The future Big East

[nelsonmuntz]

It seems the Clemson/FSU thing is dying down for now. I don't see the Big 12 adding more than 1 Big East school, if it expands at all. I think some schools will have a hard time settling for Louisville when they thought they were getting FSU.

So the league is what it is. A 14 team league that will look something like:

East: UConn, Rutgers, Temple, UCF, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida

West: Memphis, SMU, Houston, Boise, SDSU, Navy, BYU?

If I were Cincinnati and Louisville, I might prefer to be in the western division, but let's leave as is for now. 10 of the 14 teams have been ranked within the last 5-7 years (Navy, SMU, Memphis and Temple missed). 4 have played in major bowls, and Houston, South Florida and BYU have been very close in recent years. On this whole list, only Memphis has been non-competitive in recent years.

Every school but Boise is in a Top 40 market.

In a world with a playoff system instead of a BCS, this should be a very competitive football conference, roughly tied with or better than the ACC, especially if we get BYU as a football only member. In fact, if the league was together for this coming season, UConn would likely have a losing season.

Like it or not, this is probably UConn's home for the next 10 years. I do believe the platform is strong enough to enable the next WVU/TCU/Boise to emerge from within the non-Boise schools and become a national title contender. Whether that school is UConn is in the hands of Pasqualoni.

Basketball will be fine, if a bit unwieldy.

 

[Rondogg]

CUSA2

 

[pj]

It has potential. But it takes time for a brand to develop. This is a new creation and right now it doesn't have much mindshare or reputation.

Perhaps UConn fans shouldn't be so discouraged about starting a conference from scratch, since we did it at the university level in basketball 20-25 years ago and football the last 10 years. It's possible to build and become important. But people want instant gratification. That's not going to be there from the new Big East.

 

[Dann]

i still say go as big as possible for all sports. get 2 teams from each big mk/recruit ground(fl,tx,cali). spread timezones, spread schedules and go for it. nbc could have a thur night game, a fri night game, 3 sat games. maybe a later night thur or fri game also timezone wise. there is alot they can do. INVENTORY that has potential.

16, 18 or even 20 i am all for. no matter what it is we will be playing east(with teams that are mostly respectable) and west divisions and fball so dont even bother with the travel bs. in bball just play 1 big round robin(you can easily make schedules for teams that build week trips to each coast for games etc). other sports can be division split for travel reasons which is reasonable and can easily work.

this league can completely hold its own in fball. possibly be the 5th best in front of the acc some years. in bball its a top 5 league. its not the good ole big east but its not exactly dog poop some of u make it out to be. we hit huge recruit markets, tv markets and every school here are the ones that have won some type of game or have rising fanbases. the leagues under us have nothing. baseball soccer and other sports will be as good if not better with this league, minus lax 4 those who care.

this league has it all. rising teams, rising schools, rising fanbases, great tv potential. it needs a tv contract that gets them a seat at the table within distance of the big 4 and close to the accs contract. then it needs to do work on the field. as we know, 90% of this league has done something good on the field within the last 2 years. put all of those teams together and sprinkle a couple big ooc wins that these teams seem to be capable of and wala. magic. a media storm, fans underdog story in cf. create a monster out of perceived leftovers.

as leagues always develope, top programs or top dogs become the faces. the texas and michigans and floridas etc. if uconn went to the acc we never get that shot. we have a chance to do that in this league. and while doing that we can still dream b1g and strive for it.

16
uconn/ruty/temple/cincy/lville/usf/ucf/navy
sdsu/bsu/uh/smu/memphis/byu//unr

18
+ecu
+fresno

20
-move memphis east
+unlv and 1 of hawaii/tulsa or even a 3rd cali or tx school if the mk is there like a utsa/nt type. u get my drift

the east is solid fball and it gives memphis a chance to build itself a program. the winner of this division can beat a acc team 50/50 in a bcs bowl type game
the west is more top heavy. bsu/uh/byu come to mind right away. the rest of the pack is a rising group but no quality depth like the east has, give it some time.

the bigger you go it doesn't water down any product. the league has enough top teams that rpi and sos type numbers will be good enough that if a team runs the table, the bcs numbers will reflect it. just pray that the big 4 has two or less 12-0 teams so our team gets a playoff bid. a NBE ship game at a home teams place will be great, higher ranked team gets it. going bigger is actually a fighting back type of sign to the big 4. why? because a 10 team division will play 9 games. then you have 3 ooc left. a fcs will be one. that screws the big 4 who are looking for ok teams to come to there places for paydays and tough loses.
i actually think the mac is on there way to doing this also with maine/unh and a couple other schools like appst and richmond types.

we can fight back and go balls to the wall with this. or we can mope our way into the future. hopefully the new commish is aggressive.

this is todays crazy hidea from me. enjoy

 

[Adios]

But people want instant gratification.

Ding. Ding. Ding. That comes at a very high price.

 

[metsfan2323]

Big East football should invest in itself and go to 16 by adding 3 more Western schools. Yes more mouths to feed but a wise long term investment IMO. Start thinking 10 years out instead of 1 year, which has been the leagues problem all along. We need a commisioner with a bold long term vision.

 

[mattp]

i don't get why so many people want to crap on the NNBE. at the end of the day we're still in a league with our long time BBall rivals minus Cuse, and we're getting an injection of new blood in football that i think will result in more exciting BE football. anyone that's watched Boise, Houston or even SDSU knows that they have a MUCH more exciting football product than Pitt or Cuse, and i'm looking forward to playing them. Memphis and Temple don't really get me too excited but every conference needs weaker teams as well, and they fit geographically.

 

[Dann]

i don't get why so many people want to crap on the NNBE. at the end of the day we're still in a league with our long time BBall rivals minus Cuse, and we're getting an injection of new blood in football that i think will result in more exciting BE football. anyone that's watched Boise, Houston or even SDSU knows that they have a MUCH more exciting football product than Pitt or Cuse, and i'm looking forward to playing them. Memphis and Temple don't really get me too excited but every conference needs weaker teams as well, and they fit geographically.

and memphis and temple are not complete duds. they both bring top bball teams to boot.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Big East football should invest in itself and go to 16 by adding 3 more Western schools. Yes more mouths to feed but a wise long term investment IMO. Start thinking 10 years out instead of 1 year, which has been the leagues problem all along. We need a commisioner with a bold long term vision.

I tend to agree with you. It will put a bullet in the MWC as a viable rival, will provide the western schools with a basketball home, and will lead to more logical scheduling.

NE: Temple, UConn, Rutgers, Navy
SE: Louisville, Cincinnati, UCF, USF

SW: Houston, SMU, Memphis, Air Force
W: Boise, SDSU, BYU, Nevada

Play own pod every year, play half of adjacent pod every year, and take turns 2 and 1 with other pods. Every school will play ever other school twice every 5 years. You will see some great rivalry games developing, especially in the West.

Basketball: Take AFA, BYU, Boise, SDSU, Nevada add St. Mary's, Gonzaga and whoever from the WCC or Big West, or maybe NMSU if they don't find a home for all sports. Give the league a scheduling partnership with the BE. That is a 3 bid league most years.

I think the league should do less "league" and more "program" focused marketing in football. There are some programs in this league with pretty exciting recent histories. Highlight the individual programs and their big victories, then hammer home the Big East basketball history.

 

[John Greene]

i don't get why so many people want to crap on the NNBE. at the end of the day we're still in a league with our long time BBall rivals minus Cuse, and we're getting an injection of new blood in football that i think will result in more exciting BE football. anyone that's watched Boise, Houston or even SDSU knows that they have a MUCH more exciting football product than Pitt or Cuse, and i'm looking forward to playing them. Memphis and Temple don't really get me too excited but every conference needs weaker teams as well, and they fit geographically.

It is not crapping on the NNBE to point out that when we upgraded FB we expected to be in a conference largely made up of teams that were relevant to casual as well as die hard fans. We also had some history with most of those teams in sports other than FB. We now find ourselves in a conference with many teams of no interest to many casual fans and which we have seldom if ever played in anything. I know that there is not a lot UConn can do abou that short term. But still the outcome really does suck for many of us.

 

[Dann]

its the whole golden ticket thing. we got 1 and its not suppose to happen like that. now things have changed and ppl cry about. fight back and earn your way in.

 

[Pudge]

Tough

Nothing was promised. We upgraded (and certainly LEW knew this) with the idea that it got us in the Game where bigtime college athletics were going. We ante'd up ... and I think that was ABSOLUTELY the right decision. But, we are with the misfit toys ... and frankly (UCONN FANS), I think we are where we belong there ... unfortunately. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT the CUSA 2. It is ... without me branding it ... where the next 12-16 are going after the Cartel. We will fight better than the ACC. And, we will push forward the Boise & others who challenge the powers. It will be an exciting league. But, if you rather play the 1950s-1960s league of Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Army, Navy, and throw in a UMASS ... it ain't that.

 

[Dann]

Tough

Nothing was promised. We upgraded (and certainly LEW knew this) with the idea that it got us in the Game where bigtime college athletics were going. We ante'd up ... and I think that was ABSOLUTELY the right decision. But, we are with the misfit toys ... and frankly (UCONN FANS), I think we are where we belong there ... unfortunately. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT the CUSA 2. It is ... without me branding it ... where the next 12-16 are going after the Cartel. We will fight better than the ACC. And, we will push forward the Boise & others who challenge the powers. It will be an exciting league. But, if you rather play the 1950s-1960s league of Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Army, Navy, and throw in a UMASS ... it ain't that.

exactly pudge. we can lead the charge as a top school, a rising fanbase and a rising program and a great brand name. we can fight our way to being a big boy. but some ppl in this fanbase just want to be given and not earn it. thats not how it works. were only 15 years old, not 100 like other schools. some of the schools in our region are dying brands/private has beens and never was, thats not uconn and never will be. we are a rising big public, we can create our own future and be the leader of a pack.

 

[John Greene]

Tough

Nothing was promised. We upgraded (and certainly LEW knew this) with the idea that it got us in the Game where bigtime college athletics were going. We ante'd up ... and I think that was ABSOLUTELY the right decision. But, we are with the misfit toys ... and frankly (UCONN FANS), I think we are where we belong there ... unfortunately. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT the CUSA 2. It is ... without me branding it ... where the next 12-16 are going after the Cartel. We will fight better than the ACC. And, we will push forward the Boise & others who challenge the powers. It will be an exciting league. But, if you rather play the 1950s-1960s league of Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Army, Navy, and throw in a UMASS ... it ain't that.

Rationalizing a bad situation can result in Stockholm syndrome and then you may never get out.

 

[freescooter]

I still think the FSU situation isn't completely settled. Clemson, might be but they were always the tagalong in my view anyway. The B-12 wants to make one more run at Notre Dame and they know that they can always get Clemson...not that different from how the Big East felt about Temple and Memphis. Why add them now. If we need 'em we can always get 'em.

As far as the Big East goes, I tend to agree with you in that the Big East should focus on building up programs, and with some luck we'll be one of them. The football leauge, like the basketball leauge has been for years, is much more a scheduling alliance anyway. It will in all liklihood continue to produce better teams than the ACC in general and will continue to be competetive with some of the others from say #3-10, I suspect. My hope is UCONN can emerge as one of the powers. I do have a sense that Pasquloni sees the need to win and win now. The combination of new University leadership, a new league, a down period for basketball and the fact that this is likely his final gig all suggest to me that he has some sense of determination to move up. Plus the fact that he has only had 2 losing regular seasons in his D1 Career. Bottom line is I think we're here for the moment. I could be a year situation, it could be 5, it could be 10. Might as well be the best program there.

 

[Srqhusky]

Football wise the league is upgraded. Since they say football drives the bus in the NCAA I would say we are better off. Not sure all the fuss about the conference

 

[freescooter]

Football wise the league is upgraded. Since they say football drives the bus in the NCAA I would say we are better off. Not sure all the fuss about the conference

Here's the somewhat odd thing about college football, though...Performance matters only at the margins. Notre Dame is probably the clearest example, they haven't been a seriouls contender since Lou Holtz retired, yet for 10 years they were in everyone's pre-season top 10 every year. They haven't produced a ranked team since 2006 yet they have their own network...But even read the stuff about Pitt and Sracuse and how the Big East is losing two of its "best teams" to the ACC. Syracuse has had 1 winning season in the last 10 years. One. Pitt and UCONN have the same number of Big East Championships, 2 shared titles, and Pitt has 10 more years in the conference. Teams with the reputation as good or national or whatever term you choose are always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Teams that haven't gotten that rep won't.

 

[whaler11]

Hard to pass judgement until the contract is signed. That is going to have a material impact on the quality of play.

Would like it better without Temple or Memphis - no idea why 14 is better than 12.

Dislike the football only concept - but no issue with Navy or SDSU.

 

[gars44]

It is not crapping on the NNBE to point out that when we upgraded FB we expected to be in a conference largely made up of teams that were relevant to casual as well as die hard fans. We also had some history with most of those teams in sports other than FB. We now find ourselves in a conference with many teams of no interest to many casual fans and which we have seldom if ever played in anything. I know that there is not a lot UConn can do abou that short term. But still the outcome really does suck for many of us.

What you say is all true. But the fact that the outcome "sucks" for so many explains why Uconn football is where it is right now. It was never taken seriously by the administration for 60 years, and the "fans" never demanded a national program. Then the opportunity came to become a member in a big 6 conference for no reason other than we agreed to upgrade and the conference (always perceived as weak) needed someone from within so the basketball schools wouldn't object. We did not battle or earn our way in, by any means. It was instantaneous. And a lot programs in the big east wanted out precisely because no name, no compete programs like ours were being welcomed in. And no, I'm not down on the program. This is just fact.

So here we are. In a much, much, much, MUCH better place than had we not upgraded. No comparison. False pretenses and all. Let's just win baby.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is going to be some major Big East bashing this year. If you look at the new teams, several are looking at rebuilding to major rebuilding seasons. I would argue that only UCF and SMU are going to be better than they were last year. Boise, Houston, SDSU, Temple and Memphis will be down, although I think Boise won't be down that far because its recruiting has been so strong in recent years. Adding BYU would help, because they will be very good this season.

Houston and SDSU could be in a bit of trouble. I am not a big Sumlin fan. He just milked Briles' good work and didn't screw anything up. I don't think a single one of his teams over-achieved while he was there, and I suspect his recruiting was not at the level of Briles'. Rocky Long is a very good coach, and one of the more innovative defensive coaches of the past 20 years, but he is not a great recruiter and Lindsay and Hilmann were once in a decade players for a program like SDSU. I think Long is the wrong coach for that program. I think you find the best recruiter off the staff of USC that you can get, and let him go crazy in SoCal. The talent in that region is great, and SDSU is in paradise. The right recruiter could land a Top 40 class every single year at that school.

Memphis is really horrendous, and will get its doors blown off almost every game this season. I have no idea if Fuente can coach or not, but I thought Larry Porter was a pretty safe bet coming in and he turned out to be terrible. This is a major rebuilding project that will take at least 5 years to even get them back to competitive. Memphis should have never fired Tommy West. I think he could have been a good coach in the Big East. Adding a program like this causes some problems for a conference.

Temple only returns 9-10 starters, but the recruiting has improved so much the last few years that I expect there to be significant upgrades across the 2 deep as recent recruits are old enough to take over starting positions. Still, 12 new starters is 12 new starters, and there will be growing pains. They should still tune up Maryland, but I only see them winning 1-2 games in Big East play.

I think UCF and SMU will play for the CUSA title this year. UCF is on O'Leary's alternating good years schedule. Both schools play tough OOC schedules, with UCF going to Ohio State and getting Missouri at home, while SMU goes to Baylor and gets Texas A&M and TCU at home. SMU could sweep those games, because all 3 programs are going to be down this year and SMU beat TCU last year. UCF will lose in Columbus, but has a good shot to beat Missouri at home.

 

[NutmegState]

Sumlin is the head coach at Texas A&M.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Here's the somewhat odd thing about college football, though...Performance matters only at the margins. Notre Dame is probably the clearest example, they haven't been a seriouls contender since Lou Holtz retired, yet for 10 years they were in everyone's pre-season top 10 every year. They haven't produced a ranked team since 2006 yet they have their own network...But even read the stuff about Pitt and Sracuse and how the Big East is losing two of its "best teams" to the ACC. Syracuse has had 1 winning season in the last 10 years. One. Pitt and UCONN have the same number of Big East Championships, 2 shared titles, and Pitt has 10 more years in the conference. Teams with the reputation as good or national or whatever term you choose are always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Teams that haven't gotten that rep won't.

I've posted it before, but WVU is just another crappy program in a crappy league before they leave for the Big12. Now before they even play one down, people are suggesting they can rival Texas and OK for the leagues top spot year in and year out.

The amount of hypocracy in CFB is why you'll never have any of the big 4/5 conferences commit to an objective system like winning your conference. Instead, we're on this death-march to develop a system that will find the 4 best programs (regardless of on-field performance).

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Sumlin is the head coach at Texas A&M.

That is why I said "while he was there". Past tense. I don't know anything about Tony Levine.

 

[NutmegState]

That is why I said "while he was there". Past tense. I don't know anything about Tony Levine.

My bad...misread that.

 

[freescooter]

The amount of hypocracy in CFB is why you'll never have any of the big 4/5 conferences commit to an objective system like winning your conference. Instead, we're on this death-march to develop a system that will find the 4 best programs (regardless of on-field performance).[/quote] That is the best description of the system that I have seen so far.