Bilas on where we end up when the carousel stops moving

[dwaderoy2004]

It's not pretty:

What Hasn't Happened (Yet): Marquette to Conference USA.
Why It Could: C-USA schools get roughly the same in media rights deals ($1.17 million) as Big East teams ($1.56 million for basketball-only members). Should the Big East collapse, Marquette's old conference will look appealing. Its lack of an automatic BCS bid is not an issue: Marquette doesn't have football.
Athletic Department profits, 2010: N/A
Big East TV revenue (basketball only): $1.56M/year
C-USA revenue: $1.17M/year*

[MUMac]

It's not pretty:

What Hasn't Happened (Yet): Marquette to Conference USA.
Why It Could: C-USA schools get roughly the same in media rights deals ($1.17 million) as Big East teams ($1.56 million for basketball-only members). Should the Big East collapse, Marquette's old conference will look appealing. Its lack of an automatic BCS bid is not an issue: Marquette doesn't have football.
Athletic Department profits, 2010: N/A
Big East TV revenue (basketball only): $1.56M/year
C-USA revenue: $1.17M/year*

The beauty of the conference will depend upon who all is in it at the time.  Under the current configuration?  I doubt that MU would go there alone.  I suspect, if C-USA is the destination, many of the basketball only schools would join and some of the football schools currently in C-USA would bail.

[MUBasketball]

Don't see how that would happen. C-USA is not what it used to be. It's now a southern football conference. Nothing to see here.

[robmufan]

Thought I don't like the scenario, it offers up a chance at a very decent OOC schedule I believe.  Being that we would be playing weaker teams in conference, we could use that OOC schedule to stay relevant nationally.

[Aughnanure]

This really makes no sense. I dont see how or why the basketball schools would split up at this point, and lose the Big East name. Pretty clear basketball has no influence in this mess.

[Chili]

It's not pretty:

What Hasn't Happened (Yet): Marquette to Conference USA.
Why It Could: C-USA schools get roughly the same in media rights deals ($1.17 million) as Big East teams ($1.56 million for basketball-only members). Should the Big East collapse, Marquette's old conference will look appealing. Its lack of an automatic BCS bid is not an issue: Marquette doesn't have football.
Athletic Department profits, 2010: N/A
Big East TV revenue (basketball only): $1.56M/year
C-USA revenue: $1.17M/year*

Do you have a link to the entire article?

[GGGG]

If the BE bball schools break up, the A10 is infinitely more appealing than CUSA.

[Bocephys]

Do you have a link to the entire article?

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7181029/ncb-jay-bilas-makes-sense-conference-realignment-espn-magazine

[GOO]

If the BE bball schools break up, the A10 is infinitely more appealing than CUSA.

Exactly. This would be a worst case senario.  I just don't see it happening, unless all the other high quality basketball schools end up someplace else without us.  That is not likely to happen. And the CUSA senario is not likely happen.   

[avid1010]

If the BE bball schools break up, the A10 is infinitely more appealing than CUSA.

Agreed...not an Insider, but I'm also wondering if Bilas even has his figures right.  The money to basketball only schools has to be more in the A-10 then C-USA.  Follow G-Town, Nova, St. Johns, etc.

[muhs03]

So what does this mean? Is the BE and Providence officially ditching the idea that the conference's strength lies in bball? That the BE should focus exclusively on maintaining its BCS membership no matter what the cost is to non-football playing members? I have a hard time believing that all the Prov alums in the front office are going to turn their backs on their alma mater.

And yes, the A10 is WAY better than CUSA. Especially when you consider the fact that they just locked down the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn for their conference tourney. And...they have enough schools within proximity to NYC that attendence would be good...especially if they were to add GTown, Hall, Prov and especially SJU. It would be a packed house with very good basketball. CUSA just sucks.

Besides, the BE media deal is the most outdated and furthest from today's fair value. I'd be curious to know when the CUSA deal was inked. Non-football schools are still in-line for a large pay bump.

[tower912]

I like Bilas, but he is wrong here.    At worst, when the carousel stops, we end up in a combined basketball-only-BEast-schools/A-10 mashup.    Geographically, philosophically, that makes more sense than going back to CUSA.   

[muhs03]

There are currently 13 A-10 schools. Add MU, Prov, GTown, SHU, SJU and Nova for a 19 team conference and play everyone once. DePaul gets kicked to the curb. Not a bad conference when you consider current A10 members Dayton, X, UMass, Richmond and Joe's. The biggest bonus is that this conference comes with a side order of stability.

[brewcity77]

There are currently 13 A-10 schools. Add MU, Prov, GTown, SHU, SJU and Nova for a 19 team conference and play everyone once. DePaul gets kicked to the curb. Not a bad conference when you consider current A10 members Dayton, X, UMass, Richmond and Joe's. The biggest bonus is that this conference comes with a side order of stability.

I don't see it. Sure, maybe the merger, but not DePaul getting kicked to the curb. I'd rather give SHU the boot. DePaul brings a bigger market that isn't accessible without them (we don't deliver Chicago, and SJU does deliver NYC) and honestly, their arrow for the future is pointed much higher than Seton Hall's.

Either way, I don't see this. If it all comes down, we'll end up alongside our current Big East basketball-only brethren, wherever that may be.

[westcoastwarrior]

What is Bilas basing his TV contract on?  The currect Big East contract?  This gets renewed next year...and it is pretty clear the Beast is shopping for the highest number between Fox, ESPN and CBS.  I think when it is done....the spread between CUSA and BEAST will be much greater....even with the new schools added.

[bamamarquettefan]

I like Bilas, but he is wrong here.    At worst, when the carousel stops, we end up in a combined basketball-only-BEast-schools/A-10 mashup.    Geographically, philosophically, that makes more sense than going back to CUSA.   

Agree with this statement completely - Bilas is my favorite, but think he is wrong here, and the athletic department profit is available on a Dept. of Education spreadsheet I pulled and used in another post.  The profit Marquette generates from basketball would make it one of the 50 most profitable FOOTBALL programs - which by the way means we would never make nearly as much money on football as we do on basketball even if we could break even and it woudl make us much less appealing to the BE since we would have a football team noone wanted.

[muhs03]

Agree with this statement completely - Bilas is my favorite, but think he is wrong here, and the athletic department profit is available on a Dept. of Education spreadsheet I pulled and used in another post.  The profit Marquette generates from basketball would make it one of the 50 most profitable FOOTBALL programs - which by the way means we would never make nearly as much money on football as we do on basketball even if we could break even and it woudl make us much less appealing to the BE since we would have a football team noone wanted.

But the Dept of Education figures are garbage. Ive spent a considerable amount of time looking into those numbers and you simply cant draw any conclusions from them. One thing I noticed was that several B1G schools have Music departments that operate in the red (several hundred thousand dollars). Why? Because these schools' athletic departments require the music department to pay for the marching band's seats in the stadiums (among many other costs). Given the size of the marching bands, that is a considerable expense...but there are other AD's that pay for that. There are so many other examples. Private schools are the hardest to figure out; student newspapers are generally a good source, though.

[NersEllenson]

But the Dept of Education figures are garbage. Ive spent a considerable amount of time looking into those numbers and you simply cant draw any conclusions from them. One thing I noticed was that several B1G schools have Music departments that operate in the red (several hundred thousand dollars). Why? Because these schools' athletic departments require the music department to pay for the marching band's seats in the stadiums (among many other costs). Given the size of the marching bands, that is a considerable expense...but there are other AD's that pay for that. There are so many other examples. Private schools are the hardest to figure out; student newspapers are generally a good source, though.

Could you point me in the direction to where I can see which Big 10 schools require that their marching bands pay for seats in their stadiums?  How many members in a typical Big 10 band?  300?  At $10 a pop for a student seat - so $3,000 per game?  Do you know if Marquette makes its band pay for seats at the Bradley Center?

[6746jonesr]

MU band does not pay, and members receive a stipend for performing.

[GGGG]

But the Dept of Education figures are garbage. Ive spent a considerable amount of time looking into those numbers and you simply cant draw any conclusions from them. One thing I noticed was that several B1G schools have Music departments that operate in the red (several hundred thousand dollars). Why? Because these schools' athletic departments require the music department to pay for the marching band's seats in the stadiums (among many other costs). Given the size of the marching bands, that is a considerable expense...but there are other AD's that pay for that. There are so many other examples. Private schools are the hardest to figure out; student newspapers are generally a good source, though.

The biggest reason they are difficult to figure out is because different institutions allocate costs differently.  Especially facility costs.

Furthermore, MU's basketball profit goes away because it generates such little revenue for the rest of its sports.

[Nukem2]

Bilas is conveniently forgetting NCAA tourney money, etc.  Also, MU's general fund raising is helped a lot more with BE membership than CUSA given the East coast alumni bas.

[77ncaachamps]

I like Bilas, but he is wrong here.    At worst, when the carousel stops, we end up in a combined basketball-only-BEast-schools/A-10 mashup.    Geographically, philosophically, that makes more sense than going back to CUSA.   

God I hope so.

Let's just kick out the FB teams right now.

smh

[Benny B]

Bilas is conveniently forgetting NCAA tourney money, etc.  Also, MU's general fund raising is helped a lot more with BE membership than CUSA given the East coast alumni bas.

I think a lot of people are missing that point.  The Big East will get nearly $2.5M this year based solely upon Marquette's NCAA tourney appearances over the past six years.  Marquette's Sweet 16 appearance last year is going to earn an additional $3.5M for the conference over the next five years.  For Marquette to take a share of only $1.5M in TV money, that's a pretty damn good deal for the conference.

Another way to look at it... between Villanova, Georgetown & Marquette, those three teams are worth nearly $10M/year to their conference right now simply on their NCAA tourney shares alone.  You could pay $2M/yr in TV money, and it's a better deal for the schools yet still a great deal for the conference.

Let's not fool anyone here... it's not college football that's driving the bus, it's the money.  That being the case, find me a conference who wouldn't take an additional $10M/yr in revenue in exchange for $6M/yr in TV money.

MU is going to be just fine.

[StillAWarrior]

Do you know if Marquette makes its band pay for seats at the Bradley Center?

They didn't when I was there (87-91).  My roommate joined the band pretty much solely because it got him free tickets to the games (and better seats than other students got back in the day).  He hadn't played an instrument for years, but he knew they wouldn't cut him and that he'd get tickets.

[T-Bone]

I don't see it. Sure, maybe the merger, but not DePaul getting kicked to the curb. I'd rather give SHU the boot. DePaul brings a bigger market that isn't accessible without them (we don't deliver Chicago, and SJU does deliver NYC) and honestly, their arrow for the future is pointed much higher than Seton Hall's.
...

Slightly OT:  Here's the thing about DePaul.  If they were to build a stadium on or near campus (it has been discussed over the last few years).  I would buy season tickets just to see the games against the other BE teams and an occasional OOC home game against a good team.  I do make the trip up to Milwaukee for 95% of the home schedule, but won't make the trip to Rosemont (unless MU is playing there). 

I think that there are enough like minded people in Chicago that would consider doing the same.  DePaul's average attendance last year was 7,676 (12th in the BE, 67th overall).  I think they could push up a few thousand easily if they were in the city. 

Consequently, I think they could start pulling a bit more of the Chicago market. 
(I'm using a lot of "ifs" these days.)

I'd like SHU to get booted, but first bring back Bobby Gonzalez.  The booting would be so much more pleasurable.