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Does anyone bother to look past the next game, the next season? Maybe it's time we all start looking down the road... way down the road, 5....10 years down the road. With Pitt and the Cuse bailing on the Big East it is definitely time for some soul searching by all conference members, football and non football.
I was going to rant on Notre Dame, BC, Pitt, Miami, the Orange and the basketball only schools but why bother. They are the dead weight that uses the conference for a TV paycheck and drags our reputation down to a sub par major conference. Somewhere above mid major but not quite equal with the big boys. if I was commish I would trim that fat asap.
But what my post is really about is the future. What schools are committed to Div 1 but aren't quite there yet? Will be if given half a chance. Will be if given a little time and a little nurturing. Villanova? What do they actually need to put a D-1 program into the league able to compete? UMass? They are committed to D-1 football. They need help that's for sure. Would their state help them the way CT helped UConn when they made the jump? If given the opportunity 5 years from now they could be right where UConn football is now. Buffalo. If given half a chance in a big time conference like the Big East could they in time be the next Syracuse in upper state NY? They have a pro football stadium right under their noses. The only thing they really need is an invite so that they can recruit. Temple. Those guys gave UConn fits, have battled with some of the other big boys and all they need is a chance. Five, ten years from now they could easily be better than Pitt ever wanted to be, playing in a pro stadium if they were just given the chance. It's about recruiting and having the right staff in place to knock off Penn St, Maryland, Ohio St. Then the reputation builds, the snowball effect starts. Then they own recruits in eastern PA, NJ, MD and VA.
Maybe it's time for the Big East to constrict their territory..not expand it. I'm not saying that those particular schools should be invited but I use them as an example of how the conference should start looking down the road more than just next season. Strategic planning. Saturate the Northeast again...just do it with some of the up and comers. Sometimes you have to take a step back and gather yourself in order to take two steps forward. It happens in business all the time. You get blind sided by your competition. You take a step back. Reinvent yourself and come back stronger than ever.
TCU? Come on folks...how many people are going to TCU from the Northeast to see a game? TCU is a finger in the dike. I would be shocked if 5 years from now TCU is still in the Big East. Even the Florida schools. I mean are you really getting the bang for your buck you thought you were getting by having a Florida school in a North East based conference? I doubt any of the kids UConn recruited from Florida came here because South Florida is in the league. The Big 12 teams? That's insane! I'm not going to Oklahoma to watch a game...or Kansas.
Sure the ACC would be the quick fix for UConn football but it's just like making a deal with Satan. You join. No sooner than you sign the deal the SEC steals Clemson, Virginia Tech and Florida St. A year or so passes and the Big Ten+ offers Pitt and Syracuse a spot and being the prostitutes they are they're gone. Coach K retires..same with Williams from NC. Now the basketball side of it starts to diminish. The strongest football team WAS Maryland until their coach(Edsall) leaves for his real dream job...Penn St! So what are you left with...a worse situation than you had if you just stuck it out and worked on molding the Big East into a national power. All I'm saying is look up the road. Be strategic with your plans. Wouldn't it be better to be able to hold your head up and say "We Built This" instead of holding your nose from the stench of the temporary company you keep?
I was going to rant on Notre Dame, BC, Pitt, Miami, the Orange and the basketball only schools but why bother. They are the dead weight that uses the conference for a TV paycheck and drags our reputation down to a sub par major conference. Somewhere above mid major but not quite equal with the big boys. if I was commish I would trim that fat asap.
But what my post is really about is the future. What schools are committed to Div 1 but aren't quite there yet? Will be if given half a chance. Will be if given a little time and a little nurturing. Villanova? What do they actually need to put a D-1 program into the league able to compete? UMass? They are committed to D-1 football. They need help that's for sure. Would their state help them the way CT helped UConn when they made the jump? If given the opportunity 5 years from now they could be right where UConn football is now. Buffalo. If given half a chance in a big time conference like the Big East could they in time be the next Syracuse in upper state NY? They have a pro football stadium right under their noses. The only thing they really need is an invite so that they can recruit. Temple. Those guys gave UConn fits, have battled with some of the other big boys and all they need is a chance. Five, ten years from now they could easily be better than Pitt ever wanted to be, playing in a pro stadium if they were just given the chance. It's about recruiting and having the right staff in place to knock off Penn St, Maryland, Ohio St. Then the reputation builds, the snowball effect starts. Then they own recruits in eastern PA, NJ, MD and VA.
Maybe it's time for the Big East to constrict their territory..not expand it. I'm not saying that those particular schools should be invited but I use them as an example of how the conference should start looking down the road more than just next season. Strategic planning. Saturate the Northeast again...just do it with some of the up and comers. Sometimes you have to take a step back and gather yourself in order to take two steps forward. It happens in business all the time. You get blind sided by your competition. You take a step back. Reinvent yourself and come back stronger than ever.
TCU? Come on folks...how many people are going to TCU from the Northeast to see a game? TCU is a finger in the dike. I would be shocked if 5 years from now TCU is still in the Big East. Even the Florida schools. I mean are you really getting the bang for your buck you thought you were getting by having a Florida school in a North East based conference? I doubt any of the kids UConn recruited from Florida came here because South Florida is in the league. The Big 12 teams? That's insane! I'm not going to Oklahoma to watch a game...or Kansas.
Sure the ACC would be the quick fix for UConn football but it's just like making a deal with Satan. You join. No sooner than you sign the deal the SEC steals Clemson, Virginia Tech and Florida St. A year or so passes and the Big Ten+ offers Pitt and Syracuse a spot and being the prostitutes they are they're gone. Coach K retires..same with Williams from NC. Now the basketball side of it starts to diminish. The strongest football team WAS Maryland until their coach(Edsall) leaves for his real dream job...Penn St! So what are you left with...a worse situation than you had if you just stuck it out and worked on molding the Big East into a national power. All I'm saying is look up the road. Be strategic with your plans. Wouldn't it be better to be able to hold your head up and say "We Built This" instead of holding your nose from the stench of the temporary company you keep?