Is The Big East Too Tough?

[Pardner]

This is a great thread.  I think what is left unsaid here is the BE's TV deal and the number of teams making the post-season.  Good $$ for the schools, which can trickle to the coaches (especially the big names).  Great for recruiting exposure.

The BTN is seen by a few diehards and certainly not many recruits.  Pac 10 has a FSN deal, and with the time change, is hardly viewed.  ACC's deal is similar to the BE, but do the other the schools (other than UNC and Duke) benefit nationally? A10 TV?  CUSA TV?  Horizon TV?  Great to be the big fish in the small pond if you are the lead dog coach, not so for the schools.

Is TC going to get the continued ESPN exposure once he settles in since his school is on the BTN?  Doubtful.  With his recruiting restrictions, that is one major communication device that won't be as free to him, is my guess (losing that BE co-promoting).  

I think the pendulum will swing back.  One thing for the BE to consider would be an East and West division...with the Division winners getting the #1 and 2 seeds in the BET.  Turns fifth place into second for MU.

[Marquette84]

dont get it - do we think good coaches run from the BE? The coaches from the top 8 programs could coach anywhere and are much more productive than Crean. I think we have not seen much change or big names entering this crowd as they are all stable programs.

Gtown ~ Thompson
Notre Dame ~ Brey
Louisville ~ Pitino
Uconn ~ Calhoun
WVU ~ Huggins
Pitt ~ Sweet
Villanova ~ Wright
Cuse ~ Boeheim

I already cited WVU as an exception.  One wonders who they would have been able to land if one of their alums hadn't been fired a season earlier.


*** do we think good coaches run from the BE?
Younger ones, yes.  Those who have been around for years?  No.


***Gtown ~ Thompson
Perfect example--if his last name wasn't Thomspon, he wouldn't have even been given an interview.  The fact that Georgetown had to settle for a guy with just 9 years total experience--all of it in the Ivy League--shows just how big a risk Georgetown had to take to get a coach.    


***Pittsburgh:
Another perfect example of what I'm talking about.  Couldn't get a marquee name despite a top 10 finish and Big East championship.  Prosser turned them down outright.   Had to take an assistant.


***Louisville/UConn/Syracuse/Notre Dame/Villanova
These guys all pre-dated the announcement of the new big east.   The question will be whether they can come up with a replacement that is of similar stature.   Apparently Syracuse and Uconn aren't even going to try--they're going with inside assistants.

But even this group is telling--Louisville is the only program that brought in a proven major-level coach from the outside.  Notre Dame and Villanova took a chance with a low-major guy.  Syracuse and UConn were lucky enough to have coaches on board bfore the Big East was formed initially.

[NCMUFan]

My friend, are you missing the boat?  It isn't the name you hire that makes the conference great.  It's what you can do with the team once you are the coach.  And as it turns out these individuals can do some hell of a job coaching and recruiting.  I wonder how happy Beilein is in Michigan now?  I think he had it really good at WV and bet in his soul wishes he didn't take the money to coach Michigan.