Big East Expansion / Sporting News
- Thread starter jerseyshorejohnny
- Start date
My daughter attended Richmond
Richmond is a good academic school with a huge endowment and first class facilities.
Despite those facts it is in my opinion that the University of Richmond would be a terrible choice as an addition to the Big East. Richmond lacks school spirit and enthusiasm for its athletics. The University of Richmond is also disconnected from the residents who rarely attend home games.
I await a rebuttal from occasional poster "Redspider".
Richmond is a good academic school with a huge endowment and first class facilities.
Despite those facts it is in my opinion that the University of Richmond would be a terrible choice as an addition to the Big East. Richmond lacks school spirit and enthusiasm for its athletics. The University of Richmond is also disconnected from the residents who rarely attend home games.
I await a rebuttal from occasional poster "Redspider".
Richmond shouldn't even be a consideration. VCU...no thanks. The new Big East already got burned with a program that saw most of it value because of its coach. I think if they had to do it over they would switch out Butler for St. Louis or Dayton--both programs I would love to add. Few teams have the fan base of Dayton...they draw have a top 25 attendance figure very year long back three decades and they travel as well as anyone.
I'd also consider Memphis and Uconn of they dropped football to FCS or completely, and Gonzaga.
I'd also consider Memphis and Uconn of they dropped football to FCS or completely, and Gonzaga.
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Dayton for reasons previously cited.
NYCRedmen
Well-known member
I know many here prefer expansion, but I'm fine with 10 & leaving it at that. Truth be told I would have preferred VCU over Creighton but that's only b/c of geography. Once you start expanding you run the risk (depending on how many teams you add) of no longer having a true round-robin format, additionally you can end up diluting the talent pool (didn't we learn from the last expansion how bad it was having teams finishing in 14th or 15th place) and unless we are sending 7 or 8 teams each year to the NCAA Tournament, what is to be gained? Do you want to be in a league with 12 or 14 teams where only 4 or 5 are getting NCAA bids? That my friends is the Atlantic 10.
The Big East should simultaneously tell Yukon, Cincinnati and Memphis that it will take the first 2 of the 3 that either drops its football, or moves its football program to the Mid American Conference AND agrees to assign its future media rights similar to how the ACC has tied in its schools. With the assignment of media rights it would then be very- very difficult for the school to be attractive to another conference.
i'd seriously consider Memphis, UConn & Temple even if they didnt drop their football to FCS. The new BE would still gain the benifit of having those teams in the all B-ball conference during these very crucial early years. If after a decade or so, one of these teams football dominates the MAC and is picked off by a BCS conf, then the BE just adds St. Louis, Dayton or whatever midmajor is hot then. Nothing lost, but the conference reaps the benefits of what those teams bring during early years when finding footing and establishing itself as a "major" conference despite being basketball only is urgent.
It has yet to be determined whether Temple was better off being a member of the A10 for basketball and parking its football in the MAC, or being a member of the prestigious AAC with next years members:
Tulsa
SMU
East Carolina
South Florida
Central Florida
Houston
Tulane
Memphis
Cincinnati
Yukon
Just how attractive are the media rights for the AAC? ESPN has the contract and sold a large chunk of the football and basketball games to either CBS cable or NBC cable. I have googled but have not been able to find out how much each school will get for its TV rights.
Tulsa
SMU
East Carolina
South Florida
Central Florida
Houston
Tulane
Memphis
Cincinnati
Yukon
Just how attractive are the media rights for the AAC? ESPN has the contract and sold a large chunk of the football and basketball games to either CBS cable or NBC cable. I have googled but have not been able to find out how much each school will get for its TV rights.
I do not think the Big East needs to be in a rush to do anything at all.
Schools like St. Louis, Dayton, etc are not going to get a better offer than the one to join the Big East. They're not going anywhere if the Big East doesn't offer them.
Meanwhile schools with better basketball programs (U Conn, Memphis, Cincy, Temple among them) are treading water. Ultimately those schools will end up in the BCS or they will be collecting crumbs. College football is clearly headed to an enormous division between the haves and the have nots. Some of those schools will most definitely end up among the have nots. That picture hasn't completely clarified yet, but it will.
Once those trends become clear, then the non-BCS schools may get real about wanting to find a good basketball conference and not being so distracted by their football programs. At that point the BE may have a chance to add some excellent members.
i don't see a reason to rush to go picking up good mid-major programs when you can wait a year or three and maybe be able to add a good high-major program. Just have to wait for the price to come down on them, so to speak. When their other options dry up, then it will be time to make a move.
Schools like St. Louis, Dayton, etc are not going to get a better offer than the one to join the Big East. They're not going anywhere if the Big East doesn't offer them.
Meanwhile schools with better basketball programs (U Conn, Memphis, Cincy, Temple among them) are treading water. Ultimately those schools will end up in the BCS or they will be collecting crumbs. College football is clearly headed to an enormous division between the haves and the have nots. Some of those schools will most definitely end up among the have nots. That picture hasn't completely clarified yet, but it will.
Once those trends become clear, then the non-BCS schools may get real about wanting to find a good basketball conference and not being so distracted by their football programs. At that point the BE may have a chance to add some excellent members.
i don't see a reason to rush to go picking up good mid-major programs when you can wait a year or three and maybe be able to add a good high-major program. Just have to wait for the price to come down on them, so to speak. When their other options dry up, then it will be time to make a move.
Stay at 10. Nothing beats a round robin.
No, I don't want to kick them out. For better or worse we are stuck with them now. I just think Stevens was the single most important coach to his program in the country. Even getting one season with a future legend like that would have been great for the league. Knowing what we all know now, I think the league would have went with Dayton or St. Louis. I would. You wouldn't?
I see Smart and VCU in the same light. Funny thing is both Butler and VCU had success immediately before Stevens and Smart took over, but those guys raised the image of those programs from mid-majors to majors playing on lesser leagues.