Tom Jurich and the Conference of the Unwashed

[Pudge]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...489/rick-pitino-blogs-on-big-east-chess-match

I agree with Pitino. The finest administrator we see (Tom Jurich the AD of Louisville) should just fight the good battle. It will be like William Wallace in Braveheart.

Take Cincy, Louisville, TCU, USF ... maybe you get some of the other 3 from the BE. Grab KState, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State. Mold in Memphis ... UCF ... Houston ... and Boise State. And Fight. I love the Boise State ... and the USF ... and our stories. HATE the exclusion forced by the Bowls and the traditional balloon knots.

Just make a run at them. They will be marketable. They will be an exciting AFL style of stuff. Not Wisconsin ... or Nebraska at all.

 

[IMind]

One of Missouri or West Virgina is in this conference too... do you really see the SEC taking both?

 

[SAMCRO]

That league will retain AQ status. If smart, they do it under the B12 banner to fully seperate from the BE BB's (yes, I'm going to continue to beat that drum. Hybrid conferences do not work).

 

[upstater]

I wonder if Pitt gave Louisville assurances when the Big12 came sniffing around a few weeks ago.

 

[businesslawyer]

It would be my sincere hope that no present Big East school gets shut out of the process. But there are no guaranties of that happening, and some (especially Cincy and USF) are more likely to than others.

 

[IMind]

That league will retain AQ status. If smart, they do it under the B12 banner to fully seperate from the BE BB's (yes, I'm going to continue to beat that drum. Hybrid conferences do not work).

The hybrid worked fine. The Big 12 was just as unstable as the Big East.... maybe even more so. I don't think it was the hybrid per se... but just the pecking order of the college football universe...

That being said I'd prefer to be in a non-hybrid conference.

 

[IMind]

It would be my sincere hope that no present Big East school gets shut out of the process. But there are no guaranties of that happening, and some (especially Cincy and USF) are more likely to than others.

USF, Cinnci, Baylor, Iowa State, Louisville, and TCU are the biggest losers in this whole deal... and we could end up right there with them.

 

[businesslawyer]

The hybrid worked fine. The Big 12 was just as unstable as the Big East.... maybe even more so. I don't think it was the hybrid per se... but just the pecking order of the college football universe...

That being said I'd prefer to be in a non-hybrid conference.

plus one thousand. exactly correct

 

[ZooCougar]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...489/rick-pitino-blogs-on-big-east-chess-match

I agree with Pitino. The finest administrator we see (Tom Jurich the AD of Louisville) should just fight the good battle. It will be like William Wallace in Braveheart.

Take Cincy, Louisville, TCU, USF ... maybe you get some of the other 3 from the BE. Grab KState, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State. Mold in Memphis ... UCF ... Houston ... and Boise State. And Fight. I love the Boise State ... and the USF ... and our stories. HATE the exclusion forced by the Bowls and the traditional balloon knots.

Just make a run at them. They will be marketable. They will be an exciting AFL style of stuff. Not Wisconsin ... or Nebraska at all.

I like the spirit. I prefer us Big East remainders leaving and forming a new exciting national conference of the "have nots" or unwashed as you refer to it.

I like the schools you mentioned except for Memphis. They don't bring anything to the table other than the Liberty Bowl.

The possibility of getting into the ACC makes us feel secure, but I am not sure how happy it makes me feel. I don't think I could ever chant "ACC, ACC".

This other idea pumps me up though. I guess it's a sticking it to the man sort of thing. But really, it's a control our own fate sort of thing.

 

[SAMCRO]

The hybrid worked fine. The Big 12 was just as unstable as the Big East.... maybe even more so. I don't think it was the hybrid per se... but just the pecking order of the college football universe...

That being said I'd prefer to be in a non-hybrid conference.

the hybrid model worked for a while, but always lent itself to instability and uncertainty. it is fb driving all of thischange as you mention, but b/c of the hybrid model, fb schools were not allowed to make moves that may have (or may not have, we'll never really know) enhance the fb side of the conference. it was a partial reason why UM, VT, and BC ultimately left in '04/05. if fb schools could have acted on their own accord, FSU, GT, and maybe one other ACC school was ripe for the picking back in the early 2000's. acc acted first, and be has been on the back foot ever since.

 

[Pudge]

I like the spirit. I prefer us Big East remainders leaving and forming a new exciting national conference of the "have nots" or unwashed as you refer to it.

I like the schools you mentioned except for Memphis. They don't bring anything to the table other than the Liberty Bowl.

The possibility of getting into the ACC makes us feel secure, but I am not sure how happy it makes me feel. I don't think I could ever chant "ACC, ACC".

This other idea pumps me up though. I guess it's a sticking it to the man sort of thing. But really, it's a control our own fate sort of thing.

It is what Pitino said ... (and of course: in his self-interest) ... Memphis is a TOP scale basketball program. This isn't totally about football.

I don't want to jynx us. Just like Calhoun, we are going to take care of ourselves. But ... if you stitch together the universe of markets & college Programs that arenn't currently in the "Stable 4", you have a helluva exciting league. Boise ... they're fun to watch. UCF can be great. Houston? TCU. Louisville. San Diego State could be a good market. I'm going to talk myself into a 20 team Unwashed AFL Leper Conference ... on FOX every Sat & competing with ESPN games most week nights. And the brand of ball will be innovative.

 

[Excalibur]

If you're trying to get me excited about joining the PDC (Prisoner's Dilemma Conference) it's not working. 8 years of that B.S. has been enough.

 

[Hoophound]

I'm really not sure that the ACC will be much better on the field than the BigEast/B12/CUSA conglomerate, especially if WVU remains and TCU jumps onboard. UCF just throttled BC and the basketball side will be ok with Cincy, Louisville, KU etc.

This whole expansion is really making me look at the conferences and it seems like the SEC, Pac 10 and B10 will be head and shoulders over the other 1 or 2 major conferences.

 

[freescooter]

the hybrid model worked for a while, but always lent itself to instability and uncertainty. it is fb driving all of thischange as you mention, but b/c of the hybrid model, fb schools were not allowed to make moves that may have (or may not have, we'll never really know) enhance the fb side of the conference. it was a partial reason why UM, VT, and BC ultimately left in '04/05. if fb schools could have acted on their own accord, FSU, GT, and maybe one other ACC school was ripe for the picking back in the early 2000's. acc acted first, and be has been on the back foot ever since.

The Big East had reached a point where the members no longer had a common vision. The football schools saw that as leading the parade. The basketball schools never did and never would. Add that between 1979 and 2011 the larger football schools had gone in a different direction in so many other ways, not only athletically, that while geographically close, they are simply no longeer operating in the same spheres. In the mid-1990s UCONN had a goal of being on the same level academically as Nebraska for example. That would be considered a step back today. St Johns has a totally different world view.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Big East and Big 12 discussing merger.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-conferencerealignment-leftout

We need to stop blaming this on the hoops schools. If the football schools had trusted each other, this would never have happened.

A 12 team league of:

East: UConn, Rutgers, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, USF

West: Boise, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, TCU

That is a pretty good league in football and basketball. Not real appealing from a markets perspective and travel will be a nightmare, but it could be worse. Add in Houston, a couple of others if you want to get fancy. Do travel partners, so hoops games are like the Pac 10 although sometimes you could do Monday games too.

That league would get a solid deal from Comcast. Maybe as much as $10/school. Maybe more. I would prefer the ACC, but the reality is that league above is much, much better than the ACC top to bottom in football.

 

[businesslawyer]

Big East and Big 12 discussing merger.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-conferencerealignment-leftout

We need to stop blaming this on the hoops schools. If the football schools had trusted each other, this would never have happened.

A 12 team league of:

East: UConn, Rutgers, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, USF

West: Boise, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, TCU

That is a pretty good league in football and basketball. Not real appealing from a markets perspective and travel will be a nightmare, but it could be worse. Add in Houston, a couple of others if you want to get fancy. Do travel partners, so hoops games are like the Pac 10 although sometimes you could do Monday games too.

That league would get a solid deal from Comcast. Maybe as much as $10/school. Maybe more. I would prefer the ACC, but the reality is that league above is much, much better than the ACC top to bottom in football.

Competition in that league would be fine. And the league, in some form, will exist whether or not we are in it. I will wish them well (as, politically, the fact that this is happening just strikes me as beyond absurd -- read the column on CBSsportsline (college baskeball page) asking Congress to intervene). The problem, of course, is that with the Pac Ten at 16, the conference is born with the spector of being raided by the ACC, SEC or Big Ten hanging over its head.

 

[RS9999X]

Still stronger than the SEC in basketkball.

As strong as the ACC before the recent raid.

Football is outright sad. Then again, SU and Pitt were sad.

Better bring along ND, Georgetown, Villanova and St John's for the basktbeall ride.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Still stronger than the SEC in basketkball.

As strong as the ACC before the recent raid.

Football is outright sad. Then again, SU and Pitt were sad.

Better bring along ND, Georgetown, Villanova and St John's for the basktbeall ride.

Boise, TCU and WVU gives that league more football muscle than the ACC or current Big East has. Kansas is the only bad team in the league.

 

[RS9999X]

I agree. Kick out Baylor and bring along UCF based on the NYT demograpics and keep the 4 Marqueee Basketball teams and move on.

 

[zls44]

We need to stop blaming this on the hoops schools. If the football schools had trusted each other, this would never have happened.

At the end of the day, at the end of all of this...that. 100% that.

The TV deal was up. They had it. They were going to get more cash than the ACC. They were going to win.

SU and Pitt were the snowboarders putting their arms up before the finish line. UConn and RU are the folks behind them, going after medals they know they don't deserve.