Big East to Implode Sunday? Mass Exodus being Predicted

[StillAWarrior]

I think we can agree there.  Though the ACC will easily have more than 5 strong teams.

All the "power" conferences are going to be just that...powerful.  That ship has sailed; Marquette is not going to be in one of the four or five super-conferences out there.  What we have to hope for is that we secure a place in the next best option.  A great basketball conference for schools that have decided to not have football.  If it's done right, I think it can be the lowest of the major basketball conferences, or the best of the mid-majors.  I can live with that.  In a perfect world, it'd be different, but it is what it is.  I just hope that Marquette and the other Big East teams that are going to be looking for this type of a conference will be aggressive and make this happen, and not just stand on the sidelines waiting for the other shoe to fall.

I also think that the formation of these super-conferences might have the unintended (or maybe intended?) consequence of driving some schools out of the D-I FBS.  If that happens, there might be other schools out there with strong basketball who are looking for a conference to call home.

[Bieberhole69]

If by "implode" you mean a mass exodus of those football schools, then yes, the Big East could implode.  But that wouldn't necessarily mean the Big East would cease to exist.

If by "implode" you mean the complete and total annihilation of the conference necessary to avoid the penalty and 27-month wait, +1,000,000,000 to the above.

I meant that I don't see all these football schools leaving without any consequences.  I'm not too familiar with the legality of schools leaving other than 27 months, 5 mil, but considering that right now Syracuse and UConn are technically members of the Big East wouldn't they be entitled to some of the "exit fees"?

I could be wrong here, but I think that all bball only schools are staying put right now is partially for this reason; they have nowhere else to go, so essentially they can sit back and collect all the money if 8 football schools decide to jump ship, essentially 5 mil per school, then add two more schools and form their own league keeping the Big East name.  So they're actually in a better position than a lot of other schools.  (I'm just assuming the schools would collect, i could be way off on this)

[Mr. Nielsen]

I'd be perfectly fine with this. Let the football schools go. It's obvious that they want to, so why delay the inevitable?

If legally and logistically possible, let them go before the 2011-2012 school year/football season but obviously make them pay the exit fee. Keep the Big East name, snatch up Xavier and Dayton to join the remaining 8 BE basketball teams, forming a 10-team conference (18 conf games, home-and-home with each team).

DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Notre Dame
Providence
St. John's
Seton Hall
Villanova
Xavier
Dayton

Seems simple...but I'm sure it's not.

Looks perfect!!

[Benny B]

I meant that I don't see all these football schools leaving without any consequences.  I'm not too familiar with the legality of schools leaving other than 27 months, 5 mil, but considering that right now Syracuse and UConn are technically members of the Big East wouldn't they be entitled to some of the "exit fees"?

I could be wrong here, but I think that all bball only schools are staying put right now is partially for this reason; they have nowhere else to go, so essentially they can sit back and collect all the money if 8 football schools decide to jump ship, essentially 5 mil per school, then add two more schools and form their own league keeping the Big East name.  So they're actually in a better position than a lot of other schools.  (I'm just assuming the schools would collect, i could be way off on this)

Sorry... my reference to "you" in my last post wasn't referring to you specifically, but to the reader in general.  I quoted your post because I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that it's darn near impossible that anyone is going to skirt the exit penalties.

[Litehouse]

The proposed bball-only version of the Big East might be a step down from the current Big East, but it's still better than what we had in C-USA, the Great Midwest, or the MCC.

[Pakuni]

DePaul  - weak team
Georgetown  - strong team
Marquette - strong team
Notre Dame  - strong team
Providence  - weak team
St. John's  - weak team, improving (imo sanctions coming)
Seton Hall  - weak team
Villanova -  strong team
Xavier - strong team
Dayton - weak team

My fear is that we don't have a strong enough conference to be cared about.  I realize there are some powerhouse alumni bases out there, but there are also a lot IDGAF alumni bases as well.  I'm looking at you DePaul.

DePaul definitely qualifies as a IDGAF base currently, and they'll never be a huge deal in their market, even when things are going well. They are, however, still in a big market and still the largest Catholic university out there. Even if they capture another 10 percent of their market potential, that's a big number.

Any way we can swap Butler for Dayton? Better team, better market, better upside.

[avid1010]

I'd be perfectly fine with this. Let the football schools go. It's obvious that they want to, so why delay the inevitable?

If legally and logistically possible, let them go before the 2011-2012 school year/football season but obviously make them pay the exit fee. Keep the Big East name, snatch up Xavier and Dayton to join the remaining 8 BE basketball teams, forming a 10-team conference (18 conf games, home-and-home with each team).

DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Notre Dame
Providence
St. John's
Seton Hall
Villanova
Xavier
Dayton

Seems simple...but I'm sure it's not.

I'd be good with that conference.  I see an upside of recruits, coaches, etc. all liking the idea that they can be the "king of the castle" rather than second fiddle to football.  We've all heard the rumors of UW basketball coaches playing second or even third to football and hockey in many areas important to a teams success/growth.  I'm not sure what it looks like financially for a conference, or how much MU profited from being in a BCS football conference, but certain schools that do well in the A-10 seem to have good value.

[Hards Alumni]

DePaul definitely qualifies as a IDGAF base currently, and they'll never be a huge deal in their market, even when things are going well. They are, however, still in a big market and still the largest Catholic university out there. Even if they capture another 10 percent of their market potential, that's a big number.

Any way we can swap Butler for Dayton? Better team, better market, better upside.

Butler is an after thought without Brad Stevens there... and keeping them around for just a coach is probably a bad idea.

[forgetful]

I meant that I don't see all these football schools leaving without any consequences.  I'm not too familiar with the legality of schools leaving other than 27 months, 5 mil, but considering that right now Syracuse and UConn are technically members of the Big East wouldn't they be entitled to some of the "exit fees"?

I could be wrong here, but I think that all bball only schools are staying put right now is partially for this reason; they have nowhere else to go, so essentially they can sit back and collect all the money if 8 football schools decide to jump ship, essentially 5 mil per school, then add two more schools and form their own league keeping the Big East name.  So they're actually in a better position than a lot of other schools.  (I'm just assuming the schools would collect, i could be way off on this)

Also as far as I understand it the remaining teams keep the right to all the NCAA Basketball tournament appearance money.

[muguru]

Looks perfect!!

Why isn't there a "barf" icon here?? That's exactly what that conference would want to make me do in comparison to now.

[Aughnanure]

Why isn't there a "barf" icon here?? That's exactly what that conference would want to make me do in comparison to now.

Losing UConn, Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse will definitely hurt. Added with WVU & Cincy, a little bit more. But Guess what? This was INEVITABLE, and everyone knew it even if they didn't want to think about it.

Our time was limited since we joined the Big East, and that ended up being about 6-7 years. But whatever this becomes, it will still be a top 4 basketball conference, and we will still be successful.

[MattyWarrior]

No Butler.Please hit eject,I don't want another conference usa. We have a really fine program
and I agree we have to get it over with so we can keep the momentum we have going.

[avid1010]

Why isn't there a "barf" icon here?? That's exactly what that conference would want to make me do in comparison to now.

You have a better idea for long term sustainability/stability?

[jsglow]

The proposed bball-only version of the Big East might be a step down from the current Big East, but it's still better than what we had in C-USA, the Great Midwest, or the MCC.

It would be the premiere basketball-only conference in the country, significantly better than the A-10, and put 4-5 teams in the tourney every year (roughly 50% of the conference).

I hope all the Presidents see this.  Football and basketball schools need to divorce, hopefully making that process as easy and successful as possible.

[GGGG]

The Big Ten isn't losing half of their teams either. If every team bolted except Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Purdue, you better believe they'd do all they could to keep the Big Ten name.

I understand that.  I just don't agree with the assumption that ESPN is going to pay significantly more for bball rights because it says "Big East."

[muhoops1]

I say MU makes a push for the ACC.  Hell the club football team is better than Duke and 'Cuse Football any day.  What is so funny about this whole thing is that the ACC made itself stronger in hoops and just added mediocre football schools.  Whatever, they can have their crappy conference. 

SEC = Football the rest is just a footnote.

[brewcity77]

I say MU makes a push for the ACC.  Hell the club football team is better than Duke and 'Cuse Football any day.  What is so funny about this whole thing is that the ACC made itself stronger in hoops and just added mediocre football schools.  Whatever, they can have their crappy conference. 

SEC = Football the rest is just a footnote.

Because this was always about basketball for the ACC. Football is a convenient angle, but I firmly believe this was about solidifying the ACC as the best basketball conference.

[NersEllenson]

Because this was always about basketball for the ACC. Football is a convenient angle, but I firmly believe this was about solidifying the ACC as the best basketball conference.

I agree entirely - though the ACC won't ever come out and say as much.  It is time for MU and the other BE Basketball only schools,  + Xavier + Dayton + St. Joe's to form their own conference and move on.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Because this was always about basketball for the ACC. Football is a convenient angle, but I firmly believe this was about solidifying the ACC as the best basketball conference.

Could be which made it a good fit, but the first thing this was about for the ACC was keeping Florida State and/or VTech from bolting to the SEC. With Miami and UNC football on the NCAA hit list for major violations, ACC football needed to be shored up before they could even think of going to ESPN to ask for more money by adding the two hoops successful schools. With the SEC making moves, they needed to act quickly or they were in danger of becoming irrelevant--with football potentially in the crapper and hoops sliding recently overall (not at the top of the conference).

Remember, each school, as it stands today, had to take less money on their TV deal to add SU and Pitt, and they voted to add the golden anchor clause to exit. To start, this was a move to stay alive in the BCS.

[Aughnanure]

DePaul definitely qualifies as a IDGAF base currently, and they'll never be a huge deal in their market, even when things are going well. They are, however, still in a big market and still the largest Catholic university out there. Even if they capture another 10 percent of their market potential, that's a big number.

Any way we can swap Butler for Dayton? Better team, better market, better upside.

If we're restricting ourselves to a strict 10 teams, St. Louis would probably be the better option of those 3.

For people who are so worried about Butler only being in b/c of Brad Stevens, think about how most Big East schools got their name - one very successful coach. There is not reason this program can't use their success to propel them into being a perennial power like Gonzaga has. Its been a solid decade of success for Butler, there as good as any to join this hypothetical bball league - plus they're in a major market and play in a large arena.

[ecompt]

How exactly would the basketball-only conference be any weaker than the Big Ten? Especially if St. John's has a resurgence? Georgetown, Nova, MU, ND, Xavier match up favorably with the Wiscys and Ohio States, except they have more probations.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Who had Dayton and St. John's as a weak team. Do you even watch college basketball?

[brewcity77]

I'm fine with basketball only, but ten teams just isn't enough. Once the excitement fades, you'll end up with a conference that averages 2-4 bids a year, like the A-10. I'm not saying the quality won't be there, just that the bids won't be.

DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Notre Dame
Providence
St. John's
Seton Hall
Villanova
Xavier
Dayton
Butler
Temple
UMass
Richmond
George Mason
St. Louis

I know, Temple and UMass have football. Well, if they aren't in the Big East, they'll be parking their football in the MAC anyway. We already have Notre Dame, and to a lesser extent, Villanova, so why not? Butler, Richmond, and George Mason have all shown sustained NCAA success over the years and the ability to compete at this level. And St. Louis brings a nice market, history, and extends us west a little bit. If people would rather Creighton, VCU, Missouri State, George Washington, or Old Dominion, I can see an argument over SLU for any of them, but the simple truth is that there are high-level teams out there. We should be putting together a conference that can be considered one of the best in the country from day one, not one that's destined to fall to obscurity.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Isn't 16 schools too many? How about 12 or 14.

[CTWarrior]

We should be putting together a conference that can be considered one of the best in the country from day one, not one that's destined to fall to obscurity.

This conference would settle in around what C-USA was when we were in it, and settle in as the 6th best basketball conference year in and year out.

As an east coaster, what kills me the most about all of this is that now I get to see basically every game Marquette plays (excluding cupcakes) without any premiuim channels, and in this new conference I won't be able to.