The first order of business for the New New Big East

[nelsonmuntz]

Bust that TV contract with ESPN, or at least the exclusivity clause. This is life or death for the league.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

That would likely come with some form of contract of how long you must stay with the conference, and I don't want uconn signing on to anything in the Big East unless it's 100% certain we have no other home. I also doubt very many other BE schools would sign such a deal right now.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

If the BBall schools don't let FB schools go to 12/20 format, we need a split right away. I just don't see how the BE has any chance of surviving without going to 12 FB schools. I know some people keep preaching value etc like Marinatto, but where did it get us today?

I have said many times in the old board that we should have added UCF and ECU a long time ago. Today, they both would be BCS caliber schools and we would be sitting at 9 or 10 even with Pitt and CUSE both leaving. Instead, we are scrambling again to add bunch of football onlies. Why? why? why? Football onlies are what BBALL schools want. They will get us nowhere again in a few years. We will be raided again at some point.

If we can't get into the ACC or whatever stable conference now, we better take the lead and make our current home as comfortable as possible. Oh yeah, please fire the biggest moron in the world Marinatto.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

If the BBall schools don't let FB schools go to 12/20 format, we need a split right away. I just don't see how the BE has any chance of surviving without going to 12 FB schools. I know some people keep preaching value etc like Marinatto, but where did it get us today?

I have said many times in the old board that we should have added UCF and ECU a long time ago. Today, they both would be BCS caliber schools and we would be sitting at 9 or 10 even with Pitt and CUSE both leaving. Instead, we are scrambling again to add bunch of football onlies. Why? why? why? Football onlies are what BBALL schools want. They will get us nowhere again in a few years. We will be raided again at some point.

If we can't get into the ACC or whatever stable conference now, we better take the lead and make our current home as comfortable as possible. Oh yeah, please fire the biggest moron in the world Marinatto.

I agree. We have to go to 12/20 while we still have a BCS bid so that even if we lose more teams we are somewhat viable as a conference. The on the field performance of UCF, ECU, and even Houston could very well be the only thing that could save us right now in addition to that of TCU, WVU and the other remaining teams. But we need to add teams that are beating BCS competition already.

 

[freescooter]

One way or the other, we need to move on from the basketball schools. I know all the arguments against that, but there will never be stability fo rthe Big East football schools as long as they have to make tradeoffs with the basketball league. We've been down thsi road twice now, and it hasn't worked, because it can't work. You don't see the ACC raiding for Georgetwon and Villanova in the lucrative Washington DC and Philly markets. The big 10 isn't trying to Add 2-time NCAA finalist Butler. Nor is the SEC trying to steal Virginia commonwealth from the CAA. The big East basketball league was in some ways a crutch that kept the football teams from doing what they needed to do and in others it was a hinderance because moves needed half the hoops only schools to sign on. The end result has been that only 2 of the original Big East football schools remain, and both are looking to leave, and UCONN is the only original Big East member with a football program to remain, and it too is looking for the first exit. After going through this again, how anyone can argue that a continued alliance with the basketball league makes any sense is beyond me. If there is a reorganization of the big East, it has to be withthe clear intent of spinning off into 2 seperate conferences as quickly as possible...not like the last round that permitted a split in 5 years, but rather a deal that leads to a split within 5 years.

 

[coachcap]

The first order of business is to take away Marinatto's ability to invite whomever he pleases to the football conference. I envision him revisiting 'Nova, adding the Hoyas, Georgia State. Appy State, Delaware & a host of 1-AA refugees along with the Service Academies. Might as well invite Yale, Harvard, Penn, & Princeton. At least they have endowments that could finance the whole conference.,.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Coach, should have just stopped at....the first order of business is to take away Marinatto's ability. Period.

the question is if there's enough voting power left in the big east to remove providence from power and establish new leadership in line with reality of big time college athletics. This shiite is keeping me up at night.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Looking back, here are all the mistakes BE have made:

1. Turning down PSU back in the days. Ok PSU probably would have left for the B1G anyway, but having PSU in the league might have got Maryland into the league back in the old days.
2. Failed to expand when Miami complained.
3. After the 2003 raid, went back to 8 again even though every other conference was at 10 or more. Oh and adding two basketball schools. They should have went to 10/16 but no...
4. Failed to expand in the last 7 years. I have said for many years BE should have added schools like ECU and UCF. Those 2 at least proved they care about football. They would be BCS caliber today. They already are at BCS caliber as far as facilities etc.
5. Failed to put in HEAVY penalties for leaving the conference. BE's $5M exit fee is a joke vs. any other BCS conference. Even the B12 is $10M+.
6. Turned down the TV deal without getting commitment from all the schools. Now 15 other schools (yes I include BBall schools too) might be damaged because 2 left. The conference left itself to be raided by ESPN/ACC simply invited Pitt/SU. All they had to do is whisper into SU/PITT ears that if they don't take the offer, other BE schools will. This is a cutthroat business decision for ESPN. It was much cheaper to pay the ACC a little more vs. having to pay ALOT more in order to compete with NBC/COMCAST for BE's TV rights. There got to be a massive lawsuit somewhere on interference etc.
7. Here we are again in 2011 scrambling for replacements. They are looking at academics and football onlies? WTF?
8. Letting ND in parking their other sports in the BE. ND's goal is to keep the BE hybrid alive so they are part of it. BE FB schools should have walked away from them a long time ago or never should have let them in the conference in the first place.

If we don't end up in the ACC, UCONN needs to talk to other BE football schools and leave this cluster duckK and start a new conference assuming we still have the BCS bid. We need to expand to 12 ASAP just to survive and viable until the next realignment.

 

[AdamBC]

I've always wondered why the Big East hasn't taken in ECU - a Big East school in the Carolina school's back yard - good football school with a solid fanbase.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I've always wondered why the Big East hasn't taken in ECU - a Big East school in the Carolina school's back yard - good football school with a solid fanbase.

If BE is smart, they take ECU now. Then again, we got Marinatto aka "Providence" guy in charge so we will end up with bunch of football onlies.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

I've always wondered why the Big East hasn't taken in ECU - a Big East school in the Carolina school's back yard - good football school with a solid fanbase.

The leadership and the basketball schools are stupid and lack any sort of vision that is why. This whole thing did not have to happen this way if they had been proactive in regard to building the football conference and building up the brands and fanbases of any new additions. Now there is almost surely no time to do any of that and the football conference is likely dead. If they had added some of these teams years ago they could easily be viewed as more legitimate by now and even if some schools left the league would have been in a much better situation.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The BCS membership is key. I'm not sure of the specifics, but if it can be established that a new conference consisting of the existing Big East football schools in 2012 (including TCU and at least one other - navy?) would retain the BCS membership affordied the big east?

In that case, then there's absolutely no reason anymore for us to be affiliated with the big east conference as soon as the existing television contract runs out, which is at the end of this year right?

Saving the big east as it is simply not an option, if leadership is maintained in providence and clearly allied with schools that don't participate in BCS level football.

If leadership can be somehow changed to favor the interests of the all sports colleges, saving te big east is a project of major importance, because those basketballs chools do have value, and a hybrid conference can work, as long as the power sits in the correct hands.

The conference is a horse with broken legs right now, with providence in charge. Somebody's got to put it out of it's misery. It's either blow up the leadership in providence and establish new leadership that makes sense elsewhere, or shoot the suffering horse in the head with a bazooka.

If new leadership can't be established than actually make the big east an attractive destination for BCS level football colleges?

and ACC doesn't have the cajones to pull the trigger, before the TV contract is up?

I hope we do, and our rivals on the field in Rutgers, West Virginia, as the only ones left longer invested in this thing than we are, figure out a way to make a sports conference work.

 

[freescooter]

bottom line is that the Big East is first, last and always a basketball league and nothing ever changed that. there was no understanding among the non-football schools that their succeess was related to the success of the football league. Some still don't get that...At the end of the day though, i suspect that they will discover that the payout for BASKETBALL will also be less than it would have been with a solid football league. If UCONN ends up leaving, and I think they will at some point, you have to ask what the Big East basketball conference value will be without the Huskies, Pitt and Syracuse.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

bottom line is that the Big East is first, last and always a basketball league and nothing ever changed that. there was no understanding among the non-football schools that their succeess was related to the success of the football league. Some still don't get that...At the end of the day though, i suspect that they will discover that the payout for BASKETBALL will also be less than it would have been with a solid football league. If UCONN ends up leaving, and I think they will at some point, you have to ask what the Big East basketball conference value will be without the Huskies, Pitt and Syracuse.

Which is why UCONN needs to get away from this conference ASAP assuming we can keep the BCS bid in the new conference. I like to see the following formed:

BE East:

UCONN
RU
WVU
USF
ECU
Navy (FB only)

BE West:

UL
UCF
Cincy
TCU
Houston
Air Force (FB only)

Some decenet rivalries:

UCONN/RU
USF/UCF
UL/Cincy
TCU/Houston
Navy/Air Force
WVU/ECU

It is not end of the world. Both academies will keep the conference academic reputation along with UCONN and RU. It will give us some breathing room. This conference can sign a pretty decent TV deal. Basketball with UCONN, UL, Cincy and WVU would still be pretty good.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I can guarantee that the Big East football schools will make less money without the basketball schools than they will make with them. How do I know? Because they are still together.

Can someone please explain to me how dropping 7 big market, basketball schools with lots of history makes the football conference better?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I can guarantee that the Big East football schools will make less money without the basketball schools than they will make with them. How do I know? Because they are still together.

Can someone please explain to me how dropping 7 big market, basketball schools with lots of history makes the football conference better?

I would recommend only dropping the basketball schools if they don't allow FB schools to go to 12.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

I would recommend only dropping the basketball schools if they don't allow FB schools to go to 12.

Exactly, if they don't get with the program I don't really see any other option.

 

[freescooter]

I can guarantee that the Big East football schools will make less money without the basketball schools than they will make with them. How do I know? Because they are still together.

Can someone please explain to me how dropping 7 big market, basketball schools with lots of history makes the football conference better?

It doesn't make it better. It makes it workable. Nelson, we've kept with the basketball schools and it hasn't been successful. If you don't have a football program, its a great arrangement. But if you do, it just doesn't work. How many of the original football schools remain? If a hybrid conference is such a great idea, how come nobody else has even looked at it? It means you can make decisions which are designed to improve the conference. Can't do that in the Big East, at least not without a whole lot of haggling. And it means you can, if you choose, move quickly.
The Big East began life as a basketball conference and will most likely return to one. The basketball onlies have a very different view of the world, one that doesn't mesh with the aspirations of the bigger football schools. If they break away, will the football schools in a reconstituted league make less money than they might have? Yup. but will they have an opportunity to build the confeerence the way it needs to be built? Yes they will. In hindsight, the dead giveaway on the feasiblity of the big East was the addition of Marquette and DePaul. The league had just lost 3 football playing schools and identified 3 replacements in Louisville, South Florida and Cincinatti. but in order to get them itwas necessary to add the 2 basketball only schools as well. It made no sense from any perspective except to confirm that move signalled that basketball stilled ran the show and would going forward. A decision to keep the league togehter is just setting it up for the next raid, or the next reorganization.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I can guarantee that the Big East football schools will make less money without the basketball schools than they will make with them. How do I know? Because they are still together.

Can someone please explain to me how dropping 7 big market, basketball schools with lots of history makes the football conference better?

Seriously, got to readress reality here:

Can you please explain to me why Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech are in the ACC and not Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence?

Please?

I already said, that if the leadership were in line with the business of BCS level conferences in the united states, ejecting the catholics would be dumb. They do have value, but their leadership is destroying the league slowly over time. The big east football schools the 7 of them as long as TCU is still on board, are better off long term without the catholics and their leadership. They might lose some cash flow in the first year or two, but the benefits of being in a conference that has the priorities in line would soon outweigh.

The key - to all of it - is retaining the BCS bid. I hope our leadership is actively pursuing what it takes to retain that, should the conference fracture along the natural fault line.

Of the orignial founding members, the programs with 1A football are gone. 12 programs have played games under the big east label. Five of them now reside in the ACC. Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami. Temple played as a football only member and has the wonderful distinction of being the only football program ever kicked out of the big east. Talk about black sheep. The big east has raided other conferences more than once - for basketball.

Rutgers, West Virginia and UConn are the programs with longest tenure in the league, and all of them are looking elsewhere.

With a guarnateed BCS bid, and the other four newbies in tow, something useful can be done, and the catholics are aon their own.

 

[noeynox]

Good job free. The two sides just have differing interests. This leads to a lot of infighting and hassling when it comes to adding schools. The dream basketball conference took a hit when Pitt and SU left anyway, no time now to hang on to nostalgia.

 

[SO#1]

Any argument to continue on associate with basketball-only is argument to drop football.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Any argument to continue on associate with basketball-only is argument to drop football.

+1. I don't care how much TV markets basketball schools bring onboard. If they don't let FB schools expand to protect ourselves, there will be no more FB schools in the conference. We all need to make a decision it is either expansion or die. It is that simple. Basketball will NEVER drive the bus in a BCS conference and it is time for these Bball onlies to accept that.

 

[businesslawyer]

+1. I don't care how much TV markets basketball schools bring onboard. If they don't let FB schools expand to protect ourselves, there will be no more FB schools in the conference. We all need to make a decision it is either expansion or die. It is that simple. Basketball will NEVER drive the bus in a BCS conference and it is time for these Bball onlies to accept that.

If they didn't accept that the Big East wouldn't have gotten to this point. Tranghese and Marinatto say that every time they speak.

 

[Scalito]

It

Any argument to continue on associate with basketball-only is argument to drop football.

Why is leaving a good basketball conference to going to help football? If there were a plausibly stable and decent football conference available, okay, I get it. But in the near term there isn't, barring an ACC invite. We are currently a basketball school. Maintain that brand at all costs, and eventually the football team might get a tag-along invite to a good conference. Everyone accepts it as fact that basketball doesn't't matter, but it is our basketball team that makes us attractive to Coach K and Duke. And basketball was surely a big factor in the ACC's approval of Pitt and Syracuse.

 

[Danzz]

Seriously, got to readress reality here:

Can you please explain to me why Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech are in the ACC and not Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence?

Please?

I already said, that if the leadership were in line with the business of BCS level conferences in the united states, ejecting the catholics would be dumb. They do have value, but their leadership is destroying the league slowly over time. The big east football schools the 7 of them as long as TCU is still on board, are better off long term without the catholics and their leadership. They might lose some cash flow in the first year or two, but the benefits of being in a conference that has the priorities in line would soon outweigh.

The key - to all of it - is retaining the BCS bid. I hope our leadership is actively pursuing what it takes to retain that, should the conference fracture along the natural fault line.

Of the orignial founding members, the programs with 1A football are gone. 12 programs have played games under the big east label. Five of them now reside in the ACC. Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami. Temple played as a football only member and has the wonderful distinction of being the only football program ever kicked out of the big east. Talk about black sheep. The big east has raided other conferences more than once - for basketball.

Rutgers, West Virginia and UConn are the programs with longest tenure in the league, and all of them are looking elsewhere.

With a guarnateed BCS bid, and the other four newbies in tow, something useful can be done, and the catholics are aon their own.

Last word from TCU was they are not coming to the BE. There are probably better options for TCU once some of the dust clears.