Ramifications from Villanova win

[tower912]

1.   ESPN with egg on their face.    Not that they will let that stop them from continuing to belittle the Big East.  But fans other than Big East fans will begin to notice the bias. 
2.  Tourney credit$.
3.  Recruiting:   This is how we play basketball in the Big East.   And hoops are our top priority.  You can be the BMOC AND compete for national championships.
4.  Increased profile.   I spent the weekend with my wife's extended family, Badger alum all.  "Where is Villanova?"
5.  Easier to coach existing players.   "The Villanova guys live in the weight room."   'Villanova develops players over 4 years.'   "Win with scrappy defense"     'Attitude matters.'

Villanova's win was huge for the Big East on so many levels.   Need to exploit it, as individual teams and as a conference.    And Marquette needs to get another one of its own. 

[Herman Cain]

1.   ESPN with egg on their face.    Not that they will let that stop them from continuing to belittle the Big East.  But fans other than Big East fans will begin to notice the bias. 
2.  Tourney credit$.
3.  Recruiting:   This is how we play basketball in the Big East.   And hoops are our top priority.  You can be the BMOC AND compete for national championships.
4.  Increased profile.   I spent the weekend with my wife's extended family, Badger alum all.  "Where is Villanova?"
5.  Easier to coach existing players.   "The Villanova guys live in the weight room."   'Villanova develops players over 4 years.'   "Win with scrappy defense"     'Attitude matters.'

Villanova's win was huge for the Big East on so many levels.   Need to exploit it, as individual teams and as a conference.    And Marquette needs to get another one of its own.

One of the key assets we have as a conference is our double round robin schedule. Every school can point out to their  recruits they will be playing each of the top teams in the country twice a year.

Look at the benefit Henry received. Got to showcase himself against strong teams all year and  will likely realize on his dream because he was successful .

All schools in conference need to promote this Villanova win very hard.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Loving the thought pattern tower.

[MilWarrior]

Typical Badger fans. Don't know anything outside of the Big Ten. That's like any of us asking where Vanderbilt or Gonzaga is.

[keefe]

4.  Increased profile.   I spent the weekend with my wife's extended family, Badger alum all.  "Where is Villanova?"

A lot of Wisconsinites think the world ends at the state line.

I remember the State Motto was "We like it here"

That speaks volumes actually

[jsglow]

Good stuff tower. I think the combination of championship potential along with 'only game on campus' will be importsnt for overall conference recruiting. Not saying we get back to 1983 but this is HUGE (Bernie accent).

And while the casual observer might not notice, basketball junkies including younger players will.

[GooooMarquette]

I agree...and would add that it was HUGE for Wright to continually mention Nova's membership in the Big East in his Final Four press conferences. 

Most coaches talk about "out team," "our fans," and such...but Wright very openly "shared" Nova's participation with the whole conference.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I would like the conference innovate into some unique direction besides 'bball only' to broaden the exposure of the games. 

If you think the original conference point of differentiation was ESPN/cable tv driven and the late night game during the week.  The new iteration should be something digitally oriented.  The P5 conferences have too much invested in the cable based model to take a risk here.  I think Fox & the BEast could.

Or maybe something that takes on the sanctity of the conference schedule.  Like a coast to coast week in February where the conference takes on the Pac 10. 

I don't know - I just think there are so many options since it is a small group of schools, with a good product and not a lot to lose.

[Groin_pull]

A lot of Wisconsinites think the world ends at the state line.

I remember the State Motto was "We like it here"

That speaks volumes actually

You and I are in full agreement on this. My redneck brother is a prime example. Never leaves the state, but is 100% sure nothing is better.

Also, not knowing where Villanova is, is beyond ridiculous. It's annoying when people from NYC aren't aware of what's beyond the city limits (but in their defense, NYC is the center of the US)...but sorry, Vadgers from fly-over Wisconsin do not get to co-op this attitude.

[tower912]

As MU fans, we have been whistling past the graveyard a little bit.  'The Big East is still a major conference.'   'MU is still relevant and can still compete for national championships.'   

I know in the back of my eternally optimistic mind, I had little corners of doubt.   

Now?   Hell, yeah!   Wojo, get to it!    MU CAN compete!   The Big East is still a top conference!    Get busy!

It justifies the decision of the Catholic 7 to grab like-minded schools and separate.   The original Big East model as well as the current model is validated.  Now it is up to the schools and the coaches to leverage this momentum. 

[Carl Spackler]

As MU fans, we have been whistling past the graveyard a little bit.  'The Big East is still a major conference.'   'MU is still relevant and can still compete for national championships.'   

I know in the back of my eternally optimistic mind, I had little corners of doubt.   

Now?   Hell, yeah!   Wojo, get to it!    MU CAN compete!   The Big East is still a top conference!    Get busy!

It justifies the decision of the Catholic 7 to grab like-minded schools and separate.   The original Big East model as well as the current model is validated.  Now it is up to the schools and the coaches to leverage this momentum.

+1  Not sure i would have admitted this a few weeks ago - but i certainly admit it now.

[Chicos' Buzz Scandal Countdown]

I spent the weekend with my wife's extended family, Badger alum all.  "Where is Villanova?"

Agree with the point but that could be any Badger fan asked about any non-B10 school

[Groin_pull]

Agree with the point but that could be any Badger fan asked about any non-B10 school

But do you blame them? After all, rust belt Big 10 territory is truly the center of civilization. 

[Eldon]

Good stuff tower. I think the combination of championship potential along with 'only game on campus' will be importsnt for overall conference recruiting. Not saying we get back to 1983 but this is HUGE (Bernie accent).

And while the casual observer might not notice, basketball junkies including younger players will.

Hopefully you mean Sanders, not Fine.

[Eldon]

I would also add marketing promotion and increased ticket revenue.  "Come see your Golden Eagles take on the Champion Villanova Wildcats."  "Tune in to FS1 to see the champion Villanova Wildcats take on the Georgetown Hoyas at 9pm EST" And so on

[Coleman]

Nova is gonna be damn good next year. Would love to see them put together another fantastic year.

[Marqevans]

You mean the Big East is still relevant? Maybe Buzz will come back!

[The Lens]

I was on spring break with the family last week.  My 2nd grader is a sports nut so we have ESPN / SportsCenter on 24/7 as background noise.  The amount of love for Oklahoma was unreal.  It wasn't until Saturday afternoon traveling home that I started look at twitter and see Non-ESPN personalities expect Nova to walk. 

What we need now is another BE Final Four.  Be it X, Seton Hall, Georgetown, the Fighting Cooleys or us, the Big East now needs to show we stacked with power.  And in 2016, hoops power is announced in March (or April).

[GooooMarquette]

You mean the Big East is still relevant? Maybe Buzz will come back!

And Nova won it all by beating the ACC champs.

[jsglow]

Lots of pressure on Val and her team to take advantage of this.

[NotAnAlum]

I agree winning the NC was HUGE for the BE.  It validates the league as a high major.
And from my personal viewpoint the BE fans are much more ready to root for another school in the league.  I don't believe Wisconsin fans have the same desire to support Mich St or Iowa going to the Final 4.  Once their team looses they are done and its "can't wait till football season".
At the BE "Its all about hoops" and that is a powerful message.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I would love a retro-jersey matchup night, where all the Big East teams wear throwback uniforms in their opponents against one another.  Perhaps the Bradley could install an old school MECCA floor for the occasion, eh?

[brewcity77]

It's important that the league follow up on the 'Nova title with continued success. If in a decade, the F5 conferences can say "sure, there was that upstart Villanova, but no Final Four appearances for non-football schools since" then this will be a blip on the radar. The league needs to be able to keep competing for titles.

I think we are in good position for that. 'Nova and Xavier look strong for the next few years, Creighton, Butler, and Seton Hall all seem to have bright futures, and Marquette and St. John's have the horses to be better once the kids grow up.

That leaves Georgetown, who seems to excel at underperforming expectations under JTIII of late (especially come crapshoot time), Providence, who needs to reload but has been consistently competitive under Cooley, and DePaul, who, well, still exists.

I have confidence in 9 of the 10 teams putting the requisite resources into being competitive, but if it doesn't pay off in March, then 'Nova's win could just be that blip, the one non-football school in 31 years to cut down the nets.

Bottom line, Monday wasn't the accomplishment of a long-term goal. It was the first step in a long-term plan.

[GooooMarquette]

Bottom line, Monday wasn't the accomplishment of a long-term goal. It was the first step in a long-term plan.

Agreed.  But a HUGE step.

[WarriorInNYC]

What we need now is another BE Final Four.  Be it X, Seton Hall, Georgetown, the Fighting Cooleys or us, the Big East now needs to show we stacked with power.  And in 2016, hoops power is announced in March (or April).

This.  It would be massive to put another team in the Final Four next year.