Can we get going already

[SAMCRO]

Now tht the BCS bids are out, the regular seasons are over, can the league please put a bow on expansion. Lock up UCF, SMU, Houston, Boise, Navy, AFA, and whichever 1 additional western travel partner Boise needs (SDSU, CSU, NEVADA, UNLV, Tulsa, whoever), and get the ball moving forward. Get Navy and Boise in for next year and let WVU buy their early exit. Shoot, let SyraPitt do the same thing if we can find one more team that can join next year. It is time to start moving forward with this league and hopefully sign a more competitive TV deal w/ Comcast/NBC for all sports. Don't get me wrong, I hope we get an invite to the B1G or ACC, but until that happens we need to move forward w/ "Operation Sticking It To The Man (ESPN)" by trying to remain remotely relevant.

 

[scdono]

There should be an announcement next Tuesday

 

[Sky ball]

There should be an announcement next Tuesday

Tuesday or Twenty Minutes, whichever comes first!

Is Tuesday is the new Twenty Minutes?

 

[06029]

Don't get me wrong, I hope we get an invite to the B1G or ACC, but until that happens we need to move forward w/ "Operation Sticking It To The Man (ESPN)" by trying to remain remotely relevant.

And here is reason #1 for the hold up on expansion. What team is going to jump into the BE when Uconn, RU, Ville and Cinci would all leave when the phone call comes? Why get tied into a cross country FB conference that might not have AQ status if more teams leave? Would being in the BE really given Houston an easier BCS path than the one they blew on Saturday? Same for Boise and any other of the teams you listed. With the current BE bowl lineup, they would have ended up in equal/worse bowls than they are currently in. Only difference is they would be listed as the home team. And don't forget that a trusted ally is leading this expansion effort. An ally who can only benefit their valued football independence by dragging this out as long as possible. As well as all of the friends of FB in the BB only schools that must be thrilled at the potential all sports additions.

In terms of waiting for the call, Uconn, RU, etc. will have to wait a long time. The ACC, B1G and Big12 have no compelling reason to make any move any time soon. They know that any school that does not have the initials ND (and I am not referring to the schools in North Dakota) will not only take their call, but the school will bend over backwards to get an invite.That is leverage that will not be given up any time soon.

So relax. Build a fire, sip some hot cocoa, go caroling (but not at my house) and enjoy the holidays, winter, spring, summer and next football season when it comes around. Because it will take at least that long for something to happen. Any other expectation is just fantasy to me.

 

[SAMCRO]

I do agree it could be a long time b4 anyhting transpires, but not for the reasons people are suggesting (potential of UConn, UL, or RU leaving). UCF, Houston, and SMU have all been pretty vocal about being ready to do this. Boise too. If anyhting they may want to get it locked up sooner rather than later, so if any current BE teams do bolt, they're already in the "club" and they can build around it. We keep hearing AQ status, but it's just as much about (possibly more) improving their TV contracts. The CUSA and MWC contracts aere pretty bad. The BE's is significantly better, and will still be better when the next contract is done. I don't think it will be the mega-deal Marinatto thought it could be when he sent roses to the P12 commissioner, but it will be a huge bump from where non-AQ leagues are now, and if I had to guess a better than what the BE has today.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Tuesday or Twenty Minutes, whichever comes first! Is Tuesday is the new Twenty Minutes?

In 5 minutes, it's Tuesday for me so I can hope it's not another 15 minutes or another Tuesday. Get moving, or get 'er done.

 

[Nostical]

"So relax. Build a fire, sip some hot cocoa, go caroling (but not at my house) and enjoy the holidays"

If no caroling at your door, can I at least recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

 

[CTMike]

The continued silence on this subject does not inspire any confidence about this conference's future.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't care about the conference, but the longer UConn waits to do something, the more likely a nightmare scenario for UConn becomes. Get the deal done now and move on.

 

[scdono]

Tomorrow is Tuesday, so one can only hope

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I don't care about the conference, but the longer UConn waits to do something, the more likely a nightmare scenario for UConn becomes. Get the deal done now and move on.

What is UConn, specifically, waiting to do? It's not up to UConn to formally invite the other six schools, or to secure an invite to another conference - that is, without begging for one. Honestly, I think everyone is just waiting to see what ND does. If they make a move, there's going to be dominos, and the whole conference could collapse entirely.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What is UConn, specifically, waiting to do? It's not up to UConn to formally invite the other six schools, or to secure an invite to another conference - that is, without begging for one. Honestly, I think everyone is just waiting to see what ND does. If they make a move, there's going to be dominos, and the whole conference could collapse entirely.

If Notre Dame makes a move after Boise and the rest have decided on some different solution than the Big East, UConn's athletic program will be without a conference. Everyone will not wait indefinitely for UConn to make up its mind.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

If Notre Dame makes a move after Boise and the rest have decided on some different solution than the Big East, UConn's athletic program will be without a conference. Everyone will not wait indefinitely for UConn to make up its mind.

What decision is everyone waiting for UConn to make? Again, it's not up to UConn to invite Boise, et al, and UConn certainly isn't the only school that those new schools would be concerned about leaving. But it's clear UConn currently does not have any known outstanding invitations to leave that they're sitting around deciding on. So again, what is everyone waiting on UConn to decide?

 

[Dann]

i thought friday nights were the next 20 minutes. drummond coming, syrapitt leaving etc....

 

[Jericho]

A lot of this impatience. Particularly in today's fast paced world. People want this resolved yesterday. I understand it. I'm gladly take a resolution too. But it's also not realistic. And it's not like the Big East is really the hold-up here.

People want to blame the Big East and its conference for not retaining its schools. But I'm not sure what could have been done to stop it. The conference isn't going to add anyone from an existing BCS conference. The B1G and ACC can offer more stability and money. The Big East's biggest problem is its odd congolmeration of football and non-football schools. Geogrpahy also does not help as the northeast is not big on colelge football. Because of these factores, its really hard to stop a school from leaving if it can. The best defense has generally been the other conferences did not want to expand. So there was little incentive to poach the Big East. Now that its happened a couple times, the best the conference can realistically hope for is to cobble together the "best of the rest", which is what they are trying to do.

I do think Houston, UCF, and SMU will gladly join as full members. It makes sense for both sides. Whether it makes sense for football only schools is less certain. BSU has not resolved their non-football sports. BYU appeared too demanding. SDSU may fill in, but that's not a done deal either. Air Force and Navy probably don't care as much about the finances and may or may not be in. I still think the conference makes sense, even without AQ status. First, strength of schedule means something, which will be much better in the new Big East as opposed to the Mountain West or Con-USA. Second, if conferences have to affiliate with Bowls again, a Big East/Notre Dame block has much more power than any non-BCS conference. Third, the money should be better. So the incentive still remains. It's just a matter of dotting is and crossing ts. But adding 7 teams is a lot more work than adding two.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What decision is everyone waiting for UConn to make? Again, it's not up to UConn to invite Boise, et al, and UConn certainly isn't the only school that those new schools would be concerned about leaving. But it's clear UConn currently does not have any known outstanding invitations to leave that they're sitting around deciding on. So again, what is everyone waiting on UConn to decide?

No one is waiting on anything from UConn as of this moment, although the loyalty of the eastern division is clearly a concern of potential new members. I think Boise's potential liability if they made a BCS game was the biggest hold up. With that behind us, I think a negotiation will probably begin with the MWC for Boise's early departure. I think there is a meaningful (maybe 1 in 4) chance that Boise is in the Big East next year. The way I understand the MWC's departure rules, Boise's exit fee is variable depending on how much revenue they generate the year they leave. If Boise makes a BCS bowl next year, that could be very expensive, and justifying of an early departure.

I am a little surprised that Navy seems to still be interested but not Air Force. I don't think it makes sense for either of them, but if one was going to walk, I would have expected it to be Navy.

I do want membership resolved because then Boise and friends can start serious negotiations with NBC, something the current members can not do.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

So then your two comments stating that "Everyone will not wait indefinitely for UConn to make up its mind." and "but the longer UConn waits to do something, the more likely a nightmare scenario for UConn becomes" really make no sense.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So then your two comments stating that "Everyone will not wait indefinitely for UConn to make up its mind." and "but the longer UConn waits to do something, the more likely a nightmare scenario for UConn becomes" really make no sense.

You, and much of the board seem to think that UConn should never commit to anything in the hope that the ACC rides to our rescue. That is what I was responding to with the quotes above.

My other posts are simply my assessment of the actual reality.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

You, and much of the board seem to think that UConn should never commit to anything in the hope that the ACC rides to our rescue. That is what I was responding to with the quotes above.

My other posts are simply my assessment of the actual reality.

There's a difference between telling the conference you're committed to them (not one team, prospective or current, will actually believe this from anyone currently in the Big East outside of maybe USF) and telling the conference you're committed, knowing that if a better option arises, you'll take it. No one is sitting around waiting on UConn to come to the table and say hey, we're committed to you.

So again, no one is waiting on UConn to do anything, and UConn is currently not presented with multiple options from which they need to decide on a future path, thus I still have no idea what it is that everyone is waiting on UConn to do, or what it is on which we have to decide.

 

[SAMCRO]

There is something the BE can do now, and that is announce UCF, Houston, and SMU are joining the BE. Everyting I've read indicates those 3 schools are fully committed to joining, and ready to go, even without the Western schools (Boise) fully there. With WVU and SyraPitt leaving, those 3 additions cover those 3 spots. Announcing they're joining does lead to a sense of stability (or maybe less of sense of instability is a better way to put it). That keeps the league at 8 football teams. I've read (which certainly doesn't mean it is true) that Navy is on board, so announce them as a FB only. That gets you to 9 teams, and gives even a gfreater sense of less instability. This is what I'd like to see the BE do sooner rather than later. Locking up these 3-4 teams, if nothing else, ensures you have 8-9 FB playing schools for 2013.

Then the BE can focus on helping secure Boise by finding acceptable FB teams to join with them, helping get their Olympic sports landed in a desirable lead (even if this means scheduling some BB games, or invites to BB tourneys hosted by BE schools against schools from these leagues).

Waiting to announce all the partners at the same time is silly at this point.

 

[06029]

There is something the BE can do now, and that is announce UCF, Houston, and SMU are joining the BE. Everyting I've read indicates those 3 schools are fully committed to joining, and ready to go, even without the Western schools (Boise) fully there.

That may be true, but what if the BE BB schools are NOT ready to accept those three as full members. There has been no indication beyond whispers and blog posts indicating that there is any agreement in the BE to add any all sports schools. There is the expansion committee chaired by ND that tells you everything you need to know about what level of agreement you have in the BE right now over any full sports adds. If it was a slam dunk for all the schools, a FB school rep would be chairing the committee. That is why this will take as long as it takes for Cuse and Pitt to leave before anything happens, in my opinion.

 

[ctchamps]

That may be true, but what if the BE BB schools are NOT ready to accept those three as full members. There has been no indication beyond whispers and blog posts indicating that there is any agreement in the BE to add any all sports schools. There is the expansion committee chaired by ND that tells you everything you need to know about what level of agreement you have in the BE right now over any full sports adds. If it was a slam dunk for all the schools, a FB school rep would be chairing the committee. That is why this will take as long as it takes for Cuse and Pitt to leave before anything happens, in my opinion.

Exactly. All the offers have been extended. The BE basketball schools are only agreeing to include UCF, Houston and SMU for all sports if the football side of the equation meets certain criteria.

Boise State is a must. If they don't come the BE bb only schools may compromise but that is doubtful.

After Boise, the BE bb schools made it clear they wanted Air Force and Navy. These three schools had to agree to join the BE before the BE would accept UCF, Houston and SMU. And those three schools know this.

With the apparent reluctance of Air Force to join, the BE went after BYU. That appears unlikely as well. So the BE is still looking for a partner for BS. And it appears that BS has some issues with its sports programs other than football, that have to be resolved.

As a UConn fan, this is frustrating. But I believe the BE has done it's due diligence. There is no reason for the BB only schools to be stuck with the likes of UCF, Houston and SMU if the football side doesn't work. So we are forced to be patient.

Unless other conferences make moves, this issue will be resolved before the upcoming contract. The AQ will be important, but less important to the invitees than the media contract. And there is nothing UConn or the BE can do about the AQ, other than what they are doing now. Heck if the AQ changes, as the B12 proposes, the BE would have been outside looking in, even if Cuse, Pitt and WV stayed in the BE.

 

[ctchamps]

Exactly. All the offers have been extended. The BE basketball schools are only agreeing to include UCF, Houston and SMU for all sports if the football side of the equation meets certain criteria.

Boise State is a must. If they don't come the BE bb only schools may compromise but that is doubtful.

After Boise, the BE bb schools made it clear they wanted Air Force and Navy. These three schools had to agree to join the BE before the BE would accept UCF, Houston and SMU. And those three schools know this.

With the apparent reluctance of Air Force to join, the BE went after BYU. That appears unlikely as well. So the BE is still looking for a partner for BS. And it appears that BS has some issues with its sports programs other than football, that have to be resolved.

As a UConn fan, this is frustrating. But I believe the BE has done it's due diligence. There is no reason for the BB only schools to be stuck with the likes of UCF, Houston and SMU if the football side doesn't work. So we are forced to be patient.

Unless other conferences make moves, this issue will be resolved before the upcoming contract. The AQ will be important, but less important to the invitees than the media contract. And there is nothing UConn or the BE can do about the AQ, other than what they are doing now. Heck if the AQ changes, as the B12 proposes, the BE would have been outside looking in, even if Cuse, Pitt and WV stayed in the BE.

And as I wrote this someone linked an article with the possibility SDS agreed to be BS's partner and BS, the BE football schools and the service academies are mulling it over.

 

[Rondogg]

I want good news before christmas.

 

[ctchamps]

I want good news before christmas.

You might get it only to find out you have to return your gift before Easter.