BE Commissioner: Expansion Possible Before 2024

[shizzle787]

1st, I'm a Husky Ice Hockey & Football Fan above Basketball, and was horrified when UConn rejoined the Big East, as it was a signal that they could be abandoning Football, but given the absolute dumpster fire that the AAC is now, it was a good move in retrospect. That said, IMHO, any conference addition that does not add geographic rivalries doesn't make sense to me. I watch as many games as I can, and quite frankly, have no interest in a Wednesday night game at Gonzaga that starts at 11:00 PM. So, that said, other than the potential of more schools going Independent in football, who would be good Non BCS fits?

Temple if Villanova would let them in.

 

[navery12]

That’s sure been the case with Butler post Stevens

That's not even really true. They've had a rough last few years but they made 4 straight NCAA tournaments after Stevens left from 2015 to 2018 and were a top 25 and likely tournament team again in 2020 before the tournament was canceled

 

[Storrs South]

Temple if Villanova would let them in.

Temple brings nothing, it was bad enough playing them in the AAC

 

[ThabeetDown]

Temple if Villanova would let them in.

How does this help anyone? Temple is not a national brand. They don't move the needle whatsoever. They were good from 1984-2001. Had a nice little run in the A-10 under Fran. Have been irrelevant for the last 10 years in the AAC.

 

[superjohn]

That's not even really true. They've had a rough last few years but they made 4 straight NCAA tournaments after Stevens left from 2015 to 2018 and were a top 25 and likely tournament team again in 2020 before the tournament was canceled

They were definitely going to make the tournament the Covid year. That really hurt some Big East programs/coaches.

 

[NJHusky]

That's not even really true. They've had a rough last few years but they made 4 straight NCAA tournaments after Stevens left from 2015 to 2018 and were a top 25 and likely tournament team again in 2020 before the tournament was canceled

Depends on how you define success. They’ve been to the sweet 16 once since Stevens left. That’s nearly 10 years

 

[HuskyHawk]

Why is Gonzaga a nightmare? I think you can work it in sports, leagues are national. UCLA is in the Big Ten and plays Penn State. Geography is no longer an issue anymore, it is are the institutions of like minds? A West Coast Catholic school is perfect.

It’s a nightmare even for basketball. The last thing I want is a UConn vs Gonzaga road game starting at 10:00 PM or later. The west coast sucks for sports. I would rather never have an opponent west of the central time zone. Of course it’s worse still for actual travel among the other sports programs. Gonzaga doesn’t move the needle them way people think. It wouldn’t add any TV money beyond the cost of paying them a share.

 

[navery12]

Depends on how you define success. They’ve been to the sweet 16 once since Stevens left. That’s nearly 10 years

That's definitely not success for UConn, so wouldn't be happy with that for this team. But for a team that's somewhere around the 8th or 9th best BE team that's still really successful and was absolutely worth adding

 

[dennismenace]

I don’t think u can financially compare UCLA or USC playing B1G schools to Gonzaga playing BE schools. The odds of Gonzaga crashing after Few are a lot higher than USC falling off the sports map. Them joining the b1g added 30 mill per team. How much is Gonzaga adding to each big east Team?

From Uconn's perspective which is rebuilding it's national brand with west coast recruits the tv exposure out there can only help. Perhaps add a home/away game with say UCLA on west coast trips?
and just think about this: Just imagine having Carrot Top as an opponent again!

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don't get all these posts of what they could become. Sure, they could start sucking if they make a horrible hire. That goes for just about every program who isn't UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke. Their chances of sucking are greatly reduced if they are a part of the Big East.

You don't get the apprehension of adding a team in Eastern Washington to the Big East who's run to prominence has been under one generational head coach?

I'm not sure being in the Big East is as huge of a selling point as you say either - that's an outrageous amount of travel to want to sign up for as a HS recruit.

 

[dennismenace]

Great read.

That article is very revealing. I remember when "new math" (Venn diagrams etc>) was introduced in the late 1960's. It was sold as "it's not so important that you get the right answer but that you understand "how math works". The other thing the article reminded me of is when I go to the deli in the supermarket and ask for a third of a pound of cheese or ham I often get the strangest looks so I say you know............ .333 or 1/3 and still the look so I say in between half pound and quarter pound and then the light goes on. Strange.

 

[superjohn]

Depends on how you define success. They’ve been to the sweet 16 once since Stevens left. That’s nearly 10 years

It's been 9 seasons since Stevens left with 8 NCAA tournaments, they won 5 tournament games during that time period and would've been an NCAA team the Covid year with no tournament. During that same time UConn won 7 tournament games, 6 of them all happened to be in the same season. Uconn would've missed the NCAA tournament in the Covid year unless they won the AAC tournament.

 

[superjohn]

You don't get the apprehension of adding a team in Eastern Washington to the Big East who's run to prominence has been under one generational head coach?

I'm not sure being in the Big East is as huge of a selling point as you say either - that's an outrageous amount of travel to want to sign up for as a HS recruit.

No I don't get the apprehension about adding one of the best teams in the country and I couldn't care less about travel. UConn and the other Big East teams would travel out there once per season. The only ones who should look at the travel is Gonzaga and the costs of that would be more than taken care of with the money bump.

 

[ThabeetDown]

You don't get the apprehension of adding a team in Eastern Washington to the Big East who's run to prominence has been under one generational head coach?

I'm not sure being in the Big East is as huge of a selling point as you say either - that's an outrageous amount of travel to want to sign up for as a HS recruit.

Not if they're an East Coast recruit, which would open things up for them...besides, would a recruit (from anywhere) rather play UConn/Nova/Creighton or Pacific/Pepperdine/Portland. The top players on the team last year were from Texas, Ontario/Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, etc. They recruit nationally (and internationally).

If you have to get on a plane, it's not that much of a difference to go 3 hours vs 5 hours at the end of the day. The time zone changes would be the biggest factor. But if you do 2 road games at a time (UConn-PC, St. John's/Hall, etc.), it lessens the burden.

 

[NJHusky]

It's been 9 seasons since Stevens left with 8 NCAA tournaments, they won 5 tournament games during that time period and would've been an NCAA team the Covid year with no tournament. During that same time UConn won 7 tournament games, 6 of them all happened to be in the same season. Uconn would've missed the NCAA tournament in the Covid year unless they won the AAC tournament.

Well 9 is nearly 10

 

[HuskyHawk]

No I don't get the apprehension about adding one of the best teams in the country and I couldn't care less about travel. UConn and the other Big East teams would travel out there once per season. The only ones who should look at the travel is Gonzaga and the costs of that would be more than taken care of with the money bump.

You think Gonzaga fans want most of their games to be at 4:00 PM? As for the Bog East helping them, I think playing in a conference where they will regularly lose games for the first time ever will probably diminish their reputation.

 

[JohnFSilver]

That article is very revealing. I remember when "new math" (Venn diagrams etc>) was introduced in the late 1960's. It was sold as "it's not so important that you get the right answer but that you understand "how math works". The other thing the article reminded me of is when I go to the deli in the supermarket and ask for a third of a pound of cheese or ham I often get the strangest looks so I say you know............ .333 or 1/3 and still the look so I say in between half pound and quarter pound and then the light goes on. Strange.

New Math made me laugh.

I taught 6th and 7th grade pre algebra as a long-term sub couple of years ago. The common core math is terrific to build towards algebra (not all teachers agree).

It’s just different because it is layered it builds upon previous work. Teachers don’t teach towards mastery. So a 6th grade teacher won’t know if their kid has mastered the material, because they aren’t intended to.

Anyhow, Funny thing is everyday after school, day before assignments, I had to go to the math teacher and get tutored. It all makes perfect sense, but the process is important.

To me, just getting the answer your own way isn’t quite effective once you get out of basic arithmetic.

Like the carry the 1 doesn’t exist anymore. Lol.

Also, who only gets 1/3 pound of cheese? Buy a poundI’m .

 

[superjohn]

You think Gonzaga fans want most of their games to be at 4:00 PM?

Have you looked at the college landscape?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

No I don't get the apprehension about adding one of the best teams in the country and I couldn't care less about travel. UConn and the other Big East teams would travel out there once per season. The only ones who should look at the travel is Gonzaga and the costs of that would be more than taken care of with the money bump.

Gonzaga's travel was the point I was making. I don't care if UConn has to fly out there one time a year and play at 10pm.

Not if they're an East Coast recruit, which would open things up for them...besides, would a recruit (from anywhere) rather play UConn/Nova/Creighton or Pacific/Pepperdine/Portland. The top players on the team last year were from Texas, Ontario/Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, etc. They recruit nationally (and internationally).

If you have to get on a plane, it's not that much of a difference to go 3 hours vs 5 hours at the end of the day. The time zone changes would be the biggest factor. But if you do 2 road games at a time (UConn-PC, St. John's/Hall, etc.), it lessens the burden.

Gonzaga isn't going to start recruiting the northeast and why would anyone from the northeast want to play there anyway if local Big East or ACC offers were on the table.

 

[superjohn]

Gonzaga's travel was the point I was making. I don't care if UConn has to fly out there one time a year and play at 10pm.



Gonzaga isn't going to start recruiting the northeast and why would anyone from the northeast want to play there anyway if local Big East or ACC offers were on the table.

Why would anyone from the northeast want to play there? Because they're one of the best basketball programs in the country. Why would Gonzaga recruit the northeast? Because there's great basketball players in the northeast.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Why would anyone from the northeast want to play there? Because they're one of the best basketball programs in the country. Why would Gonzaga recruit the northeast? Because there's great basketball players in the northeast.

Gonzaga has had 1 high school recruit from east of the Mississippi River in the last decade plus (Chicago). Does it make sense to you that Gonzaga's staff should or would want to fly cross country to sit in HS gyms in the Northeast each time see some AAU game?

I can see why Gonzaga could be added - you don't seem to be willing to budge from there being no cause for reasonable concerns.

 

[superjohn]

Gonzaga has had 1 high school recruit from east of the Mississippi River in the last decade plus (Chicago). Does it make sense to you that Gonzaga's staff should or would want to fly cross country to sit in HS gyms in the Northeast each time see some AAU game?

I can see why Gonzaga could be added - you don't seem to be willing to budge from there being no cause for reasonable concerns.

UConn just got a stud player from Seattle, they didn't have to fly across the country all the time and sit in Seattle gyms. Gonzaga hasn't needed to recruit northeast kids, I'm sure if they were in the Big East they would look at some northeast kids. They recruit nationally and internationally, they got the best players in the country from Minneapolis and Omaha. They've gotten kids from the basketball factories Montverde Academy in Florida and Huntington Prep in West Virginia.

How on earth is Gonzaga's recruiting a reasonable concern? They're awesome at recruiting.

 

[navery12]

Gonzaga has had 1 high school recruit from east of the Mississippi River in the last decade plus (Chicago). Does it make sense to you that Gonzaga's staff should or would want to fly cross country to sit in HS gyms in the Northeast each time see some AAU game?

I can see why Gonzaga could be added - you don't seem to be willing to budge from there being no cause for reasonable concerns.

This is just not even true, they've had multiple. Braden Huff (Illinois), Pavel Zakharov (Florida), Filip Petrusev (Florida), Zach Norvell Jr (Illinois), Josh Perkins (West Virginia)

 

[Captbluefin]

What happens when the coach leaves and the BE is stuck with the Zags.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This is just not even true, they've had multiple. Braden Huff (Illinois), Pavel Zakharov (Florida), Filip Petrusev (Florida), Zach Norvell Jr (Illinois), Josh Perkins (West Virginia)

Fair - I was looking at hometowns and omitted the basketball academies.

UConn just got a stud player from Seattle, they didn't have to fly across the country all the time and sit in Seattle gyms. Gonzaga hasn't needed to recruit northeast kids, I'm sure if they were in the Big East they would look at some northeast kids. They recruit nationally and internationally, they got the best players in the country from Minneapolis and Omaha. They've gotten kids from the basketball factories Montverde Academy in Florida and Huntington Prep in West Virginia.

How on earth is Gonzaga's recruiting a reasonable concern? They're awesome at recruiting.

I only said they weren't going to all of a sudden start recruiting the Northeast and why would anyone from the northeast want to go there.

Look, Gonzaga has one of the best college basketball coaches ever and has made them one of the countries best and most consistent programs. I think it's inextricably linked to him and wouldn't make a long term decision based on performance that not only isn't sustainable but is almost certain to fall off dramatically. That doesn't mean they will suck, it's just we'd be buying them for past performance.