ACC or bust

[nelsonmuntz]

Lots of rumors of Louisville, Cincinnati and WVU all finding homes. Herbst and Rutgers are "all in" on an ACC strategy. No one from the Big East is saying anything. It looks like total paralysis.

The optimistic Nelson would say that Herbst knows we are protected and that is why she is not even bothering with the Big East. Or maybe she knows she has to kill the league to force ND to a decision, and that UConn will come out with a home on the back end. Maybe the summer meeting between Swofford, Beebe and Marinatto was an agreement between the three of them to protect any of their leftover conference members that didn't find a home to the extent they were able.

Let's hope. Because no one is even trying to hold the Big East together.

 

[CTMike]

There is nothing left to hold together at this point! You are right, no one is trying to hold the Big East together, and this would be the case even if Herbst shouted from the rooftops that we puffy heart the Big East 4eva.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The weird thing is no one else seems to care either. Where are Cincinnati and USF complaining that they are being abandoned?

 

[CTMike]

What good would complaining do? They are working on exit strategies like everyone else. Some will find a home elsewhere, some will have to combine with whatever remnants remain. All I care is that UConn finds a new home. ACC or bust indeed!

 

[uconnbaseball]

I see we are giving up on the Big 10. Are we sure that isn't happening? We give them a unique market, something we cannot offer the ACC.

 

[CTMike]

I'll take anything besides the remnants of the Big East.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Where are Cincinnati and USF complaining that they are being abandoned?

Other than on the Cinci and USF boards, sports and news media, etc.?

 

[SAMCRO]

I don't believe any of the FB schools have really complained about being abandoned (I could be wrong). People were surprised, caught off guard, disappointed, but havent heard that muchbacklash towards SyraPitt from the FB schools. Marinate is the only one I've heard bad mouthing them publicly, which tells me he is as big of a buffoon as most here believed. He really thought all was good in BE land.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't believe any of the FB schools have really complained about being abandoned (I could be wrong). People were surprised, caught off guard, disappointed, but havent heard that muchbacklash towards SyraPitt from the FB schools. Marinate is the only one I've heard bad mouthing them publicly, which tells me he is as big of a buffoon as most here believed. He really thought all was good in BE land.

My point is that a week later, there is virtually no dialogue on trying to hold the league together. I hope this means that the football schools think they have high probability alternatives.

 

[Revrat]

Because nobody wants to hold it together. Why on earth would you want a seat at the table with a bunch of people that are lying through their teeth?

 

[gars44]

My point is that a week later, there is virtually no dialogue on trying to hold the league together. I hope this means that the football schools think they have high probability alternatives.

One would like to think so, but if past performance is any indication, I'd have to think that there is just a void right now that may or may not be filled. So much has been said and done by the conference members in the past couple of weeks, that nobody feels like talking or listening.

 

[CTMike]

My point is that a week later, there is virtually no dialogue on trying to hold the league together. I hope this means that the football schools think they have high probability alternatives.

To me it seems that there is plenty of dialogue on holding the league together- I'm sure Marianatto has been a very busy man and exploring many options. I fully expect that dialogue to continue until this all shakes out.

 

[DogMania]

I'll be shocked if the league holds together. A large conference made up of FB/BB and BB only schools is simply problematic in this current collegiate athletics climate. The NCAA requiring 12 FB programs to hold a conference championship and the BCS structure simply struck the Big East fuse that has been burning ever since.

Now I wouldn't be surprised to see the remnant BE FB programs that don't find a new home soon add a few D1 FB programs to get back to 8 or more. That's assuming they many of the remaining programs are not able to find a good home elsewhere. I don't know what the critical mass would be but if WVU, UL, UConn and RU all find new conferences soon, forget it! And even if they do build back up, it's just a matter of time before it gets raided again or loses it's BCS auto bid, and then what?

I wounder if the FB only schools are hoping to hang on to the FB schools for dear life. I still think a day will come when the BCS conference schools break off from the NCAA and form their own mega conference. So many of the ADs and some school presidents must be champing at the bit to kick that huge NCAA rule book and those who try to enforce it to the curb. If a new association were to form and the BE is no longer a BCS conference, it would destroy some of the elite BB only programs.

I'm saying this will happen anytime soon, or even ever, but it sure seems to be heading that way. If schools are willing to bail on conferences they've been a part of for decades to chase after the money, what's going to stop these mega conferences from deciding to take all of the pie and no longer share it the conferences in the outside looking in?

Face it, building up the BE is only putting a band-aid on a broken arm. I think those at Pitt and SU feared that the FB schools were not about to break away from the FB only ones and the league as it is currently constituted is simply not in position to add better FB programs. Yeah, they added TCU which is not in the East, but unless they split from the BB only schools how big could they BE grow? There simply aren't many mid to northeast FB powers that are there for the taking. SU and Pitt realized that there are simply few good options out there and once the ACC came knocking at their door, the decision was really not that hard to make. Imagine if UConn, ND & RU jumped first? Then that would leave one slot if at all for Pitt & SU.

Okay, I'm likely stating the obvious, but once SU & Pitt announced their departure it became every man for himself. We'll either see some token let's hold this together statements or none at all. If the ACC doesn't take them, then UConn could be in a whole heap of trouble. If it doesn't look like there's a home for us, and recruiting starts to suffer in both FB and BB, it could be a big time spiral downward. Add that to JC retiring within the next few years.

I'm not worried or panicked. I think in the end, we'll land in the ACC. If that door does shut on us, then I'll begin to worry.

 

[Excalibur]

I'll take anything besides the remnants of the Big East.

That is a dangerous gamble. Given the likelihood of the Armageddon scenario, you may not be saying that in 6 months.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The armageddon scenario? Is that a robert ludlum book?

I think that none of us really know what's going on behind the scenes, and that the worst case scenario, is that we proceed any longer than the expiration of the current ESPN broadcasting contract at the end of 2013 with anything resembling the status quo/

What has become clear to me, as the dust has settled, is that we are in a position of power, as long as we exude proper leadership.

Why? We as a conference, have got BCS AQ status, and adding TCU and losing Syracuse and Pitt only makes that stronger.

Priority #1 is to retain TCU, and put the control of a BCS conference in the hands of BCS schools Period.

We absolutely CANNOT let providence pee all over the BCS conference anymore and let us be a breeding ground for the ACC to grow.

If they are not willing to secede leadership of the conference to a new leadership, then the catholics have got to go.

WHo the new leadership would be? I have no idea - that's up to the presidents and AD's of the all sports colleges to decide. If a new leadership decides to keep the catholics, so be it. I'm not against that.

Where the new leadership would HQ? Anywhere but Providence.

 

[mattp]

I see we are giving up on the Big 10. Are we sure that isn't happening? We give them a unique market, something we cannot offer the ACC.

i agree, i think we'd be more attractive to the B10 than the ACC. by adding UConn/Rutgers, the Big10 could lay some claim to NYC, which is their number two goal after adding ND. for the ACC all we really do is fill in their TV demo footprint. with the Big10 we actually would help expand it, and i think that's what's more important in today's day and age. that's why Pitt was wanted by the ACC, because it really pushes their footprint out a ways, and i'm sure they're also hoping that adding Cuse will give the ACC what they thought they were getting with BC, and that's the NE market.

 

[The Funster]

My dream scenario is that the ACC calls Herbst and offers an invite and she replies, "No thank you, UConn has accepted a bid from the B1G. Thanks for thinking of us though!"

 

[mattp]

My dream scenario is that the ACC calls Herbst and offers an invite and she replies, "No thank you, UConn has accepted a bid from the B1G. Thanks for thinking of us though!"

that would make me jump up, scream, and high five myself at work before strutting around the office until i'm almost fired.