a few years ago and their actions lead to them surviving while the inactive PAC-12 died.
 
room112 said:
Trying to follow all of this. Two questions, sorry if already answered. 1) would adding Gonzaga help create a bigger contract with Fox next time around for the entire Big East? 2) whether or not UConn leaves, might it just make more sense for the Big East to wait until the ACC collapses and add who makes sense?
Click to expand...

Totally fair open questions. Would happily take BC Cuse and Wake if they are left without a home when the football music stops. For me, Gonzaga in the conference helps attract those three - and maybe ND or even Duke - when the ACC implodes sometime between now and 2036.

Would rather be the aggressor in this moment
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top