Is Homogeneity Of Membership Good Or Bad?

[gtmoBlue]

Many Canadians & US guys marry younger down here - although I snagged mine prior to relocation - stayed in my age group. Thanks for the S. Vergara promotion.

There is an historic love-hate relationship with the US, south of the border. They seem to love all things North American- goods, services, mobile platforms (phones, tablets, computers, etc.), clothing, movies, products, etc. Many NA companies have sales and operations, service centers, franchises, etc. Politics and political policies are where the problems begin - both historically and currently.

The ubiquitous NY Yankee gear, many colleges, other pro team gear, etc. is everywhere. Basketball is a popular sport and the sprinkling of Latino players will probably grow. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and others are avid basketball countries, hence my earlier Int'l suggestions. The BE could be highly impactful in Latin America.

LA is approx. 80-85% Catholic. Although Protestants, JW's, Mormans, and a host of fly-by-night storefront churches, COGIC's, Episcopalians, and even Islam are popping up, mainly in smaller cities & towns.

It's a younger, growing population down here in Latam.

Panama- 2015, 28.7 y/o. By 2020 the median age will be 30 y/o projected.
Colombia- 2015, 30 y/o. By 2020 the median age will be 32.2.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/454 ... in-panama/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/368 ... -colombia/


Flashback: Thamel, 22Dec12-
https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2 ... c-7-future
...anyone for Round 2?

[GoldenWarrior11]

Aw, billyjack, that stings me a bit. Fair enough, the UNCs and UVAs of the world can be pretentious, but you can get on the ground floor with me to watch Virginia Tech's rise to the top of college basketball! We don't play much defense, but we shoot a lot of 3s and are pretty fun to watch!

(Sorry, Marquette fans...)

Don't be sorry. The number of off-the-court incidents, as well number of players that end up not graduating, has significantly declined to zero since Wojo took over. When Buzz no longer feels like the underdog at VT, he will move on to another job. I'd be shocked if he was still there in three years.

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

Aw, billyjack, that stings me a bit. Fair enough, the UNCs and UVAs of the world can be pretentious, but you can get on the ground floor with me to watch Virginia Tech's rise to the top of college basketball! We don't play much defense, but we shoot a lot of 3s and are pretty fun to watch!

(Sorry, Marquette fans...)

Don't be sorry. The number of off-the-court incidents, as well number of players that end up not graduating, has significantly declined to zero since Wojo took over. When Buzz no longer feels like the underdog at VT, he will move on to another job. I'd be shocked if he was still there in three years.

I'm under no illusion that Buzz will stick around forever at VT. He's stated lots of reasons why he took the Virginia Tech job, but I think the most important one (unsaid, of course) is that the administration was basically going to give him free reign to run the program as he sees fit. And as a VT alum and fan of the program, that's exactly what they had to do to land a guy like Buzz. It was in the pits and they had to do something drastic to turn it around.

And I may end up proven wrong, but I think he'll stick around a little longer than you do. If I'm reading Buzz right, I think he genuinely wants to leave the program in a better place than he found it. My guess is we'll see him in Blacksburg five more years after he's set an expectation of tournament success.

But yeah, his personality isn't for everyone and he's a pretty weird dude in some respects, but ever since he cleaned house after the first year it seems like the guys really love him and play hard for him. He's also a guy that may decide to just quit coaching altogether at a relatively young age compared to his peers - he's made statements since being at VT that he doesn't want to be a guy who coaches forever, plus he's made (and saved) a ton of money by the age of 44.

Also, in the three years of his tenure so far, I can't recall a single player involved in the program who has been involved in off-the-court incidents. As for graduating players, that's a different story since it's fairly early to tell if that will be a long-term issue. But considering the older players who have transferred in to the program have earned their degrees (like Seth Allen and Zach LeDay), I haven't seen any red flags there.

I'm glad it's worked out for both Marquette & VT fans though. Wojo took over after Buzz wore out his welcome there and seems to have stabilized the program, while VT has enjoyed seeing early success under Buzz after years of futility. I think everyone is happy in the grand scheme of things.

[CrawfishBucket]

With the Finebaum piece on OU looking around, are we going to see conferences move to 16?



Right now, the B1G is at 14 Bball, the SEC is at 14 Bball, the ACC is at 15 Bball, the Pac 12 is at 12 Bball, and the Big 12 is at 10.

So, the Big 12 (the runt at 10) is obviously being singled out as the weakest. Even though it was one of the stronger Bball conferences.

If the Big 12's 10 schools get assimilated into the other all-sports conferences, the B1G, ACC, SEC, and Pac 12, will likely move to 16 (not a stretch). The AAC is also poised to assimilate up to 4.

Where does that leave the current Big East?

The NBE all of a sudden looks very dissimilar in that landscape. Not only would it be down 6 schools but there is no similarity between a small group of catholic schools and the large publics that are steering the marketplace. One of the biggest strengths of the former Big East was the shield (i.e. umbrella) of the large enrollment all-sports schools. That component made the Big East one of the establishment.

The adherence to strictly religious schools has stripped the NBE of that armor. At 10 religious schools, conference consolidation could seemingly put the conference in a perilous predicament. Would it still be wise to use a religious litmus test to expand the conference at that point? I'm not so sure. I'm not sure why that action plan ever went into effect.

[ArmyVet]

The adherence to strictly religious schools has stripped the NBE of that armor. At 10 religious schools, conference consolidation could seemingly put the conference in a perilous predicament. Would it still be wise to use a religious litmus test to expand the conference at that point? I'm not so sure. I'm not sure why that action plan ever went into effect.

For the millionth time, there is no religious litmus test for the Big East (see Butler).

[Bill Marsh]

With the Finebaum piece on OU looking around, are we going to see conferences move to 16?



Right now, the B1G is at 14 Bball, the SEC is at 14 Bball, the ACC is at 15 Bball, the Pac 12 is at 12 Bball, and the Big 12 is at 10.

So, the Big 12 (the runt at 10) is obviously being singled out as the weakest. Even though it was one of the stronger Bball conferences.

If the Big 12's 10 schools get assimilated into the other all-sports conferences, the B1G, ACC, SEC, and Pac 12, will likely move to 16 (not a stretch). The AAC is also poised to assimilate up to 4.

Where does that leave the current Big East?

The NBE all of a sudden looks very dissimilar in that landscape. Not only would it be down 6 schools but there is no similarity between a small group of catholic schools and the large publics that are steering the marketplace. One of the biggest strengths of the former Big East was the shield (i.e. umbrella) of the large enrollment all-sports schools. That component made the Big East one of the establishment.

The adherence to strictly religious schools has stripped the NBE of that armor. At 10 religious schools, conference consolidation could seemingly put the conference in a perilous predicament. Would it still be wise to use a religious litmus test to expand the conference at that point? I'm not so sure. I'm not sure why that action plan ever went into effect.

Thanks for the heads up on the Finebaum comments about Oklahoma.

The future of the Big 12 and the next round of realignment really hinges on what OK and Texas do. If Finebaum, who is very connected in that part of the country, is right, then the Big 12 as we know it won't exist in 5 years. IMO, that will yield zero candidates for the Big East. Football schools will continue to play football and the BE isn't interested in going down that road again. What's more interesting is the implication for a TV contract if the 10-team Big 12 dies and everyone else grows even bigger than they are now.

[DudeAnon]

Until they start paying the players, its hard for me to take any of these conversations too seriously. "OH NO, Texas is leaving the Big 12 so now TCU can only pay its coach 2 million instead of 3!" I won't be shedding many tears.

Also, adding VCU or whoever isn't going to change the complexion of this conference. We are who we are. If we maintain status as a power conference, great. If we slide off into mid-major world so be it. But the fact remains that there isn't much we can do one way or the other besides win.

[Savannah Jay]

Thanks for the heads up on the Finebaum comments about Oklahoma.

The future of the Big 12 and the next round of realignment really hinges on what OK and Texas do. If Finebaum, who is very connected in that part of the country, is right, then the Big 12 as we know it won't exist in 5 years. IMO, that will yield zero candidates for the Big East. Football schools will continue to play football and the BE isn't interested in going down that road again. What's more interesting is the implication for a TV contract if the 10-team Big 12 dies and everyone else grows even bigger than they are now.

Finebaum is an SEC guy...Tennessee grad that made his name covering sports for Birmingham, AL paper. One of the talking heads on SEC network, too. If OU is "looking around" and Finebaum is the one reporting it, I can only assume that means they've inquired with the SEC.

In the last round of realignment, I think the Oklahoma state officials (state as in government, not the school) were making noise about blocking any move by OU unless it took OSU with it...

[Bill Marsh]

Thanks for the heads up on the Finebaum comments about Oklahoma.

The future of the Big 12 and the next round of realignment really hinges on what OK and Texas do. If Finebaum, who is very connected in that part of the country, is right, then the Big 12 as we know it won't exist in 5 years. IMO, that will yield zero candidates for the Big East. Football schools will continue to play football and the BE isn't interested in going down that road again. What's more interesting is the implication for a TV contract if the 10-team Big 12 dies and everyone else grows even bigger than they are now.

Finebaum is an SEC guy...Tennessee grad that made his name covering sports for Birmingham, AL paper. One of the talking heads on SEC network, too. If OU is "looking around" and Finebaum is the one reporting it, I can only assume that means they've inquired with the SEC.

In the last round of realignment, I think the Oklahoma state officials (state as in government, not the school) were making noise about blocking any move by OU unless it took OSU with it...

True. And at one time it was assumed that Texas and A&M had to move only as a package deal . . . until they didn't.

[paulxu]

I don't see homogeneity of "Catholic" being our glue.
Rather good basketball schools, without P5 football, in major media markets, primarily in the East.

Whatever the P5 schools do as the realign themselves has absolutely nothing to do with us, short of the player stipend to remain competitive for basketball players They're going to do what they do, with football/TV contracts as the drivers. We don't have the first, so what's the use of speculating.

And what benefit is it to us to add a school that plays football, or has aspirations to do so? What does it add to the BE?

The key to any addition thoughts, should be good basketball schools, in major media markets.