Improving the Big East

[shizzle787]

The Big East floor this year looks to be 3 bids and the ceiling in a best case scenario looks to be 5 bids. That's not good. We are only three seasons away from getting six bids (and a 7th if Xavier hadn't choked in first round BET game).

So what needs to happen for the league to get back to 6-7 bid range?

1. Hope the tournament expands to 76 teams. I personally don't want the tournament to expand and prefer a contraction to 64, but that is not going to happen. More teams means a higher potential for more bids.

2. Add a 12th team and stay at 20 games. The best candidate (and I felt this way before this season) is Dayton. They spend like a Big East program, they have a Big East-type fanbase, and they are competitive. They are not Gonzaga, but they will fit in nicely in the middle of the league for depth. Their requirements for entry would be that: 1. they would not receive TV money until the next TV contract and 2. they continue to spend at a high level on MBB. And Xavier needs to get over it.

3. Fix the bonehead scheduling. I understand that Providence has a yearly series with URI and that Nova plays in the Philly tournament every year. Other than that, Big East schools should not be playing mid majors. Further to that point, Big East schools should only be participating in 2 game MTEs that have three other major conference opponents (ACC, Big 12, SEC, Big 10, Gonzaga).
The typical schedule for Big East teams should be 5 or 6 sub-300 cupcakes and 5 or 6 major conference opponents (Nova and Providence can sub their mid-major opponents for the cupcakes).
Butler playing NDSU and Missouri State needs to stop. DePaul and Georgetown both got the cupcake part of scheduling right this year. Neither, however, schedule enough major conference opponents to give themselves a chance at an at-large bid.

Possible Georgetown schedule for example:
1. Coppin State (H)
2. Syracuse (A) H/H
3. Loyola (MD) (H)
4. Georgia Tech (N) MTE
5. Miami (N) MTE
6. American (H)
7. Wisconsin (H) H/H
8. Tennessee (A) H/H
9. St. Francis (H)
10. MD Eastern Shore (H)
11. Delaware State (H)

4. Demand every school opt-in for revenue sharing at around at least 3.5 million per year. That is the amount the P4 leagues are spending. Big East schools (of the ones I could find) have a total operating budget of anywhere between 300 million and a couple billion. They can eat a couple million in NIL to stay relevant (especially considering we got a raise from the TV contract).

5. Attempt to revive either or both of the Gavitt Games or Big Ten-Big East challenge. If both attempts fail, attempt to get a challenge with the ACC or SEC. Challenges with the P4 leagues are good exposure and good for scheduling.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Get better coaches and have Val start advocating for the conference. She’s done a terrible job.

I agree with adding Dayton and adding one or two more high quality OOC opponents. Throw one of those OOC games in January like we used

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Big East was the second best conference in KenPom last year. Almost every conference game in February had to break in the wrong direction for the conference to only get 3 bids. The conference has also won 4 of the last 8 National Championships.

The conference is having a down year this year, but not catastrophic. The conference is currently +14.09 in KenPom. You have to go back to 2019 to find a year where the ACC did better than that.

There are storm clouds on the horizon, but those same storms could take out the Big 12 and ACC too. Every Big East game does not need to be life or death.

 

[RuffRuff]

Get better coaches and have Val start advocating for the conference. She’s done a terrible job.

I agree with adding Dayton and adding one or two more high quality OOC opponents. Throw one of those OOC games in January like we used

BE coaches are great - one of the best groups of coaches out there. Perhaps aging a bit but between personalities and pedigree the BE has a nice group, outside of a guy like Neptune. That decision hurt both Nova and the BE. The BE should step in when a top team goes to market, as the smallest dent with a top brand hurts.

BE needs an influx of $$, or at least a perception it does, and a brand boost. We need a bottom 1/2 of league that doesn’t feel like stepping stone jobs.

It needs to keep top NE recruits, not see them take off (Flagg, prep schools,etc) for southern conferences. Take a look at how many left last year: VJ, Fland, Harper, Bethea, Ian Jackson, Sanon, a couple MD/DC kids. These are all top 30 NE kids that went to P4 schools that have historically stayed closer to home and wanted to play in the BE. We kept grand total of zero last year when the NE pot was deep.

You’re not fixing it with bandaids like increasing the tournament size or rejiguring schedules. Need the highest quality players and coaches, generate buzz. Both coaches and recruits are drawn to brand/$$. Look at how much attention a program like BYU got from Dysbantsa (Northeast kid) alone, and in one year will jump to must watch. What BE team this year has any national buzz at all due to players, other than UConn? Marquette has some with a carryover player like Kam Jones and it ends there.

$/brand = better players and coaches = media attention = more $/brand.

It’s great seeing a kid like Sorber playing so well, and a bit of McAndrew, but where is the next generation of top talent once this batch of older guys go (Dixon, Jones, Kalk, Kadari). Who is the next non UConn all American?

 

[NJHusky]

The problem is not Nova playing Philly games….it’s losing those games