ESPN bias against the Big East

[Bill Marsh]

One of the things not discussed much in talking about the strength of a conference is how healthy it is. By "healthy", I mean what opportunity does it provide for all of its members to succeed. Rarely mentioned with regard to the old big East is the fact that almost half the conference was dying at the bottom of the league. 16 teams is a conference is way too big. When a program goes through a down cycle, the mountain to climb is enormous to get out of the bottom of the conference when that conference includes some of the nation's elite programs who are ranked year after year.

In this sense of a conference's health, the old Big East was not healthy. Contrast that with this new version. The way Seton Hall has played this year, for example, no one would be shocked to see them continue to improve and become a contender within the next year or two. Same for Butler. There is even hope at DePaul with a new coach. There is the opportunity for mobility in this conference. That simply did not exist in the old Big East.

If the conference does expand, I hope that it never goes beyond 12. I prefer 10, could live with 12, but would abhor 14+.

[cm5yz6]

- Front page of ESPN.com has Doug M in the center of the "College Hoops" story (albeit the 3rd tab)

- Front page of the ESPN.com NCAAM section - "Bubble Watch could not have scripted a better Champ Week matchup than Providence vs. St. John's."



Looks like decent coverage on ESPN.com. Just had to throw out a little negative evidence on this thread to keep it from going off the deep end.

[gosports1]

they pulled the same crap with BE Football. Constantly claiming how awful it was. In reality it was much better than espn would have many believe. Even (usually) better than their beloved acc

[justsay]

This was posted today on
http://www.hoyasaxa.com
(which will in the years to come be even better with the new additions);


Because it's the Big East Tournament. And no matter what the propagandists at ESPN will tell you, it's back. If you have a chance to go, whether or not Georgetown is playing, buy a ticket and enjoy one of the great traditions of college basketball.

An excerpt from a column by Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel, written last season, said it best:

"The Big East tournament is the feeling that players get when they step onto the floor, especially in those electric weekend night sessions, just a block and a half off Broadway, when maybe Bill Clinton or Spike Lee or Denzel Washington arrives courtside.

"The Big East tournament is a row of Wall Street guys sneaking away for an afternoon session, dressed in $1,000 suits as they slam drinks and berate some official that dared to make the wrong call on the Hoyas.

"The Big East tournament is the throngs of twenty-something alums who have moved to the city, live in the neighborhood, and rush across 31st Street between sessions to the Blarney Stone or the Irish Times or Jimmy's BBQ for drinks and food, taking the opportunity to act up with their college buddies again or maybe to run into that girl they should've asked out back in the day...

"The Big East tournament is the vast assortment of former players, playground legends, AAU coaches, agents, runners for agents, NBA executives, sneaker reps, high school coaches, hangers-on and Brooklyn accents that fill the seats. This is the grassroots scene the NCAA would prefer you didn't notice but everyone in the game recognizes as the engine of the sport.

"New York likes to believe it is the Mecca for the game and the Big East tournament is its annual convention. Everybody who is everybody is there, swapping gossip, lies and occasional angry glares. They're surrounded by these packs of old guys who simply love the game, who come every year to take in every minute of the action, relive the old days and argue, forever, about some call in a 1958 Bishop Laughlin-Fordham Prep contest.

"It is that crowd, even more than the celebs,that helps make this the grandest stage for so many players. These are their people, and to perform accordingly here can make you a legend...."

"It's what Boston College wishes it never lost...and what Syracuse, Notre Dame and the others know, deep down, that Greensboro or wherever can never match."

[LeMoyne00]

That is a great post about the Big East Tournament. My wife and I have gone early since before we were married in the late 90's. She didn't want to buy tickets this year - none of her favorites are in the conference anymore... I still have 'Nova... we bought tickets this year. She's like if the Tourney sucks, we're done. Everything about the crowds, the atmosphere is what we liked... my fear is like my wife, most of that crowd has already written off the conference tourney as not the same and aren't even going to give it the chance and then just kills the vibe of everyone.

The conference needs a defining moment now at the Tourney, not a parade of reliving the past tourneys. No matter how great it use to be, if this year isn't good, it will be the first impression of the new league for most who don't pay attention to college basketball til tourney time.

[Bill Marsh]

Just Say, great post about the BE tourney and why it will continue to be great even as the participants change. What it Isis a continuation of the March tradition laid down by the original NIT back when it was the nation's championship tournament. Even in the '70's, the NIT was still relevant. I remember when Notre Dame matched up against Virginia Tech and it was St. Patrick's Day outside. The NY Jewish guys loved ND as much as the Irish Catholics. The whole thing had a festival atmosphere. Just when the NIT had become overwhelmed by the growth of the NCAA tournament, the Big East stepped in to fill the void. The NY college basketball afficianados loved seeing the big out-of-town schools come to town. They still do. They will embrace Creighton, Xavier, and the rest because the event is bigger than the individual members. St. John's and Seton Hall give it just enough local flavor for the locals to feel connected.

[NYCJay]

Get used to it people. ESPN is a business and I don't foresee their coverage changing. We do need to expand though so we can stop beating each other up with our conference schedule.

Correct. Their coverage won't be changing. ESPN's primary duty is to promote its product and the Big East is not part of it. There is no intentional directive or mandate from the Death Star in Bristol to ignore the BE. Now, some of the on-air flying monkeys may express their opinions, stupid as they may be but it is ultimately their opinion. We could also argue whether or not the Monster in CT is truly an all around sports *news* organization given the shoddy coverage the BE and NHL receive.

It's simply business.

[SJHooper]

Break it down. This year, the conventional wisdom has been, yea, the AAC has more teams in the Top 25, but the Big East's bottom half is better. Losing to any one of the teams in the AAC not ranked in the Top 25 would be considered a "bad loss" on a tournament resume. But a closer examination of the numbers reveals that's only half the truth.

Average RPI of the Top Half of the Big East: 33 (Villanova 4, Creighton 7, Xavier 48, Georgetown 53, Providence 54)
Average RPI of the Top Half of the American: 28 (Cincinnati 15, Louisville 21, UConn 28, Memphis 29, SMU 45)

So the Top half of the American, which supposedly is head and shoulders above the Big East's bubble teams, really isn't. an average of 4 RPI spots higher.



As for the bottom...

Average RPI of the Bottom Half of the Big East: 118 (STJ 57, Marq 85, Butler 138, Hall 148, DePaul 162)
Average RPI of the Bottom Half of the American: 197 (Houston 157, Temple 163, Rutgers 203, USF 217, UCF 223)

Yikes. A difference of nearly 70 spots in the RPI on average. Put another way, St. John's is still on the bubble. Marquette was still on the bubble last week. When was the last time anybody talked about Houston or Temple?




Next year, the disparity only gets worse. Let's assume similar RPI standings to this year, but with Louisville and Rutgers subbed out for Tulsa (94), East Carolina (218), and Tulane (222).

Average RPI of the Top Five of the Big East: 33 (See above)
Average RPI of the Top Five of the American (It's an 11-team league): 42 (Cincinnati 15, UConn 28, Memphis 29, SMU 45, Tulsa 94)

Dropping Louisville and adding Tulsa raised the Top Half of the American's average RPI FOURTEEN spots. And this calculation assumes 1.) That MU and GTown don't reload and return to the levels of success they've had over the last decade. 2.) That SMU will defy expectations and continue to not be the team that hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since they were a member of the Southwest Conference.

Looking at the bottom? I think you know where this is going.

Average RPI of the Bottom Half of the Big East: 118 (see above)
Average RPI of the Bottom Six (It's an 11-team league) of the American: 200 (Houston 157, Temple 163, USF 217, East Carolina 218, Tulane 222, UCF 223)

The bottom half of the American isn't getting any better (it's somehow getting worse). And the top half is likely going to get worse too. It's not entirely crazy to say that half the teams in the bottom half of the American would be a buy game for any team in the bottom half of the Big East. Let the American Apparel or whatever they're calling it have this year. I'll take the future.

Stop making so much sense! LALALALALALA we can't hear you right now! -ESPN

Thank you for empirically validating what I've screamed about for some time now. It's so, so obvious to anyone who watches ESPN how biased they are. We have a front row seat because we used to be loved by ESPN when it was the old Big East under contract. Now we see what leaving them can do. They turn the cold shoulder. They purposely ignore teams and highlights. It's funny how we always hear "Well the new Big East is only a shell of its former self" talk every day on ESPN, but we will never hear "The AAC is losing a lot and gaining some bad teams...this will bring them down and it's a big hit, so this year should be taken with a grain of salt". You were right on point with L'Ville leaving, UConn not proving itself beyond Calhoun's recruits yet, Larry Brown being a few years away from the average life expectancy of a man, and the terrible teams they are adding.

The AAC is going to be smashed people. It's going to be a bad conference with a few top 25 teams like UConn, Memphis, and Cincy feeding off all the guppies like Tulsa, East Carolina, Tulane, etc. but everyone else being terrible or mediocre. And even then, UConn, Cincy, and Memphis will look to flee at any opportunity for greener pastures. If the trifecta of Memphis, UConn, and Cincy could realize they aren't football schools and will always be basketball schools, they could make a nice cozy home in the Big East and force our conference to be regarded as a beast again.