Val Ackerman on Big East Expansion: “Is 11 Teams Enough In This Environment?”

[Drew]

 

[Ha Who]

3.2.1 the women’s fans lamenting the day The games were on PBS.

 

[Ldandy]

Can anyone explain what media entity is going to pay 10 cents more for any of the programs that The Big East could possibly attract? Whatever the hell happens UConn better not sign anything that ties their media rights to the conference for any prolonged period of time. They need to be in Get Out Mode at all times.

 

[Jetskies]

wasn't this the same group of schools that kicked uconn louisville rutgers USF, and the like, all out to be their own thing? and now they wanna grow? that's rich.

Uconn let's get the hell out of the big east and pay what we gotta pay/do what we gotta do, to be where we ought to be. Big East is not it.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

wasn't this the same group of schools that kicked uconn louisville rutgers USF, and the like, all out to be their own thing? and now they wanna grow? that's rich.

Uconn let's get the hell out of the big east and pay what we gotta pay/do what we gotta do, to be where we ought to be. Big East is not it.

Yes! Leave Big East soon!

 

[KryHavok]

wasn't this the same group of schools that kicked uconn louisville rutgers USF, and the like, all out to be their own thing? and now they wanna grow? that's rich.

Uconn let's get the hell out of the big east and pay what we gotta pay/do what we gotta do, to be where we ought to be. Big East is not it.

I can't really blame the old Big East for what happened earlier given how much they were subjected to the football schools' whims (and the sustained losses of Miami, VT, BC, Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia). They felt they had to prioritize the basketball strengths that they had.

As for UConn leaving the Big East at this point...

For better or worse, the Big East is our home until football can find a permanent spot.

 

[Kolumbo]

wasn't this the same group of schools that kicked uconn louisville rutgers USF, and the like, all out to be their own thing? and now they wanna grow? that's rich.

Uconn let's get the hell out of the big east and pay what we gotta pay/do what we gotta do, to be where we ought to be. Big East is not it.

They were the group of schools that bolted the conference and formed their own basketball conference. I can see why Ackerman thinks it's a good idea to grow and most likely with more basketball schools. UConn will be on the first bus out of dodge should an invitation be forthcoming.

 

[Ha Who]

Yes! Leave Big East soon!

Yes while we are at it, I want to leave my job for a $100,000 raise

 

[buddy]

Yes! Leave Big East soon!

We can only hope that AD Dave is on the phone as we speak.

 

[John]

Yes while we are at it, I want to leave my job for a $100,000 raise

then you'll be able to afford even better seats when we're in a superior conference situation.

 

[DFW HOYA]

I can see why Ackerman thinks it's a good idea to grow and most likely with more basketball schools. UConn will be on the first bus out of dodge should an invitation be forthcoming.

Ackerman has said in the past, but in reality there are no other basketball schools worth the cost of expanding to. I'd rather see Georgetown play Temple or UMass than an A-10 or Summit League team.

 

[Kolumbo]

Ackerman has said in the past, but in reality there are no other basketball schools worth the cost of expanding to. I'd rather see Georgetown play Temple or UMass than an A-10 or Summit League team.

I think if UConn were to leave she may feel 10 programs just isn't big enough of a conference to be relevant. There are some very solid basketball programs in the A-10 which fit the bill. It may not be great for revenue per team in the short run but it may benefit for long term stability. And who knows what will happen with the ACC.

 

[pj]

I think if UConn were to leave she may feel 10 programs just isn't big enough of a conference to be relevant. There are some very solid basketball programs in the A-10 which fit the bill. It may not be great for revenue per team in the short run but it may benefit for long term stability. And who knows what will happen with the ACC.

Long-term stability is good for Val's job but not necessarily good for any of the schools, if it is bought by diluting the conference.

 

[CashewCrew]

Agreed. If the Big East starts adding VCU or something then you know the conference is cooked

 

[freescooter]

There are some very solid basketball programs in the A-10 which fit the bill.

LOLOLOL!

 

[Kolumbo]

I think if UConn were to leave she may feel 10 programs just isn't big enough of a conference to be relevant. There are some very solid basketball programs in the A-10 which fit the bill. It may not be great for revenue per team in the short run but it may benefit for long term stability. And who knows what will happen with the ACC.

Hey, if they want to be the all-Catholic/Private conference made up of the likes of DePaul, they'll get what they get and they don't get upset. I don't think a conference of 10 members getting 2 or 3 bids a year will garner much in terms of revenue anyway. Without UConn and a down year by Villanova, the conference sucks anyway. Adding basketball programs which perform better than DePaul and Georgetown is not dilutive. VCU, George Mason, UMass should be adds, large publics. I just hope UConn gets a call so I can stop thinking about the Big East long term.

 

[metsfan2323]

Hey, if they want to be the all-Catholic/Private conference made up of the likes of DePaul, they'll get what they get and they don't get upset. I don't think a conference of 10 members getting 2 or 3 bids a year will garner much in terms of revenue anyway. Without UConn and a down year by Villanova, the conference sucks anyway. Adding basketball programs which perform better than DePaul and Georgetown is not dilutive. VCU, George Mason, UMass should be adds, large publics. I just hope UConn gets a call so I can stop thinking about the Big East long term.

UMASS should have been added a while ago. The untapped potential is there for them to be successful in basketball given the halo effect of being in the Big East. A good commissioner would have already made this happen. They are the only A10 (currently) add that would be remotely interesting.

 

[Hoophound]

UMASS should have been added a while ago. The untapped potential is there for them to be successful in basketball given the halo effect of being in the Big East. A good commissioner would have already made this happen. They are the only A10 (currently) add that would be remotely interesting.

They don’t want another football school. We are an exception for obvious reasons.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Unless the conference is willing to expand to 14 members it is highly unlikely that an east coast school would be added.

We have six (all basically original BE members) grouped nicely in the northeast corridor and five schools somewhat scattered in the midwest. Finding a paired school for Creighton would be ideal but there is an issue in that there is no legitimate candidate for this.

Wichita State would have been a very good candidate if the program hadn't imploded after the Marshall fallout. St Louis is situated well and as a catholic school would make other members happy but they have nowhere near the gravitas to be considered a legitimate candidate.

There will always be Gonzaga rumors but for this to work logistically on a scheduling standpoint the BE would need to absorb four or five WCC schools and have a fragmented coady to coast conference. It would strengthen the top of the conference but it would be difficult to bring in sufficient revenues for the move to make sense.

 

[CL82]

UMASS should have been added a while ago. The untapped potential is there for them to be successful in basketball given the halo effect of being in the Big East. A good commissioner would have already made this happen. They are the only A10 (currently) add that would be remotely interesting.

 

[CL82]

They don’t want another football school.

OK, well that is a factor in favor of UMass then.

 

[DFW HOYA]

I think if UConn were to leave she may feel 10 programs just isn't big enough of a conference to be relevant. There are some very solid basketball programs in the A-10 which fit the bill. It may not be great for revenue per team in the short run but it may benefit for long term stability. And who knows what will happen with the ACC.

I don't know what will happen with the ACC but Georgetown isn't going to get a call from any conferences.

 

[freescooter]

Every now and again there are these strange rumors that Georgetown or Villanova are being considered as basketball only additions to the ACC. I don’t know where they start but I always think they are completely ridiculous.

 

[Durks07]

UMASS should have been added a while ago. The untapped potential is there for them to be successful in basketball given the halo effect of being in the Big East. A good commissioner would have already made this happen. They are the only A10 (currently) add that would be remotely interesting.

 

[freescooter]

Reading between the lines, Val is saying we aren’t getting any more money no matter who we add so we can’t afford to split the pie any smaller and if UConn leaves we are getting a cut so we can’t take a smaller pie and divide it among 11 or 12 schools. With 10 schools we’ll be able to keep the distribution close enough to what we get with UConn. With 11-12 we won’t.