I wish the Big East hadn't collapsed

[Skatastrophy]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

[ChicosBailBonds]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

I wish Al McGuire was still coaching and it was 1977 again

[We R Final Four]

There. It needed to be said.

Uhhhhh..... No, it didn't.

[EnderWiggen]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

[MtAiryGoldenEagle]

Uhhhhh..... No, it didn't.

+1

[Johnny B]

Idk about collapse,we need other teams beside nva gt to step up big time.

[Texas Western]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

I really like our new conference. It is focused and has a commonality of purpose. It will keep improving and with the double round robin rivalries will become very intense. If we can go 12-6  or better consistently in conference play our future and the conferences will be bright. Remember there are 6 schools who are truly committed as universitys to being a success in our conference. Us, Georgetown, Villanova, Butler, Creighton and Xavier. St. Johns and Providence are moving in that direction. That is a decent base. In basketball you only need to recruit 4 good players a year. The schools in our conference all have enough juice to do that. Give it a few years to jell.

[MtAiryGoldenEagle]

Fortunately, high school kids aren't shying away from committing to our basketball centric conference.

The Big East schools are doing fine recruiting

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Big-East

http://247sports.com/Season/2014-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Big-East

[River rat]

Well the big east in 2013-14 wasnt the big east in 2005 that is for sure.  However, in 1979 the big east wasnt a bunch of world beaters either.  But a single minded purposeness of excellent basketball was the commonality of the teams, and in short order teams elevated their programs.  Teams such as st johns , uconn, gergetown , setonhall , villanova, etc were soon doing better than they had ever done.  I see no reason why this conference cannot climb that same ladder. Again

[Tums Festival]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

Brent, is that you?

[source?]

It's the best we could do given the circumstances. We are in a conference that will be top 5 every year, maybe better. We are among like-minded institutions. We are recruiting at a high level. We have a strong tv contract that pays better than our old one, and better than the AAC gets for both football and basketball. I feel like this has already been hashed out

[MU Buff]

It's obviously not what it was when we were first invited but I can guarantee the Big East will stay in the top echelon of basketball conferences for the foreseeable future. The Big East spends way too much money not to, with Marquette leading the way. I'm not worried.

[4everwarriors]

F*ckin' wishes his junk was bigger.

[dgies9156]

Brent Hillbilly, is that you?

+1000 with amendments.

[HutchwasClutch]

Strong, passionate fan bases (at all but I'd say two schools)
Commitment and investment in men's basketball (all these schools know what their overwhelming revenue driver is)
Strong tradition of winning at very high levels (even DePaul once upon a time)
Big television markets with major exposure in the critical east coast TV markets
Major TV deal locked up for years.
All the schools committed to a common goal- elite men's basketball, no visions of grandeur on the football field.

I think the only thing the conference is missing right now is the natural rivalries, that's going to need time to evolve and develop.  Otherwise this conference wants for nothing.

Their is no reason this shouldn't annually be a top 3-5 conference.  In a down year the conference RPI last year was 4 in most of the major rating indexes, ahead of ACC, A-10, and SEC.

Every objective measure points to this being a very strong conference for years to come.

[muwarrior69]

Strong, passionate fan bases (at all but I'd say two schools)
Commitment and investment in men's basketball (all these schools know what their overwhelming revenue driver is)
Strong tradition of winning at very high levels (even DePaul once upon a time)
Big television markets with major exposure in the critical east coast TV markets
Major TV deal locked up for years.
All the schools committed to a common goal- elite men's basketball, no visions of grandeur on the football field.

I think the only thing the conference is missing right now is the natural rivalries, that's going to need time to evolve and develop.  Otherwise this conference wants for nothing.

Their is no reason this shouldn't annually be a top 3-5 conference.  In a down year the conference RPI last year was 4 in most of the major rating indexes, ahead of ACC, A-10, and SEC.

Every objective measure points to this being a very strong conference for years to come.

Don't forget the Dave Gavitt Tip Off with the B1G starting in 2015.

[HutchwasClutch]

Don't forget the Dave Gavitt Tip Off with the B1G starting in 2015.

Absolutely, that was a coup for the conference.  Need to play the best from other leagues in non-conference, the more major exposure in events like this, all the better.

[NCMUFan]

The new big east is a shadow of the old conference. It may end up being good, but I doubt we'll ever be as elite as the old BEast was.

I feel that our fan base has a delusional sense of grandeur. We are in a better conference than our CUSA days, but the current conference is pretty weak. There is some upside, but it's limited compared to the conference that we came into in 05-06.

There. It needed to be said.

As an aside, this Oktoberfest tasting menu is great!

I bet there were some crying when VT, BC, Florida St and Miami left and brought in Depaul, Marquette, Cincinnati and Louisville. wha wha wha

[HutchwasClutch]

I bet there were some crying when VT, BC, Florida St and Miami left and brought in Depaul, Marquette, Cincinnati and Louisville. wha wha wha

I'm sure there was plenty of crying, but not about BE basketball at the time, but BE football.  All of those programs hang their hats on football over basketball.  And BE football never recovered from those losses.  Florida St. was not part of the departures that brought in MU, Louisville, etc.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

The Big East will be fine. The old BE from 07-13 was the best conference ever assembled. People have to remember that.

As others have said, a top 5 conference year in and year is nothing to sneeze at.

[NCMUFan]

Stability of the conference is paramount.  It is so nice not having to be distracted about what conference is talking to what school in regards to leaving.

[dbwarriors]

I bet there were some crying when VT, BC, Florida St and Miami left and brought in Depaul, Marquette, Cincinnati and Louisville. wha wha wha

Florida State was never in the Big East.

[River rat]

Stability of the conference is paramount.  It is so nice not having to be distracted about what conference is talking to what school in regards to leaving.

I agree with this and i think more value needs to be given to this by some people.  The almost daily angst of conference turmoil was exasperating to the member institutions and at least this alum.
Between the conference turmoils since the late 80's and the coaching revolving door since the early 80's, its about enuff to wear a fan out.  Always expecting the next shoe to drop.  Has there been a spring/summer in the last 30-40 years where MU fans werent concerened about the coaching or conference situation or both?
I, for one, am content that the conference piece is settled and i believe going forward our conference situation will in no way inhibit our ability to compete at the highest level.

[GGGG]

To Skat's defense, he merely said he misses the old Big East.

And yeah it isn't hard to miss that conference that Marquette was lucky to be a part of for even a short while.  But I don't think he would disagree with much of what has been said here.  The new Big East is the best option that Marquette had available.  And it is a very good option - the best college basketball conference that doesn't play football.  And it's not as those the "doesn't play football" option means a wide gulf between them and the "Power 5."  Furthermore, MU is making more money now from its conference affiliation than ever before.

The conference will continue to grow and develop.  Marquette will be just fine.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The current Big East will never be as elite as the old Big East was. At least, not in the forseeable future. But, Marquette is in a better situation now then they were in the old Big East.

The schism was a win for us.