Big East expansion exercise approaching 2025… | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Big East expansion exercise approaching 2025…

Storrs South said:
Gregg Marshall is also 58. It just seems silly to me to add a school that affects 11 other institutions when said addition hinges on one person. Few starts this season with a suspension after a DUI incident this summer. No one is perfect but doesn't inspire confidence when, again, you're making a business decision that has serious long term outcomes.

It's not just a bad contract that will go away in a few years. DePaul came from CUSA and has been a dreg for 16 years now.

Gonzaga is small private school so you don't get state support backing with a low enrollment & endowment not in a big market. It's Wichita State / AAC 2.0 - fantastic now, very dicey long term. Then add the travel to boot.

But if FOX is telling the Big East to go poach them from ESPN to get $X/year on the next TV deal their hands may be tied.
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I think you're severely underestimating Gonzaga as a program. You're talking one of the top arguably top 8 programs of the last twenty years.

I'm not saying it's a perfect fit due to geography, but they are the only plausible addition that makes any sense whatsoever.
 
shizzle787 said:
No interest in expansion. Pulling from a candidate pool of mid-majors would hurt the brand of the conference. The only school that would qualify is Gonzaga, but I believe they are too far away to make it work. I also like the double round robin.
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ConnHuskBask said:
I think you're severely underestimating Gonzaga as a program. You're talking one of the top arguably top 8 programs of the last twenty years.

I'm not saying it's a perfect fit due to geography, but they are the only plausible addition that makes any sense whatsoever.
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I see Temple as the only possible Option 2 (football goes Indy) after Gonzaga and I don’t see Gonzaga as realistic.

Adding A10 schools seems lame. Still, if Val is interested, she’s been told by networks that she should be.
 
Hoophound said:
I see Temple as the only possible Option 2 (football goes Indy) after Gonzaga and I don’t see Gonzaga as realistic.

Adding A10 schools seems lame. Still, if Val is interested, she’s been told by networks that she should be.
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I'd love to see Temple, West Virginia, and Navy go FBS independent and have Temple and West Virginia join the Big East for hoops while Navy becomes a fixture on the football schedule.
 
I’ll take Kansas but their buyout is too much and I don’t see them leaving. Gonzaga too far away. They’re in Washington for those who want to add them.
 
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ConnHuskBask said:
I'd love to see Temple, West Virginia, and Navy go FBS independent and have Temple and West Virginia join the Big East for hoops while Navy becomes a fixture on the football schedule.
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If we get to the point of that happening, we can put together a nice little all sports conference. The B12 will have to crumble first.
 
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EricLA said:
What about schools that have historically been good, or have the potential to be good? Maybe in a better league they start to rise again? St. Joe's? BU? Maybe those are bad examples. I'm sure the board could come up with better north-east'ish schools that might be a good fit.

None obviously that are as good as Gonzaga, but they didn't get there overnight either...
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BU? If we are looking for local schools as that would join the NBE how about UHartford, Fairfield, or Yeshiva?

does a team make the conference on average better and will make the whole conference more money or less?

sorry - I should have assumed you were jesting. Maybe they are not bad examples, they are.
 
Storrs South said:
Gregg Marshall is also 58. It just seems silly to me to add a school that affects 11 other institutions when said addition hinges on one person. Few starts this season with a suspension after a DUI incident this summer. No one is perfect but doesn't inspire confidence when, again, you're making a business decision that has serious long term outcomes.

It's not just a bad contract that will go away in a few years. DePaul came from CUSA and has been a dreg for 16 years now.

Gonzaga is small private school so you don't get state support backing with a low enrollment & endowment not in a big market. It's Wichita State / AAC 2.0 - fantastic now, very dicey long term.
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You're comparing Gonzaga to Wichita and DePaul?

You think Few might be gone because he got a DUI?
 
1. Long term Gonzaga needs the Big East to stabilize its future post Few (whenever that may be).

2. Add 3 western teams to allow 2 seven team divisions; being Gonzaga, and St. Mary’s California, with either Loyola Marymount (to grab the LosAngeles market), or Pepperdine.
 
VCU, Temple are the only two that make sense geographically - love to say St Bonnies but not sure what they bring besides basketball, but then again who cares
 
superjohn said:
You're comparing Gonzaga to Wichita and DePaul?

You think Few might be gone because he got a DUI?
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Few won't be gone because of a DUI. I am just drawing the comparison that Gonzaga and Wichita State, while both with tremendous success the last decade, have been a product of one person. That one person can be here today, gone tomorrow as was the case with Marshall. The new coach looks promising but the aspirations of that program are no longer the same (+ the collapse of the AAC). And considering how much Few makes and how high profile is, not exactly feeling great about 11 athletic departments and one conference betting on that one guy.

Yes the same could be said for UConn 10 years ago with Calhoun, but UConn is a public flagship university with a large enrollment and located near recruiting hot beds in basketball.

Will high level recruits have interest in playing so many games in 2-3 time zones away?

The DePaul acknowledgment was not a comparison as much as calling out that a bad school addition often doesn't just go away. Sure Temple got kicked out but that's rare. DePaul has hung around for 16 years and done nothing.

Ignoring the travel, it has potential to be great for the next 10-15 years assuming Few doesn't do something stupid (see Gregg Marshall). But in those years, if he goes, I think the program could really be in trouble in an east coach / midwest centric conference. 10-15 years of good Gonzaga would be a lot of fun. It also seems like a bad idea just because of that travel component (for Gonzaga, for everyone else who cares it's one game a season).

But at the end of the day, FOX (or ESPN) will dictate to Val what to do and will likely comply in order to maximize $ and exposure for next deal.
 
Dayton/Xavier reminds me of some of the old Big East rivalries. Not sure if Xavier would want it but I think they make the most sense out of all teams mentioned (outside Gonzaga of course).
 
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Storrs South said:
Gregg Marshall is also 58. It just seems silly to me to add a school that affects 11 other institutions when said addition hinges on one person. Few starts this season with a suspension after a DUI incident this summer. No one is perfect but doesn't inspire confidence when, again, you're making a business decision that has serious long term outcomes.

It's not just a bad contract that will go away in a few years. DePaul came from CUSA and has been a dreg for 16 years now.

Gonzaga is small private school so you don't get state support backing with a low enrollment & endowment not in a big market. It's Wichita State / AAC 2.0 - fantastic now, very dicey long term. Then add the travel to boot.

But if FOX is telling the Big East to go poach them from ESPN to get $X/year on the next TV deal their hands may be tied.
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If I were to guess, fox is offering marginally more money than the previous TV Deal. They have the leverage. Basketball is an ok product but without football there needs to be something to up the money. Gonzaga def fits that but not necessarily. I think Memphis is just as extreme. Something that brings eye balls to the networks.
That being said. Gonzaga would fit the mold of a team that helps fox.
 
Storrs South said:
Few won't be gone because of a DUI. I am just drawing the comparison that Gonzaga and Wichita State, while both with tremendous success the last decade, have been a product of one person. That one person can be here today, gone tomorrow as was the case with Marshall. The new coach looks promising but the aspirations of that program are no longer the same (+ the collapse of the AAC). And considering how much Few makes and how high profile is, not exactly feeling great about 11 athletic departments and one conference betting on that one guy.

Yes the same could be said for UConn 10 years ago with Calhoun, but UConn is a public flagship university with a large enrollment and located near recruiting hot beds in basketball.

Will high level recruits have interest in playing so many games in 2-3 time zones away?

The DePaul acknowledgment was not a comparison as much as calling out that a bad school addition often doesn't just go away. Sure Temple got kicked out but that's rare. DePaul has hung around for 16 years and done nothing.

Ignoring the travel, it has potential to be great for the next 10-15 years assuming Few doesn't do something stupid (see Gregg Marshall). But in those years, if he goes, I think the program could really be in trouble in an east coach / midwest centric conference. 10-15 years of good Gonzaga would be a lot of fun. It also seems like a bad idea just because of that travel component (for Gonzaga, for everyone else who cares it's one game a season).

But at the end of the day, FOX (or ESPN) will dictate to Val what to do and will likely comply in order to maximize $ and exposure for next deal.
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I guess I don't get why you're inflating Wichita and selling Gonzaga short. They aren't at all on the same footing...

Gonzaga recruits nationally/internationally and Seattle is a basketball hotbed. Who cares that Gonzaga is a small Catholic private school and not a flagship state University? The Big East is a league of small Catholic private basketball schools. UConn is the only state flagship University in the league.

The only hurdle is geography which could be fixed with creative scheduling and figuring out what to do with non-revenue sports. I can't believe anyone wouldn't want them for their basketball and brand. They are one of the best programs in the country and a national brand.
 
Any chance Memphis would be able to join and keep football in the AAC? The AAC wouldn't be thrilled but they'd probably keep the school as football only because what other options do they have?
 
Gonzaga wasn't the same before Few got there, but they won 170 games in the previous 8 years, and were coming off an Elite 8 appearance when he replaced Dan Monson. They also recently completed a new training/practice facility. People had the same concerns about Butler and Creighton, and they've turned out fine.
 
Tampahusky said:
I’ll take Kansas but their buyout is too much and I don’t see them leaving. Gonzaga too far away. They’re in Washington for those who want to add them.
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So travel partner for Georgetown?
 
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University fit would be important if the schools were driving the realignment bus. But it's the network, and the networks don't give a shred of care about compatibility. They won't foist a school on a conference necessarily, but they're not going to give money for SLU or Dayton.
 
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Throw out all of your partisan rooting interests and think of this like a mathematician working for Fox Sports with a job to perform.

Which school adds the largest potential fanbase that would realistically say yes to the offer?

Which school brings the Big East to a new state with a flagship university that again would accept the offer?

And if the answer turns your stomach you are just adding fuel to the fire with that angst. Great sporting events that draw TV audiences are largely built around that stomach turning angst otherwise known as a "RIVALRY".
 
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NowInStorrs said:
Any chance Memphis would be able to join and keep football in the AAC? The AAC wouldn't be thrilled but they'd probably keep the school as football only because what other options do they have?
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No way in hell the Catholics want Memphis around.
 
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