NY Times: Imagine the Big East, Coast to Coast

[Marcus92]

For fun, a future 15-team Big East conference:

Atlantic Division
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova

Great Lakes Division
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier

Pacific Division
Gonzaga
Loyola Maramount
San Francisco
Santa Clara
St. Mary's

Granted, SF and Loyola are getting pretty weak on the basketball side of things. But Gonzaga and St. Mary's are legit programs. And this alignment would cover 10 of the country's top 40 metropolitan areas — including New York (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Chicago (#3), Philadelphia (#6), Washington D.C. (#7) and San Francisco (#11). Pretty attractive to Fox and its advertisers.

How to play an 18-game schedule, same as the current Big East — face each division opponent home and away, and each non-division opponent once.

Just imagine the opportunities that would open for recruiting.

What's so tough about that?

[Groin_pull]

For fun, a future 15-team Big East conference:

Atlantic Division
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova

Great Lakes Division
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier

Pacific Division
Gonzaga
Loyola Maramount
San Francisco
Santa Clara
St. Mary's

Granted, SF and Loyola are getting pretty weak on the basketball side of things. But Gonzaga and St. Mary's are legit programs. And this alignment would cover 10 of the country's top 40 metropolitan areas — including New York (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Chicago (#3), Philadelphia (#6), Washington D.C. (#7) and San Francisco (#11). Pretty attractive to Fox and its advertisers.

How to play an 18-game schedule, same as the current Big East — face each division opponent home and away, and each non-division opponent once.

Just imagine the opportunities that would open for recruiting.

What's so tough about that?

This is interesting. Certainly expands the conference footprint and recruiting base. If expansion is inevitable, this makes some sense. One of my fears: Conference tourney moves from MSG to a more central location like Chicago or Indy.

[Babybluejeans]

For fun, a future 15-team Big East conference:

Atlantic Division
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova

Great Lakes Division
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier

Pacific Division
Gonzaga
Loyola Maramount
San Francisco
Santa Clara
St. Mary's

Granted, SF and Loyola are getting pretty weak on the basketball side of things. But Gonzaga and St. Mary's are legit programs. And this alignment would cover 10 of the country's top 40 metropolitan areas — including New York (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Chicago (#3), Philadelphia (#6), Washington D.C. (#7) and San Francisco (#11). Pretty attractive to Fox and its advertisers.

How to play an 18-game schedule, same as the current Big East — face each division opponent home and away, and each non-division opponent once.

Just imagine the opportunities that would open for recruiting.

What's so tough about that?

I actually kinda dig that. We'd gain one great program and another consistently solid one, and hugely expand MU's exposure. Plus, every conference needs a few doormats (we're looking at you, DePaul).

[mikekinsellaMVP]

Pacific Division
Gonzaga
Loyola Maramount
San Francisco
Santa Clara Portland
St. Mary's Seattle U

My wish list.  Not exactly grounded in competitiveness, and would require major investment from everyone not named Gonzaga.  But you get four major markets, the Zags, and five very fun, very different road trips.

[avid1010]

BYU for sure?

[mikekinsellaMVP]

BYU for sure?

A football team and a propensity for prima donna behavior that would make ND proud (see Holy War hiatus.)

[vogue65]

Al McGuire was anathema to an all Catholic league.

It looks like the first step of the east coast, Big East, breaking away.

Indianapolis, Omaha, Milwaukee, Seattle look good on a map, but they don't add up to the suburbs of NY.  Only 2.5 million, Cincinnati is not in the top 50.

Are there any media sales reps. on Scoop?

[rocket surgeon]

Go 16 teams, add creighton and DePaul to the west (sorry DePaul...)
Add gonzaga, st Mary's. Would only need 4 more.

St. Louis Billikens, Santa Clara?, Loyola Marymount?, Portland univ.?, univ. of San Francisco?  Any of these qualify for western schools in addition to the zags?

[bilsu]

League foundation to start  (adding Gonzaga & St. Mary's)

East
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova
Xavier

West
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Gonzaga
Marquette
St. Mary's

Add Uconn and Cincy to this. Put Cincy and Xavier in different divisions.

[Groin_pull]

Add Uconn and Cincy to this. Put Cincy and Xavier in different divisions.

Sigh. We've covered this a thousand times. NO FOOTBALL SCHOOLS.

[Marcus92]

This is interesting. Certainly expands the conference footprint and recruiting base. If expansion is inevitable, this makes some sense. One of my fears: Conference tourney moves from MSG to a more central location like Chicago or Indy.

I don't think expansion is inevitable; the Big East should be a solid Top 6 conference for the future with its current schools. But if the desire is to go national, it seems possible.

Two things I wouldn't want to see: 1) Even with the addition of a team like Gonzaga, expansion weakens the overall strength of the conference; or 2) Adding too many teams makes it impossible to play enough home and aways (nothing like rivalry revenge games) and every team at least once during the season.

I'd bet on St. Louis/Dayton before any West Coast expansion. And I doubt that's very likely, at least in the next 5 years.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Rumors were swirling today that Kevin Stallings was the top candidate at SLU.  Think the Billikens are looking to get into the Big East with big name hire???

[GGGG]

Rumors were swirling today that Kevin Stallings was the top candidate at SLU.  Think the Billikens are looking to get into the Big East with big name hire???

I wouldn't doubt that they have been told that they are a candidate if they turn their program around.

[VegasWarrior77]

League foundation to start  (adding Gonzaga & St. Mary's)

East+Dayton
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova
Xavier

West+St.Louis
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Gonzaga
Marquette
St. Mary's

Adding Dayton & St. Louis...(?)

[🏀]

Adding Dayton & St. Louis...(?)

Ugly

[MU82]

As for all of the above ...

No thanks!

[forgetful]

Like this idea in general.  Also, change the moniker to BEAST

For fun, a future 15-team Big East conference:

Atlantic Division
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Villanova

Great Lakes Division
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier

Pacific Division
Gonzaga
Loyola Maramount Pepperdine (more history)
San Francisco  BYU  (St. Mary's already carries the SF metro)
Santa Clara  (Don't know what to put here.  Denver sucks at basketball otherwise would be good)
St. Mary's

Granted, SF and Loyola are getting pretty weak on the basketball side of things. But Gonzaga and St. Mary's are legit programs. And this alignment would cover 10 of the country's top 40 metropolitan areas — including New York (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Chicago (#3), Philadelphia (#6), Washington D.C. (#7) and San Francisco (#11). Pretty attractive to Fox and its advertisers.

How to play an 18-game schedule, same as the current Big East — face each division opponent home and away, and each non-division opponent once.

Just imagine the opportunities that would open for recruiting.

What's so tough about that?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

this is some of the stupidest sh!t I seen in a while.

Gonzaga wants to play with the BE, fine.  Get a few other teams on the west coast and let's play some OOC games together.  affiliation, if you will.  but this whole "national big east" is just frickin dumb.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Sigh. We've covered this a thousand times. NO FOOTBALL SCHOOLS.

That's a fan issue. If they found a place to park their football, big east would take them in a second. But they won't do that so for now, no football schools

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Adding Dayton & St. Louis...(?)

Gross

[bilsu]

Sigh. We've covered this a thousand times. NO FOOTBALL SCHOOLS.

That is your opinion. I do not give a damn that they are football schools. Two football schools, especially ones that the power 5 do not want, are not going to have any power over the Big East. I want the best basketball conference possible. These are far superior to some of the names being thrown out there.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Ugly

This.

There are two (and only two) schools that should even be considered:

Gonzaga. Welcome aboard, now deal with the travel, alone.

UConn. Come on back, but bring proof that you knifed your pigskin.

[GGGG]

That's a fan issue. If they found a place to park their football, big east would take them in a second. But they won't do that so for now, no football schools

Actually it isn't a fan issue. I think the BE schools would agree. And unless they drop down to FCS they ain't parking football anywhere.

[DFW HOYA]

Adding these schools would be the sign for Georgetown and Villanova to find another home.

There is already pushback in some quarters that schools like Creighton and DePaul are poor fits and attendance to these games is down. Georgetown liked the idea of academic peer institutions in the old big East (Notre Dame, BC), and there are none in the new 10-team arrangement.

[nathanziarek]

That's a fan issue. If they found a place to park their football, big east would take them in a second. But they won't do that so for now, no football schools

I've always thought it was a stability issue. So long as they have football, they're going to want football money. That means being in a good football conference, which would lead to them always looking to leave.

Ultimately, maybe the question is: who cares?

It makes your conference look like a stepping stone, but maybe that's worth the buzz (and ncaa shares) in the meantime?