I think this is very insightful. Priority #1 for the conferences is killing other conferences. I am sure they would love to wipe-out the Big East to consolidate the best sports schools in 4 conferences.
Not sure about that. But that wasn’t the point. Somebody said we would never join the MAC because we are a major land grant public university and the MAC members aren’t. I pointed out that we are in a most- sports conference primarily made up on mid-tier Masters degree granting urban private religiously affiliated schools. We are a major public research university. Why would joining a league for football with schools like Buffalo and Miami of Ohio be such a problem? Look I get we aren’t competing in the Big East academic league. But we should recognize that the NEWBIE is never going to be confused with the Ivy League academically when we evaluate other conferences.
SMU took one to get into the ACC. And who says they take a pay cut anyway? Notre Dame is getting roughly $10 million for basketball and other sports in the ACC. I’d guess if the B12 took somebody they’d get at least what the NEWBIE gets now or will get in the next deal. (Here’s a hint about that. Be prepared for paywalls).
ND gets that because of their football arrangements.
SMU will actually make more in the ACC than they were making. The payout from Notre Dame includes acc network payments, which the B12 does not have.
Lol! The MAC’s NIL football money doesn’t even cover gas and popcorn, much less have money for football recruits. If UConn goes to the MAC the football program will be doomed from any FBS invite perspective, and any semblance of real talent the team has now will be gone overnight. I can’t believe your flippant post, do you WANT them to go back to FCS?
Late last week I had a brief conversation with a kid at work (I can call him a kid, he's a year younger than my son) about Bobby Knight (the kid is an IU grad).
Yep. I remember calls in the media for Connecticut to leave the big east based on the notion that we would never be competitive in that conference. I remember just having the opportunity to play in the postseason, even the NIT, was a huge deal. Actually winning the NIT really super charged the program and the fan base s to the possibility of our being able to compete at the highest levels of college basketball. Fast forward to now, we not only are competitive but our at the very top of the sport.
All of that was accomplished while a member of the Big East and in a different time with regards to transfers & NIL.
It was also Lew Perkins railroading the building of Gampel Pavilion around the same time the Uconn Men and UConn women turned the basketball corner. Gampel was critical to the success of both programs.
Under the assumption that an Independent basketball program could have been a possibility, I really need someone to explain why he couldn't.
I realized my mistake right after the 5min time limit. Yeah, Toner was the guy that pushed it through just around the end of the decade, along with Calhoun and Geno. Bad choice of words on “railroading”, sorry. My point was that both programs really took off at that point.
I’ve been watching the games. They’re pretty entertaining for the most part.I have more opportunity to catch a MAC game flipping through the channels on a Wednesday night than watching college football on Saturday afternoon. Those are just the realities of my current home situation. Let's go Rockets!
No to adding basketball teams. Presently there is a balanced schedule with home/away games with each team in the conference. Adding new teams would probably necessitate a schedule where some years you only play a team once,
Isn't this exactly the motley crew of schools they quit the first time
The calculus has changed. The B1G, ACC, and Big12 all got bigger. Any new additions to the P?, conferences are going to have to play for free.
