Conference Realignment: What Next?

[Omaha1]

Coach Mac's thoughts on Gonzaga and realignment (as published in the Omaha World Herald):

Gonzaga is shopping around for a new conference. Last week the small conference basketball power spoke to Big 12 officials. There have been feelers thrown out to the Big East, too.

I know at least one Big East coach who would be in favor of such a move.

“From where I’m located in the country, it’s a great idea,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott.

“Doesn’t make any difference to me whether I go to Providence, Rhode Island, or Spokane, Washington.

“If we aspire to be the best basketball league in this country, why not add somebody of their stature and level of success? It sounds like there are some other people at the table now so we’ll see what happens.”

I’m not sure if the Big East schools on the east coast would feel the same about those cross-country trips.

Flight time from Spokane to New York? Only six hours.

[GampelCrazies]

Coach Mac's thoughts on Gonzaga and realignment (as published in the Omaha World Herald):

Gonzaga is shopping around for a new conference. Last week the small conference basketball power spoke to Big 12 officials. There have been feelers thrown out to the Big East, too.

I know at least one Big East coach who would be in favor of such a move.

“From where I’m located in the country, it’s a great idea,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott.

“Doesn’t make any difference to me whether I go to Providence, Rhode Island, or Spokane, Washington.

“If we aspire to be the best basketball league in this country, why not add somebody of their stature and level of success? It sounds like there are some other people at the table now so we’ll see what happens.”

I’m not sure if the Big East schools on the east coast would feel the same about those cross-country trips.

Flight time from Spokane to New York? Only six hours.

But would they really care that much? For those schools it's only 1 trip a year. I think the hold up is on Gonzaga's side. They have to really decide if it's worth all the travel for them.

[Angry Dan]

The Zags could end up being a non football member of the PAC 12 along with an addition of San Diego State.

They could end up in the Big 12 who is aggressively going after Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah if the Big 10 snags Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford

[Vill]

The Zags could end up being a non football member of the PAC 12 along with an addition of San Diego State.

They could end up in the Big 12 who is aggressively going after Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah if the Big 10 snags Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford

Gonzaga is certainly a media darling. Bilas discussed their conference affiliation during the game last night and I think ESPN would bend over backward to keep them associated with their network.

[adoraz]

The Zags could end up being a non football member of the PAC 12 along with an addition of San Diego State.

They could end up in the Big 12 who is aggressively going after Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah if the Big 10 snags Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford

Gonzaga is certainly a media darling. Bilas discussed their conference affiliation during the game last night and I think ESPN would bend over backward to keep them associated with their network.

Another reason I hope the Big East considers a split package with ESPN / Fox. Forget about CBS, NBC, Amazon, etc. as they aren't driving realignment.

[Husky_U]

John Fanta
@John_Fanta
NEWS: The Big East has announced the addition of a new affiliate member, The University of Akron, in men’s soccer for the 2023 season.
The Zips will be eligible for the conference championship immediately.
10:01 AM · Nov 16, 2022



John Fanta
@John_Fanta
In men’s soccer, starting next season: The Big East will develop a pair of six team divisions and construct divisional scheduling.
East: UConn, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova.
Midwest: Akron, Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier.
10:07 AM · Nov 16, 2022

[admin]

Pretty nice addition of a respected NCAA tournament team and the efficiencies created for traveling are obviously beneficial as well.

[Burrito]

I recently read an article of the top 50 NCAA Men's Soccer programs over the past 5 years. Akron was ranked 15th. Solid addition within the Big East footprint.

[adoraz]

Generally I'm optimistic, but can't say I'm thrilled with how the last few months have gone for the Big East.

1. 1-4 BE start vs P5 (very early, but still)
2. Nova lost to Temple post-Wright and are now a question mark
3. Gavitt Games rumored to end
4. Potential expansion candidates Gonzaga and Dayton lost, and Gonzaga rumored to join the Big XII anyway
5. SEC / B1G continue to grow in revenue/size while the BE has no obvious expansion options
6. Teams scrambling to leave the ACC, which could poach UConn (improved football, too)
7. St. John's and Georgetown, the two biggest historical brands/schools outside of UConn, look mediocre

Not saying the sky is falling by any means, it isn't. That said, it is a contract year and everyone keeps saying "we need St. John's/Georgetown to pick it up. we need another team to become Nova.", but things can regress in the areas we're trying to improve.

Anyway, here's my optimistic outlook (I expect most of these to happen):
1. BE plays better as it's mostly been bottom half teams playing P5 teams
2. Nova figures things out, gets healthy, and by end of the year are an elite team
3. BE signs a split package with ESPN/Fox and starts a new challenge with ACC or SEC
4. At least one expansion candidate has a strong enough year to warrant consideration
5. BE signs a nice contract and expands our media partners with those driving realignment (ESPN/Fox)
6. ACC doesn't get poached anytime soon (very possible)
7. St. John's and/or Georgetown pick things up this season, but if not will almost certainly hire new coaches in the spring

Regarding #7, fortunately neither team has lost yet, but St. John's has a really bad schedule (yet again) and thus far hasn't looked great vs some of the worst teams in D1. Hopefully we blow Nebraska out of the gym. It's time for the conference to pick things up.

[stever20]

I can't give St John's as much crap about their schedule as before. They did try this year.
Got Nebraska in Gavitt. not great, but not awful.
Got Temple and potentially Syracuse in exempt tournament. ok
Iowa St in Big 12 games. good
Florida St near Miami. looked good but they've gone into the tank.

Yeah they have 6 pretty bad games. But lots of teams have at least 4 or 5 bad games. Maybe could have had 1 more decent opponent instead of a dreg but it's defensible.