NBE should stay at 10 teams and go to a 9 game football schedule

[whaler11]

I don't think anyone knows. Lawyers are probably involved. And no, the Catholics don't pay an exit fee, unless they leave early, I guess. But there are so many assets to split up, and potential lawsuits, that they will probably cut a deal.

Hopefully we hear at some point exactly how it breaks out. I can only imagine everyone wants it over as soon as possible - hard to imagine that USF, Cinci and UConn don't do the best - but really no reason to have faith in that.

 

[BFieldHusky]

I don't think anyone knows. Lawyers are probably involved. And no, the Catholics don't pay an exit fee, unless they leave early, I guess. But there are so many assets to split up, and potential lawsuits, that they will probably cut a deal.

I believe you are right about the C7. But if you are the Big East, why cut a deal? Bring on the lawsuit...the Big East is going to win. Those schools agreed to the current by laws that are in place.

 

[Durks07]

I haven't seen how it happened either but we all know that the membership votes. Who votes on what is murky, but some subset of schools granted Tulane admission.

Maybe they bought into MARKETS. Maybe Aresco convinced them of something. But unless he's be granted a lordship over the league we are unaware of there was some procedure that allowed Tulane in.

The procedure was, "hey guys, we need a lukewarm body. I mean, we could do worse..."

As for the "market" idea, I'm not convinced that Tulane games are carried on the campus itself. Let's not pretend that the "market" argument isn't a cheap excuse to justify adding liquid garbage.

 

[whaler11]

The procedure was, "hey guys, we need a lukewarm body. I mean, we could do worse..."

As for the "market" idea, I'm not convinced that Tulane games are carried on the campus itself. Let's not pretend that the "market" argument isn't a cheap excuse to justify adding liquid garbage.

Sorry MARKET was sarcasm. The procedure still involves a vote. Tulane didn't get to decide to join on their own.

 

[Durks07]

Sorry MARKET was sarcasm. The procedure still involves a vote. Tulane didn't get to decide to join on their own.

Ok, I was afraid you might have thought (in a moment of weakness) that there was a "good" reason Tulane was added. Yes, there is a "process." But it is a SHAM. Period.

Tulane was voted into the Big East unanimously, but Big East officials confirmed that the Catholic schools were not happy about it (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8742607/seven-catholic-schools-leaning-leaving-big-east-sources-say).

“I was not pleased that we issued an invitation to Tulane without any diligence to what effect that would have on our basketball product, the draw on our RPI and other such things” -Marquette Athletic Director Larry Williams http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/2012/12/tulane_reels_a_bit_with_news_o.html. For God's sake, a Tulane booster had to say that tulane wasn't the iceberg that sank the Titanic (Big East). The Catholics aren't even trying to hide their disdain for that move, but it somehow was a "unanimous" decision. It is clear that the voting process is staged. As soon as there are enough votes, the no votes change to yes votes so as not to insult the new member on the way in. The process isn't real. There is no better way to put it.

 

[J187Money]

No doubt about it.

It's unclear how much better the strategy would have been if the bulk of the good products (ND, Rutty, Boise, C-7 good teams, Ville) were still here to show to the large population bases. You can't show large population bases mediocrity and expect a lot of people to buy into it.

However, in the spirit of being the guy that looks at the glass as "1/4 full", I see an opportunity for UConn here. In football, these are teams that we can beat, and in many cases, teams that we should beat regularly. Putting up large win totals in front of large population bases can't hurt our image, especially with recruits from those cities. It would be like the "Boise effect" but doing it in New Orleans and Houston instead of Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.

On the basketball side, it could have an even greater impact. We're already a household name, and I expect that we will see many 25+ win seasons in this league. The inner-city basketball recruits in all of these large population centers will continue to be exposed to the UConn brand. I believe that UConn bball will still be able to thrive and remain a "blue-blood", even in this new crappola situation.

Those are my thoughts. The money sucks. The teams are alright. The short-term opportunity is there for the taking. Time for UConn to take it...

I don't love this either. But if this is what we end up with...win a LOT of games.