Big East Conference

[CreightonWarrior]

I anticipate this discussion will pop up until expansion actually happens.   IMO, there are certain things to keep in mind when discussing possible new teams.
1.   Football = Non-starter.
2.  State school = Non-starter     Though I think there would be a micron more flexibility on this one.
3.   There is no hurry.   
4.   Don't dilute the product.   IOW, No merge with the A-10, creating 3 divisions......yaddayadda
5.   The whole point of this configuration is stability.   

Merge with the A-10 and MVC. Each season the top 3 teams in the middle and lower division get promoted to the upper and middle division. The bottom three in the top and middle division get demoted to the middle and lower division.

[GGGG]

Merge with the A-10 and MVC. Each season the top 3 teams in the middle and lower division get promoted to the upper and middle division. The bottom three in the top and middle division get demoted to the middle and lower division.

No.  Why would any BE school agree to do this?  They are top dogs already.

[Dawson Rental]

Merge with the A-10 and MVC. Each season the top 3 teams in the middle and lower division get promoted to the upper and middle division. The bottom three in the top and middle division get demoted to the middle and lower division.

I guess you Creighton guys are getting more TV revenue than you know what to do with, and need to dilute the amount down a lot to rescue yourself from that predicament.

[CreightonWarrior]

I wasn't actually serious...

[ChicosBailBonds]

I am clearly on the outside looking in on this one, but I personally will never understand why we dont invite 2 of memphis, Uconn, or cinncinnati in and let them be 11 & 12 until they ultimately secure a better final resting place. 
It would be wonderful for BE basketball.
And everyone involved knows its a temporary waypoint that benefits both sides in the interim. 
i could see why maybe Uconn and the other 2 may not want to do it for football purposes, but they can probably find a place to house their football teams until they find a better ultimate resting place and it has to help the bball programs immensly until that point.
i just think it would be really good for the confernece and have no threat or downside to the future of the BE.

Who in their right mind would take those two for football only?  Their value is basketball.  UCONN has had their moments with football, but no conference worth its weight it going to take those football only programs, makes no sense.  Then, you factor who is in the current Big East and I can tell you the academics at Memphis isn't going to be one that the current schools come running to embrace.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I'd love for Saint Louis to receive an invite to the conference (fits the institutional profile, market and basketball tradition) but I also realize that time is definitely on the Big East's side.  They can afford to wait and see where the cards fall.

Dayton doesn't do it for me, and neither does Richmond or VCU (I honestly do not think they are a realistic option - as a state institution, the desire for football expansion will be there).  Gonzaga is too far west, so I'm not sure what that leaves.

Who knows?  Maybe the NCAA-breakaway leaves UCONN and the AAC on the outside looking in.  With realignment talks seemingly tabled, perhaps that they consider moving all sports to the Big East (and football to MAC?).  Pipe dream, I know...

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I still don't know why people see state school and automatically think they will get FBS football. Georgetown, VIllanova, and Butler are MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger risks to get football considering they already have FCS teams. VCU has a club team.

Unless your are in one of the power 6 conferences, or you are dominating the MWC every year, there is little profit to be made by FBS football. It's much easier and more profitable to stay in FCS.

[River rat]

When the "new" Big East was being formed, there was talk that UConn and Cinci proposed that very thing.  If true, it was turned down, and now that the AAC has been put together that ship has almost certainly sailed.  Most scoopers couldn't understand why schools would form a new league for stability and then invite teams that they knew were going to eventually leave anyway.  Instability was what the Big East wanted to leave behind.

Personally, my belief is that by adding 2 teams designated as temporary or potentially moving on that when they do move on i am not sure how that creates instability when they were add ons ie 11 and 12 and we are fine with going back to 10.  If something is anticipated is it then unexpected?  Additonally in the meantime the conference bball and the 2 associate members bball is significantly enhanced.  personally i would be all over exploring that option if i was  a BE AD.  The problem with the od BE was the football schools grew from a few to half. 

[GGGG]

Personally, my belief is that by adding 2 teams designated as temporary or potentially moving on that when they do move on i am not sure how that creates instability when they were add ons ie 11 and 12 and we are fine with going back to 10.  If something is anticipated is it then unexpected?  Additonally in the meantime the conference bball and the 2 associate members bball is significantly enhanced.  personally i would be all over exploring that option if i was  a BE AD.  The problem with the od BE was the football schools grew from a few to half. 

But where would those schools park their football programs in the meantime?

It's just not going to happen...and never will.

[Atticus]

UMass plays A10 basketball and MAC football.

Temple did the same.

[GGGG]

UMass plays A10 basketball and MAC football.

Temple did the same.

Why would UC and UConn want to downgrade their football conference affiliation?

[Atticus]

Why would UC and UConn want to downgrade their football conference affiliation?

I didn't suggest they would.

[River rat]

after Louisville and Rutgers leave AAC in football can they really go any lower??

[GGGG]

after Louisville and Rutgers leave AAC in football can they really go any lower??

Yeah the AAC is miles ahead of the MAC - their champion won a BCS game this year.  The MAC is terrible.

[mug644]

This is a theory that I think about every now and again; I've wondered from time to time if the presidents are stalling and praying that UR does something to justify taking them over Dayton and VCU. It might sound ridiculous, but when you think about it these are school presidents. Basketball is important, but so are academics. Adding UR and SLU gives the Big East 2 more highly ranked universities, both private, one non-Catholic (nice for Butler), endowments of $1.87 billion and $970 million (which would be ranked #1 and #3 in the conference respectively). Those two institutions add a lot of academic prestige to the conference, whereas VCU and Dayton would add much less.

As the conference reconfigurations have happened over recent years, it seems more and more obvious that these truly are ATHLETIC conferences, and that two key things that lead to conferences of years past--geographic proximity and academic similarity--have fallen much lower on the list of criteria for affiliation. (One could argue that the New Big East was driven by similar religious backgrounds, but I think it was much more important that the breakaway schools were all basketball-only; if UConn hadn't had football, they'd definitely still be part of the NBE).

Thus, I question how much academic prestige would lead the conference to lean towards UR and SLU over VCU and Dayton. Just like we all acknowledge the the distance to Spokane, Wash is essentially a deal breaker for Gonzaga.

[chapman]

SLU and Richmond please.  Could use a few more games to watch.