BET Attendance

[Herman Cain]

The attendance for yesterdays BET semifinals was listed at 17,130. That is very good news, demonstrates momentum building for the league.  Hopefully, there will be a good crowd for the final. Seton Hall is a local team and Villanova is essentially local. In some respects the Xavier loss probably benefits the tournament from an attendance standpoint.  Garden listed capacity is 19,812.

Attendance for first round games was 12,604 and quarterfinals was 13,813 so a nice steady progression. I don't know if the participating schools are mandated to purchase a minimum amount of tickets.

[GGGG]

I think it's great.  Better than I thought.  I was concerned about the long term viability of the BET at MSG, but I think those questions have been answered in my mind.

And I think the ACC is going to have some egg on its face next year when they hold their conference tournament in Brooklyn.  Look at this article on this year's tournament in Washington.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/acc-tournament-finds-it-cant-go-back-to-greenville/2016/03/09/42a33600-e639-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html

"Expansion has been an ongoing embarrassment for the ACC. On Tuesday, during those thrilling games involving the bottom four seeds, they curtained off the upper deck of Verizon Center to try to hide the emptiness of the building. (The crowd was announced at 7,000, which may have been counting by twos.)

Next year the tournament goes to Brooklyn — Brooklyn? No doubt fans from the South will be thrilled with the notion of riding the subway to Barclays Center since there is zero parking there and with the prices they will pay for New York hotels."

[tower912]

During sports center this morning, one of the anchors did a 30 second screed calling the Big East a shell of its former self, before doing the tourney highlights

[Dr. Blackheart]

The Verizon has been a ghost town...looked like a UWM game.

[MUfan12]

The Verizon has been a ghost town...looked like a Georgetown game.

Fixed.

[injuryBug]

ACC needs to keep the tournament in NC.  That would be like the BE moving the tournament to Chicago or Indy.  It just does not fit.
Same with the Big10 going to MSG in a couple years and playing the tournament a week early.  keep it in indy and chicago that fits the conference

[GoldenWarrior11]

To think - if we stayed in a conference with Tulane, East Carolina, UCF, USF, SMU, Houston, Tulsa, Memphis, Temple, Cincinnati and UConn?  The sights will horrify you...







Thank HEAVENS we broke away when we did.

[tower912]

Yup.    Is the current version of the Big East as good as legendary status of a few years ago?   Nope.    However, I defy anyone to come up with a better deal for MU that was even remotely possible.   

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

God that's embarrassing. Wish we could find a way to get UConn out of there and into the BEast.

[SuddenSam]

During sports center this morning, one of the anchors did a 30 second screed calling the Big East a shell of its former self, before doing the tourney highlights

ESPN covering college hoops?  Was not aware.

[KenoshaWarrior]

God that's embarrassing. Wish we could find a way to get UConn out of there and into the BEast.

Why cant UC or Uconn come back?  Why not?

[GGGG]

Why cant UC or Uconn come back?  Why not?

Really do we have to go through this again?  As long as they have football, they are going to be in a football conference. 

[TallTitan34]

I think you can find a good number of UConn fans who would be willing to drop football to join the Big East.

[CountryRoads]

I think you can find a good number of UConn fans who would be willing to drop football to join the Big East.

Until they do let them rot in that conference. It makes zero sense to add them. They would always have one foot out the door. Their AD got caught with her pants down when they were unable to find a seat in the game of musical chairs. She was saying how great of a fit UCONN would be to the ACC. Then proceeded to say that the C7 shouldn't leave the remnants...what?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I think you can find a good number of UConn fans who would be willing to drop football to join the Big East.

I don't think this to be true.

Most UConn fans believe they are a Power 5 Conference team temporarily stuck below and are content with their football team that has been way better than local rivals Rutgers & Boston College. 

Most UConn fans think the Big10, Pac 12, the SEC have been strategic with expansion and going forward the BigXII will be, while the ACC has been reactionary and not very strategic with long term TV thinking. 
They point out their women's team has a $1.5mil per year deal with SNY as one example.

They have hope that with a sliver of Connecticut being in NYC DMA as well as being a state flagship university that they will be attractive to some conference's TV expansion plan.

[Marcus92]

UConn's commitment to football is at least 20 years in the making. They're all in. Don't see them changing course anytime soon. The following is an excerpt from a 1997 university Q&A about the subject:

The University of Connecticut is moving rapidly in accordance with its Strategic Plan to become one of the nation's premier public universities...The upgrade of UConn's football program to Division I-A and the construction of a new stadium in Storrs can play a significant role in building the quality of the University's academic program in the following ways:

Division I-A football will contribute to UConn's standing as a nationally recognized University and help move us into the top ranks of public institutions of higher education. The public tends to judge institutions by their peers; virtually every major public university with a strong academic reputation can also lay claim to a significant athletic program. Major athletic programs at schools like Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia have been helpful to these institutions as they have sought to recruit outstanding students and faculty and they will be helpful to similar efforts here.

Division I-A football provides unique opportunities to raise additional private funds, which will be used for a wide range of academic programs.

Major collegiate athletics promotes a keen sense of enthusiasm on campus and across the state, embracing student life and bringing thousands of visitors to campus. In the case of basketball, that enthusiasm helped build a base of support for UCONN 2000, the program that is rebuilding the University's academic and residential facilities.

http://advance.uconn.edu/1997/971027/fballqa.htm

Note that UConn compares itself to Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. Read between the lines. In no uncertain terms, being a school like Villanova (one without a "significant athletic program") wasn't good enough. The Big East was holding UConn back from becoming a truly great university, because it's not a "major" athletic conference.

UConn doesn't want the same things from athletics that the schools in the current Big East do. They're part of the reason the Big East broke apart. UConn back in the Big East is trouble. Don't need 'em, don't want 'em.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I don't think this to be true.

Most UConn fans believe they are a Power 5 Conference team temporarily stuck below and are content with their football team that has been way better than local rivals Rutgers & Boston College. 

Most UConn fans think the Big10, Pac 12, the SEC have been strategic with expansion and going forward the BigXII will be, while the ACC has been reactionary and not very strategic with long term TV thinking. 
They point out their women's team has a $1.5mil per year deal with SNY as one example.

They have hope that with a sliver of Connecticut being in NYC DMA as well as being a state flagship university that they will be attractive to some conference's TV expansion plan.

What a joke the AAC must be to he woman's team. Still haven't lost a game in that league, no?

[Marcus92]

Point 13 from the university Q&A foreshadowed the eventual breakup of the Big East, and explains why UConn isn't part of our conference:

In a recent letter from Roy Kramer, Southeastern Conference Commissioner and leader of the original restructuring process, he states that, "In my opinion only institutions which are members of I-A conferences will be in a position to have a major voice in the future of intercollegiate athletics."

The Big East Commissioner's Update explained that "the last five years have been at times tumultuous...Expansion was a painful issue for the Conference in 1994. And varying levels of Conference membership and NCAA play have created a complicated web of competing interests between members of The Big East and The Big East Football Conference. These disparate concerns have at times led to disputes over the continued structure of The Big East."

When viewed in light of the Kramer analysis, the Division I-A institutions may see little to be gained financially from continued association with the non-Division I-A institutions...Where will UConn find the opportunity to affiliate with a conference composed of institutions of similar size and mission if not included in The Big East Conference as it is structured today?

[Mr. Nielsen]

2016 Big East quarterfinals (4 game) audience up 17% from 2015.

[HutchwasClutch]

Really do we have to go through this again?  As long as they have football, they are going to be in a football conference.

You're of course correct.  UConn however needs to face cold hard reality - their football program is basically going to always suck, with at best mediocrity every few years.  They play in a dinky little stadium, no one who can coach will ever stay there long term, and all the major conferences with football have turned them down over and over, this despite their cash cow and elite men's and women's basketball programs.

When is UConn going to wake up their two best assets will forever be their men's and women's basketball programs, which means they need to ditch C-USA 2 and come back home to the Big East?!?   The answer is probably, never, because the powers that be at UConn I would bet are blinded by the potential revenue from a successful football program, which is not unlike everybody else in America trying with futility to elevate their football programs.

If the BEast could add UConn, I don't think the conference would ever need to look at expansion again.  They would be the ideal addition.  The conference wouldn't get oversized and you'd be adding a marquee program with a rich history in the BEast to an already very good and competitive basketball conference.  Meanwhile, a great basketball program can shake themselves from the dregs of the AAC and the non-interest in the league witnessed in the pictures above. 

[WarriorPride68]

With the Big ten tourney going to MSG (DC next year) in a couple years, where will the Big East tourney be?

[GGGG]

With the Big ten tourney going to MSG (DC next year) in a couple years, where will the Big East tourney be?

MSG.  The Big Ten is holding their tournament a week earlier than normal.

[WarriorPride68]

MSG.  The Big Ten is holding their tournament a week earlier than normal.

Thank you! Was just curious. Glad to hear that

[Marcus92]

When is UConn going to wake up their two best assets will forever be their men's and women's basketball programs, which means they need to ditch C-USA 2 and come back home to the Big East?!?   The answer is probably, never, because the powers that be at UConn I would bet are blinded by the potential revenue from a successful football program, which is not unlike everybody else in America trying with futility to elevate their football programs.

According to an analysis by USA Today of athletic programs during 2013-14, UConn had the third-highest deficit ($27.1 million) between total operating revenue and expenses. The only schools in the black came from the SEC, Big 10, Pac-12 and Big-12.

You and I (along with the current members of the Big East) see that as a fool's game, throwing good money after bad. But for UConn, it's about far more than its basketball programs. They see the future of their university tied to football — and the tens of millions of dollars they're putting into the program as an investment.

Will that change in the next 5-10 years with greater financial pressure and public scrutiny? It's possible. But UConn made this bet with a full awareness of the risks. Even with the odds stacked against them, they're not ready to walk away from the table yet.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2015/05/26/ncaa-athletic-finances-revenue-expense-division-i/27971457/

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I don't think this to be true.

Most UConn fans believe they are a Power 5 Conference team temporarily stuck below and are content with their football team that has been way better than local rivals Rutgers & Boston College. 

Most UConn fans think the Big10, Pac 12, the SEC have been strategic with expansion and going forward the BigXII will be, while the ACC has been reactionary and not very strategic with long term TV thinking. 
They point out their women's team has a $1.5mil per year deal with SNY as one example.

They have hope that with a sliver of Connecticut being in NYC DMA as well as being a state flagship university that they will be attractive to some conference's TV expansion plan.

I know a few UConn fans and all of them would drop football in a second if it mean getting out of the AAC. But I only know a few who are all die hard basketball fans so its hardly a fair sampling.

I guess I just don't get the math. UConn gets paid less TV money for both Football AND Basketball than the BEast schools do for just basketball. I know its much more complicated and football adds value in other ways, but I just don't see how football is worth it. Do students at UConn really get that excited about football games? I got to think that most students are way more pumped about basketball season.