Conference realignment discussion - v. 2015

[milksteak]

NJRedman, you're from Staten Island. I now get it. I thought you were the atypical north Jersey guy but I was wrong. You being from Staten Island tells me everything I need to know.

You really need to relax.

So the NJ part of my name led to to believe I'm from Staten Island? And no I'm not from North Jersey.

Well he's not denying that he's from Staten Island.

[GoBlueDemons]

I personally think the current Big East Conference will stay at 10 team. If they were to expand I think Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton would be the top 2 choices as both universities are like-minded to the current members. Saint Louis University was strong rivals of DePaul and Marquette in their C-USA days and Dayton is Xavier University's arch rival. If they the Big East goes to 12 full members the Eastern schools (Georgetown University, Providence College, Seton Hall University, St. John's University, and Villanova University) may not want to be outnumbered by the Midwestern schools (Butler University, Creighton University, DePaul University, Marquette University and Xavier University. Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit in Pittsburgh, PA would fit for an Eastern member if they get their team good again. I don't think University of Connecticut (desiring ACC membership) or University of Notre Dame (ACC) are realistic options as both have FBS football. College of the Holy Cross was invited to become a founding member of the original Big East Conference and are currently in the Patriot League and their sports aren't Big East level.

[HoosierPal]

Kudos to the American Conference for having three top 25 football teams this week. They are tied with the ACC with three ranked teams. This is the reason that the AAC will not be going anywhere for a long time. Dreams of a breakup, with UConn coming back to the Big East, won't be happening. If Memphis, Tulane and Houston can get to the promised land, so can every other member of the conference.

[Hoya Hoya Hoya]

Kudos to the American Conference for having three top 25 football teams this week. They are tied with the ACC with three ranked teams. This is the reason that the AAC will not be going anywhere for a long time. Dreams of a breakup, with UConn coming back to the Big East, won't be happening. If Memphis, Tulane and Houston can get to the promised land, so can every other member of the conference.

Memphis and Houston doing well is great news for conference realignment. Big 12 will be more likely to take them with success on the field. I hope AAC teams continue the trend because that surely means they will be next in line for poaching. Also, for once, we as a conference can just sit back and watch everything unfold haha.

[FormulaX]

Kudos to the American Conference for having three top 25 football teams this week. They are tied with the ACC with three ranked teams. This is the reason that the AAC will not be going anywhere for a long time. Dreams of a breakup, with UConn coming back to the Big East, won't be happening. If Memphis, Tulane and Houston can get to the promised land, so can every other member of the conference.

Memphis and Houston doing well is great news for conference realignment. Big 12 will be more likely to take them with success on the field. I hope AAC teams continue the trend because that surely means they will be next in line for poaching. Also, for once, we as a conference can just sit back and watch everything unfold haha.

It's just great to see a "Thorn in the side" of the real enemy, which is the big football 5 conferences.

[Xudash]

Kudos to the American Conference for having three top 25 football teams this week. They are tied with the ACC with three ranked teams. This is the reason that the AAC will not be going anywhere for a long time. Dreams of a breakup, with UConn coming back to the Big East, won't be happening. If Memphis, Tulane and Houston can get to the promised land, so can every other member of the conference.

Memphis and Houston doing well is great news for conference realignment. Big 12 will be more likely to take them with success on the field. I hope AAC teams continue the trend because that surely means they will be next in line for poaching. Also, for once, we as a conference can just sit back and watch everything unfold haha.

+1

Houston doing well, in particular, with the ability to deliver the Houston market (for television) while establishing another Texas member - assuming UT can deal with that - probably would be viewed as a strong plus for that conference.

Memphis versus UC? Can Memphis keep its coach after this year? I don't know. Still, that program has demonstrated that it can establish a winning football program, and the Liberty Bowl at 61k capacity annihilates UC's Nippert Stadium at 40k, though the Cincinnati television market beats that of Memphis handedly.

Yet, for purposes of this dialogue, nowhere in my above two paragraphs is UCONN mentioned. Not once. Hoya-Cubed is right: IF expansion occurs within the Big XII, the most likely names to receive that desperately valued life line are Houston, Memphis and UC.

Maybe UCONN truly sticks to NEVER as far as the Big East is concerned; maybe they'll ride football to financial ruin. On the other hand, how many hits can they take with respect to peer conference member losses before they say the hell with it.

[novahoops11]

If Memphis, Tulane and Houston can get to the promised land, so can every other member of the conference.

The back end of a top 25 list, in a league of @ 120 teams, is "the promised land" ?

[Boyee]

If the Big 12 Conference is going to add 2 more schools I think they'll add Cincinnati and one more school from the American Athletic Conference likely Memphis or UCF or South Florida. The Big 12 already has 6 schools in either Texas or Oklahoma, I highly doubt another Texas school would be considered. The American Athletic Conference is basically Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Temple and a bunch of Southern schools from Conference USA + football only Navy. Of the 16 original Big East Conference members, The ACC has Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Miami, Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and BC. The Big 12 has West Virginia, The American as Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida, and Temple.

[Boyee]

As of November 2017, DePaul will be playing in Chicago at the McCormick Place Events Center (not the final name) (10,000 seats) in the Near South Side's Prairie Avenue Historic District. They have 2 more seasons playing near O'Hare International Airport in Rosemont, IL in the Allstate Arena.

[GoldenWarrior11]

This was the "problem" of the old Big East. As soon as you had a team consistently competitive year-to-year, they were snagged by the ACC (Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville). Unfortunately, for every single one of those programs involved, none have reached the same level of success or eclipsed it in their new conference homes (including Rutgers and West Virginia). That's what the problem will continue to be in the American. Schools aren't looking for stability at home, but rather in the next new big house they are saving up for. That's no way to build a conference, IMHO. Having schools constantly look over their shoulders for who may be next, living in paranoia and fear? No thanks. The new Big East is a better Big East.

Memphis, Temple, Houston, (last year) East Carolina and UCF (two years ago) all doing well nationally just puts further pressure on Cincinnati and UConn. If the Big 12 needs two more members for a national championship game, they'll (most likely) go some combination of Memphis/Houston/UCF/USF/Cincinnati. Memphis, quite possibly, has leap-frogged Cincinnati as the top expansion candidate for either the ACC or Big 12. It's a shame that Cincinnati took a chance on Tuberville, who absolutely downgraded Texas Tech football after Mike Leach left, and looks to be doing the same to Cincinnati. With the right coach (after Butch Jones, Brian Kelly and Mark Dantonio), they could have been in the driver's seat into the P5. Now? Not so much.