Blaudschun--Catholic Schools Met in NYC...

[HuskyHawk]

ESPN needs the Big East basketball conference. I think they will pay up for it. They last thing ESPN wants is the only region in the country that likes basketball more than football with their hoops league on another network.

Every time I think UConn has hit the Armageddon scenario, we seem to find a new one. This scenario would be catastrophic for UConn. I do think football independence or joining the MAC or NNBE for football only while staying with the Big East for basketball and olympic sports would be the better play than joining the NNBE for all sports.

Hell, I've been predicting this scenario for more than a year. As I said while you talked up the BE media rights, ESPN loves the basketball content, and will pay for it. They obviously don't even want the BE football content. Not only do the traditional BB members of the BE not like the new all sports schools, they don't like USF either. This is a win-win for them, if they can find a way to retain the brand, as they improve the overall BB profile and reduce travel costs. I said two weeks ago, UConn, USF and Cinci should sell it to them (with Cinci and UConn joining them for Olympics). Agree to let them keep it for a payout. The NNBE, with a bunch of schools not playing football and a bunch of schools only playing football, plus a few doing both, is and always was a collosal catastrophe waiting to happen.

 

[uconNYC]

This is my hope and I really think it will be considered. Add Xavier, Butler, Dayton, Creighton, St. Louis to get to 12. Then invite UConn, Temple, Cincy, Memphis for all sports except football with the caveat that they can leave at anytime with no penalty. Keep the BE name, keep MSG. Call it a day.​

I don't get the allure of having these gigantic conferences. It means you will play most schools only once. Wouldn't you rather have a 10 team conference and play each school twice? You are essentially giving up an extra game against Georgetown, Villanova and Marquette for games against Dayton, Creighton and St. Louis. Give me quality over quantity.

 

[CL82]

It makes sense - the hoop-onlies need to have a plan moving forward. The football conference is just about one defection away from brain death and even if it survives, it can't be appealing to the basketball schools.

The financial benefits of remaining with a UConn or Cincy-less Big East are probably well outweighed by the burden of having to sell a home ticket slate made up of scrapple like UCF, Tulane and Houston.

I suspect we're seeing the end of the end.

lol at dubbing the NBE as scrapple. I see a major distinction. No one sees what goes into scrapple and thus are willing to purchase it. Everyone can see what has gone into the NBE and thus no one wants it.

WE ARE SCREWED. It will be a long slow slog out of the hell hole we now find ourselves in. I can't believe that BC reached a hand out of the grave to screw us to royally. Our only hope is for 4 major conferences to be formed. Someone would have to pick us up then, right...right?
.

 

[zls44]

ESPN needs the Big East basketball conference. I think they will pay up for it. They last thing ESPN wants is the only region in the country that likes basketball more than football with their hoops league on another network.

Every time I think UConn has hit the Armageddon scenario, we seem to find a new one. This scenario would be catastrophic for UConn. I do think football independence or joining the MAC or NNBE for football only while staying with the Big East for basketball and olympic sports would be the better play than joining the NNBE for all sports.

What, oh totally batshit insane one, makes you think that ESPN made the offer? In your absurd scenario, couldn't it have been NBC (ratings down 46% in November, thanks Bettman)? CBS?

 

[TRest]

lol at dubbing the NBE as scrapple. I see a major distinction. No one sees what goes into scrapple and thus are willing to purchase it. Everyone can see what has gone into the NBE and thus no one wants it.

WE ARE SCREWED. It will be a long slow slog out of the hell hole we now find ourselves in. I can't believe that BC reached a hand out of the grave to screw us to royally. Our only hope is for 4 major conferences to be formed. Someone would have to pick us up then, right...right?
.

This feels to me like an official rendering of major programs and minor programs for football. We got promoted ahead of time by the BE, and are now being slapped down by the rest of the BCS after rescuing their former comrades. We may be headed to an eastcoast football mishmash of cusa/caa/mac level teams. Fortunately, our stadium and fanbase will fit right in. Basketball and olympic sports should cut the best deal possible with BE catholics and best of the rest programs like Temple and Cincy. Keep it northeast as much as possible, and pray for deliverance every day.

 

[CL82]

Strategically thinking, this a perfect scenario.... We can now attack in EVERY direction!!

Reminds me of the 101st airborne (I think) at Bastogne. Upon hearing that the Germans had them surrounded they thought "poor bastards" and proceeded to mass resources selectively, and successfully, attack at various compass points in the Battle of Bulge. I'm not a big WWII guy so feel free to correct that if wrong.

 

[TRest]

Well, we always knew it would be the basketball schools that would get tired of the constant misdirection plays from the FB schools. I guess we can look forward to a "national all sports conference." Or are we looking at UConn being in a conference with

UMass
Buffalo
Temple
East Carolina
Memphis
USF
UCF
Cincinnati.

That is the Warde Manuel of football conferences.

 

[Marty Jackson]

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=4188

Also on the MBB board but posted here per request.

haven't heard it mentioned on the boards, but he mentions that Uconn and Cincy abstained from the vote to add Tulane...
If either thought they'd be in the league long-term, wouldn't they be far more proactive in determining future conference mates???

 

[whaler11]

haven't heard it mentioned on the boards, but he mentions that Uconn and Cincy abstained from the vote to add Tulane...
If either thought they'd be in the league long-term, wouldn't they be far more proactive in determining future conference mates???

Which leads to an obvious question. If the football schools didn't want Tulane and the basketball schools didn't want Tulane - how did Tulane end up with an invite?

 

[TRest]

haven't heard it mentioned on the boards, but he mentions that Uconn and Cincy abstained from the vote to add Tulane...
If either thought they'd be in the league long-term, wouldn't they be far more proactive in determining future conference mates???

They were wrong to think the ACC was coming to save them. I don't think you could find 3 schools that admit to adding Tulane.

 

[whaler11]

haven't heard it mentioned on the boards, but he mentions that Uconn and Cincy abstained from the vote to add Tulane...
If either thought they'd be in the league long-term, wouldn't they be far more proactive in determining future conference mates???

Which leads to an obvious question. If the football schools didn't want Tulane and the basketball schools didn't want Tulane - how did Tulane end up with an invite?

 

[Marty Jackson]

ESPN needs the Big East basketball conference. I think they will pay up for it. They last thing ESPN wants is the only region in the country that likes basketball more than football with their hoops league on another network.

Every time I think UConn has hit the Armageddon scenario, we seem to find a new one. This scenario would be catastrophic for UConn. I do think football independence or joining the MAC or NNBE for football only while staying with the Big East for basketball and olympic sports would be the better play than joining the NNBE for all sports.

how's this for a new low...
Big East breaks apart and MSG signs with the ACC or Big10 for new bb tourney...
So now, not only are we totally screwed for FB, we are now outside the candystore looking in the window at the new BB tourney being played at MSG.
How about that scenario... irony is that we're screwed for no football tradition, but our BB tradition is literally ripped out from under us.

That would essentially dry up the NYC connection with Uconn in BB.

That is armageddon....

 

[CL82]

...and there it is again, the voice in my head screaming "WE'RE SCREWED". It used to be an annoying distraction but it is now an old friend. I can now manage a meeting quite nicely. I need to control the sponaneous head shaking though.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Hell, I've been predicting this scenario for more than a year. As I said while you talked up the BE media rights, ESPN loves the basketball content, and will pay for it. They obviously don't even want the BE football content. Not only do the traditional BB members of the BE not like the new all sports schools, they don't like USF either. This is a win-win for them, if they can find a way to retain the brand, as they improve the overall BB profile and reduce travel costs. I said two weeks ago, UConn, USF and Cinci should sell it to them (with Cinci and UConn joining them for Olympics). Agree to let them keep it for a payout. The NNBE, with a bunch of schools not playing football and a bunch of schools only playing football, plus a few doing both, is and always was a collosal catastrophe waiting to happen.

Given that ESPN will be paying for Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, TCU, Rutgers and Louisville, just through other conferences, it is clear that ESPN did want Big East football. I also think it is likely that the basketball schools end up with a contract on ESPN.

At the end of the day, the only schools ESPN DID NOT want were UConn, Cincinnati and USF.

 

[Vowelguy]

haven't heard it mentioned on the boards, but he mentions that Uconn and Cincy abstained from the vote to add Tulane...
If either thought they'd be in the league long-term, wouldn't they be far more proactive in determining future conference mates???

If you know you don't have the votes, what's the point in voting against your future conference partner?

 

[Vowelguy]

Which leads to an obvious question. If the football schools didn't want Tulane and the basketball schools didn't want Tulane - how did Tulane end up with an invite?

I thought for sure that Tulane was a BB invite -- it was a school that the Catholics would tolerate b/c of the state's large Catholic population.

I don't understand how else they were added.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What, oh totally bat**** insane one, makes you think that ESPN made the offer? In your absurd scenario, couldn't it have been NBC (ratings down 46% in November, thanks Bettman)? CBS?

Because McMurphy is reporting it. Why am I bat**** insane? I thought this worst case was a possibility since February. At the end of the day, ESPN will have paid a lot more for the programs it wanted than it would have had to pay to keep the Big East together. 13 of the 16 NBE programs will find a home, with only UConn, Cincinnati and USF left on the outside. You must be very happy.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Given that ESPN will be paying for Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, TCU, Rutgers and Louisville, just through other conferences, it is clear that ESPN did want Big East football. I also think it is likely that the basketball schools end up with a contract on ESPN.

At the end of the day, the only schools ESPN DID NOT want were UConn, Cincinnati and USF.

Disagree with that. The schools ESPN did not want were UCF, Houston, Memphis, Boise, SDSU, SMU, and yes, probably USF as well. I think ESPN would be happy to have UConn and Cinci, but can't do anything about it.

 

[Dann]

Exactly how many fronts does this war have?

these are not fronts. they are quick bombings. simple. its like when u were a kid and the houses down the street had rocks throw at them but nothing ever came of it. u show up, u rock the place then u go. they will never recover or try to get us back.

we right now have the boston front and cuse fronts. we have defeated the pitt front based off that school being . they waved the white flag by signing a longterm deal with psy for fball games.

just becuase u read the army-navy thread and saw carl's shocking jump over board, that doesn't mean this crew is a mess. we are united and becoming stronger by number each day.

 

[UConn Dan]

UConn to ACC for all sports except football. Figure out a way to make football Indy work.

 

[Jericho]

If you know you don't have the votes, what's the point in voting against your future conference partner?

I'm pretty sure they abstained due to the ACC thing. The official invite to Louisville did not come down until after Tulane was added. None of the schools knew for sure they'd be in the Big East moving forward, so the proper thing would be to abstain. Just as Maryland did not vote on adding Louisville.

 

[UConn Dan]

Just as Maryland did not vote on adding Louisville.

Maryland lost all voting rights by withdrawing.

 

[98Uconn]

Well I sure hope Ward pulls a big floating donut out of his butt in the form of a B1G invite, otherwise it sure does feel like we're taking on lots of water.

#B1GButtDonut

 

[mavblues]

Which leads to an obvious question. If the football schools didn't want Tulane and the basketball schools didn't want Tulane - how did Tulane end up with an invite?

They just showed up - a la George Costanza (Penske).

 

[Pudge]

Reading through these posts ... I find not one person with a backbone. You could not have played for Jim Calhoun & you would flounder/tread water in the most challenging of deals.

I understand what the Providence fans think will happen. Might there be other outcomes possible if Aresco is sitting with 7 Catholic school Presidents?

Further, since 2002, with a strong start we got to nearly 40,000 attendance regularly in Football. I think, with the right AD (Tom Jurich type), we could have a far stronger Fanbase & exciting football. We should be aiming for that. We haven't even put a decade in at the biggest level. As a UConn stakeholder, I WANT Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's basketball games ... and the best possible football games (could be out-of-conference). Price & push the marketing/fanbase with the best you can do. Neither Hathaway not this Fall 2012 campaign showed me anything. If we are dead, let's resurrect ourselves. Fire Warde Manual if that is what we need & Pasqualoni is the absolute nail in our coffin. Let's get out of this hole.

As for Tulane ... their invite had to come from the Private/Catholic wing. Count the votes.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Disagree with that. The schools ESPN did not want were UCF, Houston, Memphis, Boise, SDSU, SMU, and yes, probably USF as well. I think ESPN would be happy to have UConn and Cinci, but can't do anything about it.

No, I am right. If ESPN wanted to add UConn, Cincinnati or USF to another conference, it would be easy to do so. ESPN has decided it doesn't want to add UConn.

 

[Rumrunner]

and now @blauds is saying that the catholics get to leave the Big East with no exit fees if they leave en masse due to a provision put into the big east bylaws/const? when bc, vatech, miami left.

he also says they get to keep the big east name and ncaa tourney revenue.

 

[Doggie Style]

Reminds me of the 101st airborne (I think) at Bastogne. Upon hearing that the Germans had them surrounded they thought "poor bastards" and proceeded to mass resources selectively, and successfully, attack at various compass points in the Battle of Bulge. I'm not a big WWII guy so feel free to correct that if wrong.

Sounds about right!
What I was referring to (but didn't want to get political) was a quote by Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller/USMC in Korea, when he was briefed by his Intel Officers that informed him: "Sir, they are in front of us, behind us and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1! Puller replied : "Good, I can attack them in any direction! They cant get away from us now!!!" During this engagement the 1st Marine Division was cut off behind enemy lines and the U.S. Army had written them off as a "total loss" on account of the size of the enemy forces they were up against. They were surrounded by 22 Enemy Divisions! The Marines made it out inflicting the highest casualty ratio on an enemy force in history by destroying SEVEN entire Divisions in the process! An enemy division is 16500 men while a Marine Corp Division is 12500 men!

Oh, and before I get hammered here, by NO means am I suggesting that Warde Manuel is even REMOTELY the leader to lead us to victory in this whole mess we are in. In fact IMO, Warde Manuel couldn't be Chesty Puller's "piss bucket holder" as far as I'm concerned!!

 

[TRest]

and now @blauds is saying that the catholics get to leave the Big East with no exit fees if they leave en masse due to a provision put into the big east bylaws/const? when bc, vatech, miami left.

he also says they get to keep the big east name and ncaa tourney revenue.

Pure conjecture on his part, unless he has an up-to-date copy of the league charter and bylaws. The fabled "get out of jail free card" supposedly allowed a clean split of the conference by a certain date that already has passed. He may be referencing that, but like most of his shoddy writing he sources none of his statements.

 

[Pudge]

Temple.

Turns out, from real newspaper reports, that Temple controls the voting. So ... @blauds is a little off.