Big East expansion exercise approaching 2025… | Page 9 | The Boneyard

Big East expansion exercise approaching 2025…

nadavtheman said:
The Pac12 has been scheduling like this for years.
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Just a few years ago the Arizona WCBB coach said travel was brutal. And they have not only a Tucson airport but are <2 hrs from Phoenix. And most PAC schools are near major airports.
 
MU in MKE said:
Wait wait... hold on. How much do you travel and is it ever to the midwest? You have to get your times and distances right first before you evaluate this.

Cincy, Indy, Chicago, Milwaukee are all 2-2.5 hr charter flights from NYC (I'm assuming Hartford is like, 10 min different at most??) Spokane is minimum 3 times the distance. While it doesn't mean the flight is 3 times longer, you have to figure it's 6+ hours.

Knowing that, do you want to ask your question again? Do you think there's a difference between riding a plane for 2-2.5 hrs vs 6-6.5 hrs? I sure think there is. Especially for people who are vertically blessed!

I have mixed feelings on the distance and generally think it could work, but still have concerns about the olympic sports. But knowing the above has a big impact on how I feel about it. if it was only 3 hours vs 5 I don't think it would be a big of a deal.
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does every BE school charter flights? there are definitely no direct flights to spokane from most of the airports the BE schools are closest to, hartford included. if i had to guess i'd say jfk and o'hare would be the only two. having to catch a connection from the northeast to washington during the winter months is NOT fun.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
UMass - Some basketball history, Big East could use a school in Massachusetts, UMass has a big alumni base in the northeast, school is on the rise academically, this move would easily box the ACC out of any relevance in the northeast, and hopefully put another nail in the BCU abomination of an athletic program. UMass is one of the few available programs in the footprint that could help with a TV and streaming contract.

Also, if UConn ever wants to be called up to a P5 conference, it would help if Syracuse's and BCU's athletic programs were ground into dust.
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Do we want to elevate UMass to our level? If they can't compete in the A-10 why would you think they can compete in the Big East?
 
nadavtheman said:
I think the travel thing is a bit overrated when you already have schools like Creighton, Depaul, Xavier, Butler and Marquette in the BE. All require a plane ride. What's really the difference between getting on a plane for 3 hours to travel to a game vs. 5 hours (other than 2 hours). And there's certainly a way to do this. All the East Coast schools do a Gonzaga/Creighton back to back. The Pac12 has been scheduling like this for years.
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For those of you with children and grandchildren, it's time to reduce, not increase, the carbon footprint of the big east. A flight from Bradley to Spokane has a much larger carbon footprint than a flight to Indianapolis. Eventually reality will catch up to college sports. The Big East should only have teams within an electric bus range. Plenty of teams to play without creating more climate change problems for your offspring.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
UMass - Some basketball history, Big East could use a school in Massachusetts, UMass has a big alumni base in the northeast, school is on the rise academically, this move would easily box the ACC out of any relevance in the northeast, and hopefully put another nail in the BCU abomination of an athletic program. UMass is one of the few available programs in the footprint that could help with a TV and streaming contract.

Also, if UConn ever wants to be called up to a P5 conference, it would help if Syracuse's and BCU's athletic programs were ground into dust.
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UVM has had a better basketball program than umass for the past 20 years. not that it's a very high bar. should the BE add them too?
 
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borninansonia said:
For those of you with children and grandchildren, it's time to reduce, not increase, the carbon footprint of the big east. A flight from Bradley to Spokane has a much larger carbon footprint than a flight to Indianapolis. Eventually reality will catch up to college sports. The Big East should only have teams within an electric bus range. Plenty of teams to play without creating more climate change problems for your offspring.
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Awkward Season 4 GIF by The Office
 
bendm said:
UVM has had a better basketball program than umass for the past 20 years. not that it's a very high bar. should the BE add them too?
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Absofreakinglutely. Great excuse for a Burlington road trip every year; combo with a ski trip weather permitting. Win-win.
 
nadavtheman said:
I think the travel thing is a bit overrated when you already have schools like Creighton, Depaul, Xavier, Butler and Marquette in the BE. All require a plane ride. What's really the difference between getting on a plane for 3 hours to travel to a game vs. 5 hours (other than 2 hours). And there's certainly a way to do this. All the East Coast schools do a Gonzaga/Creighton back to back. The Pac12 has been scheduling like this for years.
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Hartford is closer to Omaha than Omaha is to Spokane.

I agree with UMass. UVM would be a great road trip and it's really all about fun, isn't it.

shizzle787 said:
Do we want to elevate UMass to our level? If they can't compete in the A-10 why would you think they can compete in the Big East?
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A. Yes, why not. 2. A similar reason UCONN stunk in the AAC and now competes in the Big East. Plus with BCU sunken further and further into irrelevance, UMass would fill the vacuum.

The Pittsburgh market is key but there is nothing there except Pitt.

I really think the conference needs to get into Virginia.
VCU
George Mason
Richmond
Liberty
 
shizzle787 said:
Do we want to elevate UMass to our level? If they can't compete in the A-10 why would you think they can compete in the Big East?
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There are at least 240,000 living UMass alums, many of them in the northeast. There is also no Big East team in Massachusetts, the 15th largest state in the country. There is only one other major conference program in Massachusetts, and that is the BCU dumpster fire. UMass is a rising program academically, only ranked a few spots below UConn in US News. Finally, UMass has been successful at basketball in the past.

If you can find me a large school:

  • with lots of alums in a Top 15 population state
  • that has decent basketball history
  • doesn't have strong competition in its media market and
  • is within the Big East footprint,

Then add that school instead.
 
bendm said:
does every BE school charter flights? there are definitely no direct flights to spokane from most of the airports the BE schools are closest to, hartford included. if i had to guess i'd say jfk and o'hare would be the only two. having to catch a connection from the northeast to washington during the winter months is NOT fun.
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I think they all do, except in cases where it is easily drivable via charter bus. But to your point, it goes back to the Olympic sports. Most of them fly commercial. Same with a good number of the women's teams.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
If you can find me a large school:

  • with lots of alums in a Top 15 population state
  • that has decent basketball history
  • doesn't have strong competition in its media market and
  • is within the Big East footprint,

Then add that school instead.
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then we're adding VCU:
  • over 20k students in the 12th most populous state
  • much better basketball history than UMass
  • no pro teams in virginia and richmond is a bigger market than springfield
  • contiguous with the original BE core and much closer than the 5 midwestern schools
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
There are at least 240,000 living UMass alums, many of them in the northeast. There is also no Big East team in Massachusetts, the 15th largest state in the country. There is only one other major conference program in Massachusetts, and that is the BCU dumpster fire. UMass is a rising program academically, only ranked a few spots below UConn in US News. Finally, UMass has been successful at basketball in the past.

If you can find me a large school:

  • with lots of alums in a Top 15 population state
  • that has decent basketball history
  • doesn't have strong competition in its media market and
  • is within the Big East footprint,

Then add that school instead.
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You’re not wrong. Most of the arguments against UMass are the same ones made by our competitors (that were supposed to be our friends) in keeping us out of a P5. The main strike against UMass is that they’d eat into our pie. That’s an ok position, but you need to admit that it’s a BCU move.
 
shizzle787 said:
Do we want to elevate UMass to our level? If they can't compete in the A-10 why would you think they can compete in the Big East?
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I don't want UMass in the NBE but their A-10 league average record overall isn't worse than UConn's when in the AAC
 
gtcam said:
I don't want UMass in the NBE but their A-10 league average record overall isn't worse than UConn's when in the AAC
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yes it was...the AAC was still a better conference than the A-10
 
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So I did a simple analysis on all of the possible teams the Big East could ask:
Gonzaga
Temple
Wichita State
St. Mary's
Loyola
St. Louis
Dayton
UMass
VCU
URI
St. Joe's
GW
Richmond
Davidson

Memphis was not a candidate due to the Big East already coming out and saying they don't want them.
The Big East cannot poach the P5, MW, or any other AAC teams. The pool of candidates are WCC, AAC, and A-10 teams.

So here are the results:

Most NCAA appearance since 1985:
1. Temple-24
2. Gonzaga-23
3. VCU-14
4. Wichita State-12
5. Dayton/Davidson-10

Avg. NCAA seed since 1985:
1. UMass-4.4
2. Gonzaga-6.6
3. St. Joe's-7
4. Temple-7.8
5. Loyola-7.9

Most Sweet 16 appearances since 1985:
1. Gonzaga-11
2. Temple-5
3. UMass/WSU/Loyola-3

If Gonzaga can't come for whatever reason, IMO Temple is the school to go after. Philly is a big city-it can handle two teams in the Big East. It would also spare an OOC game for both Nova and Temple as they could rotate their Big 5 matchup in conference. If the Big East offered Temple, they would join. IMO, the holdup would be Nova but I think they would still be the big Philly fish.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
UMass - Some basketball history, Big East could use a school in Massachusetts, UMass has a big alumni base in the northeast, school is on the rise academically, this move would easily box the ACC out of any relevance in the northeast, and hopefully put another nail in the BCU abomination of an athletic program. UMass is one of the few available programs in the footprint that could help with a TV and streaming contract.

Also, if UConn ever wants to be called up to a P5 conference, it would help if Syracuse's and BCU's athletic programs were ground into dust.
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In 70+ years, UMass has been in the NCAAs nine times, 5 of them under Cal and 2 in the first two after he left (ie with his players). In the 4 non-Cal years, they are 0-4.

Take out those 7 years and they've been to TWO NCAAs in 60+ years.

I like UMass, but where is the evidence that there is any potential there?
 
MU in MKE said:
I think they all do, except in cases where it is easily drivable via charter bus. But to your point, it goes back to the Olympic sports. Most of them fly commercial. Same with a good number of the women's teams.
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Outside of MCBB, the only team in the Big East that would fly charter is UConn WCBB. All other WCBB and all other sports will be commercial.
 
bendm said:
does every BE school charter flights? there are definitely no direct flights to spokane from most of the airports the BE schools are closest to, hartford included. if i had to guess i'd say jfk and o'hare would be the only two. having to catch a connection from the northeast to washington during the winter months is NOT fun.
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Neither Chicago nor NYC has direct flights to Spokane (according to Orbitz). Generally thru MSP or SEA.
 
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shizzle787 said:
If Gonzaga can't come for whatever reason, IMO Temple is the school to go after. Philly is a big city-it can handle two teams in the Big East. It would also spare an OOC game for both Nova and Temple as they could rotate their Big 5 matchup in conference. If the Big East offered Temple, they would join. IMO, the holdup would be Nova but I think they would still be the big Philly fish.
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youre wasting your time
 
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TeasenDonut said:
What is the reason we can’t poach and does that change anytime soon?
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idk what he's talking about. if a school joins the BE their football team couldnt remain in a p5 conference but the power conference would never agree to that anyways so it's a moot point
 
Vowelguy said:
Neither Chicago nor NYC has direct flights to Spokane (according to Orbitz). Generally thru MSP or SEA.
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Probably Denver as well.
 
By far UMASS is the best add for the Big East and the upcoming television contract negotiations (flagship university, 7 million state population). Yes we hate UMASS and they hate UCONN but that is what great rivalries are made of.

Adding UMASS also makes BCU more irrelevant than they already are which is nice.
 
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Too many fans look at short term success. It’s about eyes and markets. Boston is starving. New York / New England has a boatload of eyes and not too many teams to supply.
Again:
Holy Cross
St Bonaventure
St Joes
Fordham
 
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