I am going to really miss the BET next week

[nelsonmuntz]

No other conference tournament will ever come close to the show the Big East put on every March between 2006 and 2012.

 

[Chuck]

No other conference tournament will ever come close to the show the Big East put on every March between 2006 and 2012.

Agreed. It was a combination of the general proximity of the schools to NYC and the fact that many of the schools that weren't within easy driving distance to NYC had large alumni presences in the city. Familiarity breeds contempt. The current set-up of conferences will result in some rivalries that will shift over time. The fact that I had friends, acquaintances or family members at every Big East school (in the early/mid 90's) made the Big East and the BET better than anything that can be put in to place in the future. RIP.

 

[noeynox]

You can always head down there, take it in, and come back and tell us how it compares to what once was.

BET WAS THE SHEET.

 

[Husky25]

It sounds like you are finally coming around to the notion that the Big East no longer exists for UConn's purposes, and will never be the same as its second renaissance of the '00's, regardless of future membership.

 

[tcf15]

ESPN Classic used to show classic BET games in the weeks leading up to and during the BET. Now it's all classic ACC tournament games. Blech.

 

[Fishy]

ESPN will spend the next week trying to convince us that the ACC Tournament is the greatest thing on wheels. Truthfully, by comparison, it's bland when Duke and UNC advance and positively dreadful when they don't.

Remember the old Wednesday morning games at the BET? That's the ACC tourney.

 

[John]

The greatest conference playing great basketball in a great arena in a great city.

RIP BET.

 

[Wise2]

MSG should host a preseason tourney and call it the Preseason Old BE. Invite all the teams that used to be in the BE and are no longer there. Bet that would sellout

 

[djct1999]

MSG should host a preseason tourney and call it the Preseason Old BE. Invite all the teams that used to be in the BE and are no longer there. Bet that would sellout

Syracuse wouldnt come. Unless of course you match them up vs LeMoyne, with the winner playing Siena.

 

[Wise2]

Syracuse wouldnt come. Unless of course you match them up vs LeMoyne, with the winner playing Siena.

Well, it is in the State of NY, so they got that going for them....

 

[huskyjawz]

Me, too.

 

[The Viking]

So what would MSG name this great tourney?

Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend 2014

7pm Uconn vs. Pitt
9pm Syracuse vs. Georgetown

Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend 2014
7pm Pitt vs. Georgetown
9pm UConn vs. Syracuse

No current conference teams face each other this way (I assume that would be an issue keeping us from a real 3 night 8 team old school preseason BE tourney, right?)

I would tell my wife on Thanksgiving night we need time apart to think things over and get back with her on Monday, allowing me time to recover from my hangover on Sunday. I'd also ask her on Thanksgiving night not to mention anything to the kids.

 

[Fishy]

You would have to roofie Jim Boeheim to get him into MSG to play Gtown and UConn.

 

[The Viking]

You would have to roofie Jim Boeheim to get him into MSG to play Gtown and UConn.

have him unknowingly dip his index finger in coke and then he carries on with his picking and there you have it. A new tourney is born

 

[WhartonHusky]

For someone who spent the better part of the last 15 years living and working in NYC -- there was really NOTHING better than March when the BET came to town, quickly followed by the Allmans at the Beacon!

I remember taking LONG lunches and running over to MSG to watch UConn...then working a bit late on the back end before heading over to the Beacon to scalp a ticket.

Last year was the last BET, and this year the last Beacon run for the Allmans. Truly depressing.

 

[CL82]

MSG should host a preseason tourney and call it the Preseason Old BE. Invite all the teams that used to be in the BE and are no longer there. Bet that would sellout

Or perhaps call it the Previously Under-appreciated Big East. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what the "PUBE" Trophy might look like.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I got invited by vendor to the Thursday slate of the New Big East at MSG. Said no thanks and it's not the real Big East anymore. First time in 10 years I am not going. Can only hope down in the not too distant future that UConn is playing on the B1G or the ACC champ at MSG.

 

[zls44]

College Spun got the resale market info from StubHub. Its percentage of all their CBB Tournament sales:

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The new Catholic Big East Tournament will be the 2nd best college hoops tourney going on in NYC next week. The best (A-10) will be across the East River in Brooklyn where probably twice the number of NCAA teams will gather.

If the A-1o at Barclay's outdraws or even comes closed to the NBA draw at MSG, expect MSG to start working behind the scenes to push hard to get the ACC or B1G tournament in the near future, which should help UConn's case as UConn would one of the top draws for the B1G (Rutgers, Michigan) and the ACC (Syracuse, Duke & ND).

 

[Fishy]

Nah - it's not even the Big East Tournament.

The schools currently in the Big East have won something like one of the last 15 BET.

It's a collection of also-rans.

 

[zls44]

Everyone is full of it- the folks talking up Memphis for the AAC, the Cuse/Pitt people trying to talks themselves into Greensboro, the Catholic schools presenting the RC Cola BET as the same as the Classic Coke BET...everyone is rationalizing inferior product.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Another reason why the Big East would welcome us with open arms if we wanted to join them and take football independent.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Another reason why the Big East would welcome us with open arms if we wanted to join them and take football independent.

Yup. And really, would the AAC not keep our football team? Are they high and mighty over Memphis, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa? I have to think that we at least have a shot at keeping our football team there, if need be.

 

[CL82]

5 likely tournament bids for the American this year. I'm not quite ready to pull up stakes to join the C-7 and friends. Ask me next year though.