ESPN: Pitt and Cuse in discussions with ACC

[texaswarrior74]

Pittsburgh Post Gazette reporting that move to ACC is imminent


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11260/1175549-100.stm

[Villacats]

I am not sure If Xavier goes anywhere without Dayton, being that the two are big rivals.  Also, Xavier has owned the A10 lately.  Not sure if they would want to leave.

You're Xavier. Would you rather play St John's, Villanova and Georgetown in NBA arenas, or Fordham, LaSalle and George Washington in their on-campus gyms? Have a TV deal with ESPN, or CBS College Sports Network? Play your conference tourney in the Garden, or rotate between Atlantic City and Richmond?

Xavier to the Big East is a no-brainer.

[jsglow]

the more I think about it . . .

I don't want to become a diluted football conference accepting the bridesmaids of the major BCS conference members scattered across the country.  That's a path to irrelevancy.

I think it's time for the hoops schools to sit down and recommit to the reason the league was formed many years ago.  Big time college basketball stretching from the northeast to the midwest with a conference tourney at the epicenter of media attention; Madison Sq. Garden.  I think there are viable candidates to fill any slots that don't see that core and might move on.  And that ain't Baylor folks.

[GGGG]

Welcome to the darkside jsglow.  I completely agree with you. 

[Chili]

Here's my suggestion for a basketball-only conference:

East Division
Georgetown (Washington, DC)
Villanova  (Philadelphia)
Seton Hall (West Orange, NJ/NYC)
St. John's (New York)
Providence (Providence)
Dusquene (Pittsburgh)

West Division
Marquette (Milwaukee)
DePaul (Chicago)
Xavier (Cincinnati)
Detroit Mercy (Detroit)
Butler (Indianapolis)
St. Louis (St. Louis)

All Catholic schools except for Butler. All in large cities.

If you go hoops only, no need to go over 10 teams. Then you keep a 16 or 18 game round robin schedule. Just cut out Dusquene and Detroit...

[WI inferiority Complexes]

the more I think about it . . .

I don't want to become a diluted football conference accepting the bridesmaids of the major BCS conference members scattered across the country.  That's a path to irrelevancy.

I think it's time for the hoops schools to sit down and recommit to the reason the league was formed many years ago.  Big time college basketball stretching from the northeast to the midwest with a conference tourney at the epicenter of media attention; Madison Sq. Garden.  I think there are viable candidates to fill any slots that don't see that core and might move on.  And that ain't Baylor folks.

+1000

I have never thought I missed anything by not having a college football team, because college football is stupid.

[Aughnanure]

If you go hoops only, no need to go over 10 teams. Then you keep a 16 or 18 game round robin schedule. Just cut out Dusquene and Detroit...

This. We want to try to have as condense of conference as possible. We can't dilute the conference to stay relevant. I would see if Memphis would be interested if they don't get in a major conference.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Scary...considering Pitt's President is head of the BE Excutive Committee.  Oh boy

Folks, John Marinatto found out Syracuse and Pitt applied to the ACC while sitting in the pressbox at Maryland. Think about that.

http://twitter.com/#!/Mengus22/status/115087473842978816

[muarmy81]

This makes no sense to me.  Wasn't the Big Ten trying to court Pitt a few years ago?  Unless the SEC showed up I don't see why either of these schools would be interested in the ACC.  In my opinion it's not much better in Football, although i would agree it is better, and it's worse in basketball....I don't get it. 

[GGGG]

The Big Ten wanted nothing to do with Pitt.  The interest was the other way around.

[chapman]

the more I think about it . . .

I don't want to become a diluted football conference accepting the bridesmaids of the major BCS conference members scattered across the country.  That's a path to irrelevancy.

I think it's time for the hoops schools to sit down and recommit to the reason the league was formed many years ago.  Big time college basketball stretching from the northeast to the midwest with a conference tourney at the epicenter of media attention; Madison Sq. Garden.  I think there are viable candidates to fill any slots that don't see that core and might move on.  And that ain't Baylor folks.

Spot on.  When we see outselves bending over to add TCU, Baylor, and Iowa State to our conference it's gone too far, and it's not going to be a premiere basketball league anymore.  Same thing if we're going to even consider Duquesne or Detroit.  Let's go for basketball - not football, not Catholic, but basketball.  If the pieces fall into perfect alignment that see all the football schools find a new conference, let's be thinking of Xavier, Butler, Temple (if they stay MAC in football), Richmond - strong basketball schools.  If a couple of football schools with good basketball programs end up homeless and have to do something similar to Temple for their football program we can take them in for basketball, but it's got to be the basketball schools regaining the bargaining power and not adding garbage schools that stink at every sport to temporarily appease the remaining worthwhile football members that are still looking for a way out at the same time.

[KC_Warrior]

The Big East commish is clearly asleep at the wheel.  Hard to believe he was sitting back doing nothing all this time.  Let's hope he has a plan B ready to go that includes keeping the Big East name & the basketball only schools together.

[Nukem2]

Ironic that Dave Gavitt passed away last nite per CBSSports.com

[GGGG]

The Big East commish is clearly asleep at the wheel.  Hard to believe he was sitting back doing nothing all this time.  Let's hope he has a plan B ready to go that includes keeping the Big East name & the basketball only schools together.

What do you want him to do?  I keep hearing that the BE should be "proactive," but I have no idea what exactly this means. 

The only schools that would have accepted a BE membership offer over the past year are schools like TCU.  Schools desperate for a BCS autobid conference.  So you end up with a bunch of CUSA-type schools that think football first.

The conference has a punitive exit fee and length of time.  (Which I think is ridiculous - I don't want Syracuse and Pitt hanging around for 27 months.)  Outside of this, the BE is going to end up with leftovers because it is the poorest of the BCS conferences.  The BE started down this path 20+ years ago when it let Penn State escape to the B10.  The die was cast back then.  This is just the logical end to that process.

[monkeyman34]

So 2 schools are leaving... what about adding Kansas and Kansas St.?

[GGGG]

Right now, Kansas and Kansas State are members of a conference that makes more $$$ than the BE does.

[Nukem2]

Right now, Kansas and Kansas State are members of a conference that makes more $$$ than the BE does.

For how long?

[Warrior1]

Why is everybody so high on a ball only conference? The only thing that this is telling is that that is exactly what we do NOT want. The BigEast needs good football, and have MU hopefully remain a member. I want seton hall providence and Depaul out and to add more football teams. It is the only chance the BigEast has. Kansas and Kansas state would be a dream, but add Iowa state and Baylor too.

Like I said before, Butler is a terrible fit, we need huge arenas, with big attendance to stay relative.

[KC_Warrior]

I agree.  Adding KU, K-State, Missouri & Iowa State would be the best option although I just don't see it happening.

[Dr. Blackheart]

LATE NOTE: From a source at Pitt who is very close to Dixon, Dixon is NOT happy about this at all. This is not surprising as Jim Boeheim was very much against leaving the Big East a few years ago. For Dixon, it was something that he has mentioned in the past and that's that the NYC market was very important to the Pitt basketball brand, and now that will change. Don't take this as saying that Dixon is going to leave, just that he's not happy about it.

http://bebballreportpitt.blogspot.com/

[Marqus Howard]

Like I said before, Butler is a terrible fit, we need huge arenas, with big attendance to stay relative.

Butler's fieldhouse seats 36,000 people. By contrast, Madison Square Garden holds about 20,000 people for basketball games. What exactly do you mean by "huge arenas," and how does Butler's fieldhouse not qualify?

[KC_Warrior]

Hinkle Fieldhouse seats 10,000.  35,000?  There's only one venue in the Big East that holds that many people, the Carrier Dome.

[oldwarrior81]

Butler's football stadium holds 36,000.

Hinkle holds about 10,000 for basketball

[Marqus Howard]

You're right. Sorry about that.

[monkeyman34]

Big East 16 teams - 12 football / 4 basketball only:

Louisville
Cincinnati
UConn
Rutgers
South Florida
TCU
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State
Missouri
Baylor
Texas Tech

St. John's
Georgetown
Villanova
Marquette

Pitt - ACC
Syracuse - ACC
ND - B10
West Virginia - SEC
Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul - all gone, or keep and have a 19 team basketball league, play each other once.

Other possibilities for italicized teams - West Virginia if they would stay, Central Florida, Temple, Rice, Tulsa, Marshall, Houston, UTEP, East Carolina.