Big East Divisions?

[chapman]

The announcers today brought up the possibility of the Big East switching to a two-division system and said they believe coaches would like it better.  So who is in favor, and what do you like or dislike about it vs. the current arrangement?  Obviously the announcers point of making teams feel better about feeling better about finishing 8th instead of 16th doesn't hold much water.  A few points:

-Two ways I can think of to have set divisions, by general geography or by football vs. non-Big East football (Notre Dame with this group).  Also a possibility of doing what some are calling for in the Big 12 because of football and finding ways to re-align the divisions either each year or at set intervals which could be done in several ways.

-Teams would play each of the seven teams in their division twice each year.  They would then play half the teams in the other division in the remaining four games, two home and two road.  This means we would be much more familiar with some teams, but would only see half of the conference at the BC on average once every four years, so they would hardly feel like conference competition.

-To somewhat increase familiarity, the seeding in the tournament would slightly increase the frequency of games with the other division (i.e. instead of #9 vs. #16 in the first round, it becomes Division A's #5 vs. Division B's #8.  It did feel strange playing St. John's in 2007 for the first time all year in the conference tournament, but better than just not playing them.

-It may help the Big East to get #1 seeds or at least skew its elite teams to higher seedings in the tournament. A point the announcers made that makes some sense, but could work both ways. For example, if Marquette got to beat Cincinnati and DePaul twice instead of facing and losing their only games against Georgetown and Syracuse, it could theoretically help its seeding.

-As a tradeoff, this could cause less teams to make the tournament or skew their seeding backwards, which the announcers did not mention.  For example, instead of playing USF and St. John's, Marquette could have to play Villanova and Notre Dame twice every year; if they aren't an elite team that can beat these teams regardless of location but good enough to handle the bottom feeders, it'll have a negative effect on the resume to play top teams twice.

[CTWarrior]

I know it is pointless because it will never happen, but I always thought a 4 division set up made the most sense.  Something like:

Northeast
Connecticut-Providence-Saint John's-Syracuse

Mid-Atlantic
Georgetown-Rutgers-Seton Hall-Villanova

Mideast
DePaul-Marquette-Notre Dame-Pittsburgh

South
Cincinnati-Louisville-South Florida-West Virginia

Play your own division twice and everyone else once.  Would never work because TV wouldn't get the most desirable mirror game match-ups year in and year out, but it could help build rivalries, etc., not that that is really needed.  It would help the NCAA committee understand on a simpler level which teams have the toughest schedule as well.  THe third and fourth place teams could play the first day of the BET cross divisions to get it to 12, the second place teams join in day two to get it to eight, and then the first place teams enter the fray for a standard 8 team single elimination tournament.

[strobl2]

I like the way it is now, that way we don't have to play some of the tougher teams more than once.

[Badgerhater]

Interesting idea.

As the teams are right now.  The mideast with MU-Pitt-ND would be the toughest trio of teams in the conference.  The other divisions have only two tough to really tough teams.

Pitt games are fun....they have emerged into a pretty good rivalry....although Pitt fans don't seem to think so.

[mu_hilltopper]

Big East is too tough, no matter what the divisions are.

Remember, we almost joined the Horizon league just 12 short months ago! 

[brewpaul]

I know it is pointless because it will never happen, but I always thought a 4 division set up made the most sense.  Something like:

Northeast
Connecticut-Providence-Saint John's-Syracuse

Mid-Atlantic
Georgetown-Rutgers-Seton Hall-Villanova

Mideast
DePaul-Marquette-Notre Dame-Pittsburgh

South
Cincinnati-Louisville-South Florida-West Virginia

Play your own division twice and everyone else once. 

I like the idea.  I agree that it would be a tough sell for television reasons, but it is a well thought out alignment.  Good job...

[mutpm]

The problem with a 4 division format is that you can get a division winner that is weaker than a 2nd or 3rd place team from another division.  Just ask the New England Patriots how they like a 4 division setup. 

[MR.HAYWARD]

Big east had 2 divison 5 or 6 years ago and dropped it becuase it was an abyssmal failure.

[🏀]

Big east had 2 divison 5 or 6 years ago and dropped it becuase it was an abyssmal failure.

It was also a failure for reasons that don't exist today. One division was entirely dominant. Boston College, who won the east division that year would have not finished better than fourth in the west division, and they failed to make the NCAA tournament. When BC missed the NCAAs, the Big East immediately dropped for the format because the SOS for BC wasn't good enough. The Big East also wanted more control over the TV matchups, which they could restructure in favor of the potential matchups.

*Fixed

[dwaderoy2004]

Not sure how MR.HAYWARD was wrong.  according to what you wrote, it was dropped because it was an abysmal failure.

[TallTitan34]

Two Divisions
Football
Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn

Non-Football
Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. Johns, DePaul

[bilsu]

We had that in conference USA and I did not like it. I want to play every team at least once.

[Tugg Speedman]

Two Divisions
Football
Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn

Non-Football
Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. Johns, DePaul

Right idea, wrong names

Catholic Division
Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. Johns, DePaul

Convict Division
Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn

[TallTitan34]

Right idea, wrong names

Catholic division
Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. Johns, DePaul

Convict Division
Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn

Actually that's about dead on...

[avid1010]

Add Memphis...

[JSwarriors08]

I know it is pointless because it will never happen, but I always thought a 4 division set up made the most sense.  Something like:

Northeast
Connecticut-Providence-Saint John's-Syracuse

Mid-Atlantic
Georgetown-Rutgers-Seton Hall-Villanova

Mideast
DePaul-Marquette-Notre Dame-Pittsburgh

South
Cincinnati-Louisville-South Florida-West Virginia

Play your own division twice and everyone else once.  Would never work because TV wouldn't get the most desirable mirror game match-ups year in and year out, but it could help build rivalries, etc., not that that is really needed.  It would help the NCAA committee understand on a simpler level which teams have the toughest schedule as well.  THe third and fourth place teams could play the first day of the BET cross divisions to get it to 12, the second place teams join in day two to get it to eight, and then the first place teams enter the fray for a standard 8 team single elimination tournament.

Interesting idea, but I refuse in principal to have anything to do with the middle east.