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

[Kolumbo]

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.

I think focusing on the number of slices is putting the cart before the horse. You also must focus on the size of the pie. I like the Big East today, but I don't think it is sustainable long term. It must grow or it will die. A 10 member conference with maybe only 3-4 programs you can rely on year in and year out is not a great play. There may not be a viable solution, but growing the conference and having more teams be successful will grow the pie. No one wants stale pie.

 

[Vowelguy]

View attachment 102854

It would be malpractice for her to say anything different.

Unless you are at the top of the food chain, you NEVER say “we are done.”

That doesn’t mean the conference has any desire to add teams; but nothing good comes from revealing your hand.

 

[GoConn]

There simply is no one else to add, besides maybe Gonzaga.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

It would be malpractice for her to say anything different.

Unless you are at the top of the food chain, you NEVER say “we are done.”

That doesn’t mean the conference has any desire to add teams; but nothing good comes from revealing your hand.

If Big East really wanted to add teams, they would have done so before the this new media contract negotiation.

I hope Val consulted with media consultants to see if there are teams that can add value before proceeding to negotiate the current contract.

 

[Vowelguy]

If Big East really wanted to add teams, they would have done so before the this new media contract negotiation.

I hope Val consulted with media consultants to see if there are teams that can add value before proceeding to negotiate the current contract.

I didn’t say they wanted to add teams.
I said there’s no incentive to be specific.

Gonzaga is sitting out there and would surely like to join. The BE has no interest right now, but it’s nice to know they are there waiting should things change.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Can't wait for uconn to leave Big East

 

[GoConn]

Can't wait for uconn to leave Big East

We've won 2 national championships and get to play our conference tourney in the worlds most famous arena where its easy for fans to get to.

Yes, I want to join a power conference too especially to help out football program but the Big East has been a fine home for now.

 

[Bongo Fury]

True. UConn has regained respect the last couple of seasons. The BE not so much with the low amount of bids for the tournament which I viewed as not fair. It appears the power conferences are going to pull away. Unfortunately BE is not a power conference.

 

[Hoophound]

We've won 2 national championships and get to play our conference tourney in the worlds most famous arena where its easy for fans to get to.

Yes, I want to join a power conference too especially to help out football program but the Big East has been a fine home for now.

I love the Big East. It just doesn’t work for football and football is a must for survival.

 

[ZooCougar]

How about ten? Is ten enough?

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

How about ten? Is ten enough?

It would be if it were the right ten, lol

 

[freescooter]

In many respects the NEWBIE is a mirror image of the WCC. Modest size. A power program and a couple of other good ones with a bunch of glorified mid-majors. The NEWBIE of course has DePaul. (If they had a game and the opponent didn’t show up would they still lose?). They only have 9 members vs 11. Or 10 if you don’t count DePaul as a real D1 program.

 

[superjohn]

In many respects the NEWBIE is a mirror image of the WCC. Modest size. A power program and a couple of other good ones with a bunch of glorified mid-majors. The NEWBIE of course has DePaul. (If they had a game and the opponent didn’t show up would they still lose?). They only have 9 members vs 11. Or 10 if you don’t count DePaul as a real D1 program.

I'll never understand why you do this.

 

[CL82]

In many respects the NEWBIE is a mirror image of the WCC. Modest size. A power program and a couple of other good ones with a bunch of glorified mid-majors. The NEWBIE of course has DePaul. (If they had a game and the opponent didn’t show up would they still lose?). They only have 9 members vs 11. Or 10 if you don’t count DePaul as a real D1 program.

 

[noeynox]

I'll never understand why you do this.

NEWBE would have been much better.

 

[Patman]

I'll never understand why you do this.

Considering how wrong it is. WCC is a 1-3 bid league with a heavy stretch on 3. NBE while it has its weak sisters is a much more potent league

 

[freescooter]

I'll never understand why you do this.

I’m thinking a merger would be worth exploring. Somehow a sentence got left out. More or less a merger of equals. 20 teams. Mostly comparable. Mostly Catholic. We could shift One of Creighton, Marquette, Butler or DePaul to the western division. We might have to play the conference tourney in LA on occasion but would that be so bad? Or maybe Chicago. Again, not an awful option every now and then. In todays environment where leagues are national in scope it sort of makes sense as the best match. Certainly compared with just adding Gonzaga.

 

[freescooter]

Considering how wrong it is. WCC is a 1-3 bid league with a heavy stretch on 3. NBE while it has its weak sisters is a much more potent league

The NEWBE is a 3-5 bid league with 2 more teams. It is marginally deeper.

 

[businesslawyer]

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.

Not at all what actually happened, and what makes it bizarre is that we ended up separate from the Catholics EXACTLY for the reason you want us to be separate now. Because we want to play big time football in addition to hoops and the Catholics don’t want their future intertwined with northeastern big time football.

 

[businesslawyer]

I’m thinking a merger would be worth exploring. Somehow a sentence got left out. More or less a merger of equals. 20 teams. Mostly comparable. Mostly Catholic. We could shift One of Creighton, Marquette, Butler or DePaul to the western division. We might have to play the conference tourney in LA on occasion but would that be so bad? Or maybe Chicago. Again, not an awful option every now and then. In todays environment where leagues are national in scope it sort of makes sense as the best match. Certainly compared with just adding Gonzaga.

You don’t want to be associated with DePaul but you’re o.k. With the bottom half of the WCC? Sometimes your search for misery goes so unbelievably off the rails ….

 

[uconnbill]

I don't trust Val and don't think she has UConn's best interest at heart.

 

[storrsroars]

I think playing each other member twice is perfect for hoops.

 

[Hoophound]

I don't trust Val and don't think she has UConn's best interest at heart.

She doesn’t. She has the best interest of the conference at heart, as she should. No doubt, she values us as a member.

I can say that I love the Big East and would absolutely love to see it expand back into a viable football conference. I still see the possibility that it happens. Syracuse, BC, UConn, Wake, Duke etc could possibly find themselves in a situation where a reconstituted Big East makes sense. At the same time, the Catholics could see that without football, they will be relegated to a lower tier.

All of that said, I’m all in on the B12 if they come calling. Basketball will be great (I prefer the BE for basketball, but we can’t have it all) and football will immediately improve.

 

[noeynox]

The NEWBE is a 3-5 bid league with 2 more teams. It is marginally deeper.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I’m thinking a merger would be worth exploring. Somehow a sentence got left out. More or less a merger of equals. 20 teams. Mostly comparable. Mostly Catholic. We could shift One of Creighton, Marquette, Butler or DePaul to the western division. We might have to play the conference tourney in LA on occasion but would that be so bad? Or maybe Chicago. Again, not an awful option every now and then. In todays environment where leagues are national in scope it sort of makes sense as the best match. Certainly compared with just adding Gonzaga.

Yeah, let's play even more crappy teams even further away.