ConnHuskBask
Shut Em Down!
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
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I know there is a lot of talk about the Catholics deserving the Big East name and while that may be true (as the BE was originally for hoops) the football members own it now and it's important to keep it.
No matter how much the Big East has been trashed in ESPN and the media, it is still infinitely more of a brand than C-USA, MTN West or trying to rebrand the conference as 'The American Conference' or whatever awful name they likely will decide on.
It's important for a football standpoint, to be viewed as at least the 'middle' conference between the B1G,Pac,ACC,BigXII,SEC and the MAC,C-USA,MTN West,MAC,Sun Belt.
On to hoops. The Big East will still have some nice programs that are certainly better than the Catholic 7. Of course, Tulane, East Carolina will suck, but the top programs are still legitimate NCAA Contenders most season. Also, consider the dregs in the C7 like Providence, Depaul and Seton Hall.
Here's my big point though - I think keeping the name, the Big East, helps to maintain our relationship with MSG and The Big East Championship.
MSG has the ability to re-do it's contract with the Big East based on current membership and I have an alternate take on why the Big East MAY stick with the football schools.
The Catholic 7 will have better overall 'name' schools and probably slightly more marketable in terms of TV, but for MSG, in terms of attendance I still think the football schools stand to be more likely to sell the building out. At the end of the day, the C7 are still small private schools with small almuni bases that don't generate a ton of ticket sales.
Given that UConn, Temple, Cinci and Memphis are likely to be in the semis-final every year, I would think that those matchups are way more bankable in terms of tickets sold than relying on St. John's to sell out the Garden. If you could get 3/4 every year for Friday/Saturday I think you'll sell more tickets than what the C7 will provide on UConn alone.
I think it's crucial for our basketball recruiting to keep MSG and the Big East brand.
UConn Basketball playing under some BS 'Big American Conference' name with a Tourney in Memphis is going to absolutely kill us in hoops.
No matter how much the Big East has been trashed in ESPN and the media, it is still infinitely more of a brand than C-USA, MTN West or trying to rebrand the conference as 'The American Conference' or whatever awful name they likely will decide on.
It's important for a football standpoint, to be viewed as at least the 'middle' conference between the B1G,Pac,ACC,BigXII,SEC and the MAC,C-USA,MTN West,MAC,Sun Belt.
On to hoops. The Big East will still have some nice programs that are certainly better than the Catholic 7. Of course, Tulane, East Carolina will suck, but the top programs are still legitimate NCAA Contenders most season. Also, consider the dregs in the C7 like Providence, Depaul and Seton Hall.
Here's my big point though - I think keeping the name, the Big East, helps to maintain our relationship with MSG and The Big East Championship.
MSG has the ability to re-do it's contract with the Big East based on current membership and I have an alternate take on why the Big East MAY stick with the football schools.
The Catholic 7 will have better overall 'name' schools and probably slightly more marketable in terms of TV, but for MSG, in terms of attendance I still think the football schools stand to be more likely to sell the building out. At the end of the day, the C7 are still small private schools with small almuni bases that don't generate a ton of ticket sales.
Given that UConn, Temple, Cinci and Memphis are likely to be in the semis-final every year, I would think that those matchups are way more bankable in terms of tickets sold than relying on St. John's to sell out the Garden. If you could get 3/4 every year for Friday/Saturday I think you'll sell more tickets than what the C7 will provide on UConn alone.
I think it's crucial for our basketball recruiting to keep MSG and the Big East brand.
UConn Basketball playing under some BS 'Big American Conference' name with a Tourney in Memphis is going to absolutely kill us in hoops.