Big East Conference Realignment v2018

[BigmanU]

All the more reason to add them, a little bad blood goes a long way. You wouldn't watch Creighton vs Wichita St. or X vs UD?[/quote]

Al Dayton & Wichita State do is dilute the brand. I think their is some sort of disconnect between the original members views and the views off X, Creighton & Butler. The brand is strong and should not be watered down under any circumstances.[/quote]

Actually, there is not as much disconnect over all this as you might think, at least with respect to the Xavier fan base.

I couldn't agree more that the brand is strong and that there is no reason to water it down at this point. We should stay at 10 for the foreseeable future. Period. End of story.

To the extent expansion is ever taken seriously by the BE leadership, there appear to be three potential reasons for considering expansion down the road, and the first two are related:

1. Our television partner (Fox) desires more inventory and pursues us for an addition or two;

2. The 20-game conference schedule becomes an issue due to other P5 conferences, creating scheduling pressure; and

3. Some truly materially strong candidate (e.g. ND, UCONN) drops out of the sky for expansion consideration.

With respect to #1, it doesn't feel like that is an issue or will become an issue for a while, as Fox has picked up solid inventory from both the B1G and the PAC12. Brando literally mentioned "inventory" during one of the Xavier games he was announcing, as in Fox now had that in good quantity.

With respect to #2, I would think that the BE will monitor the Big XII's actions with respect to this issue. If the Big XII holds serve at 10 teams and its current scheduling practices, I see no need for the Big East to react to the 20-game thing. We have the Gavitt Games. We'll still be able to schedule based on the brand of the Big East Conference. Besides, I don't see the Big XII solving for a 20-game schedule through an addition, because that conference will solve for football before ever solving for basketball-related requirements.

With respect to #3, I couldn't agree with you more. Should the Big East expand, I suspect it will expand because a truly strategic addition presents itself down the road.

My Xavier friend is entitled to his opinion, but his viewpoint is too parochial. There is simply zero comparison between the likes of Xavier v. UC and Xavier v. UD, as an example. The Xavier v. UD rivalry was legitimate given its history, but it was a very regional thing, and it had become very one-sided with Xavier's dominance of it. And you're right: Xavier will not tolerate having UD in the Big East for strategic reasons, just as Nova will not allow for St. Joe's and how Creighton probably will have zero interest in supporting the addition of Wichita State.

Besides, the Wichita State thing has sailed, not that it ever had a shot at BE membership anyway.

And UD is proving yet again it has no ability to sustain itself as a legitimate program. It appears to have once again made a bad hiring decision. At the very least, it is proving again that it cannot make a smooth transition between coaches. It is proving yet again that it is the very definition of a mid-major. The A10 is an absolute joke this year. It looks like a one horse race with URI, and watching a little of the URI v. UMASS game before Xavier's game against St. John's was revealing - as in it was virtually unwatchable.

ADDITIONS, SHOULD ANY OCCUR, SHOULD BE STRATEGIC. We have no business pulling mid-majors up to meet expansion plans.[/quote]

Ding Ding Ding,

Sorry for assuming all X, Jay & Butler fans shared the same view of adding mid-majors. I see this posted so much it drives me insane.

[DudeAnon]

Ding Ding Ding,

Sorry for assuming all X, Jay & Butler fans shared the same view of adding mid-majors. I see this posted so much it drives me insane.

Please learn how to quote properly.

[BigmanU]

Ding Ding Ding,

Sorry for assuming all X, Jay & Butler fans shared the same view of adding mid-majors. I see this posted so much it drives me insane.

Please learn how to quote properly.

Like this.

What are you the board quote Nazi? Pissed off because I don't agree with your opinion?

I did it incorrectly, but you see it's a quote. Shit happens sometimes.

[cu blujs]

I can assure you that DudeAnnon is way out on his own island with maybe a few inhabitants in terms Creighton fans who either think WSU would be a good addition to the BE - and frankly whether they ever were a rival (outside of about the last two years CU was in the MVC - and even at that it was because Marshall was such a whiney d**k that CU fans cared (good coach, though, obviously)). WSU is was and always will be a glorified junior college. Its academic admission standards are not even two or three rungs below BE schools. It has a 95% admission rate. Fill out your application and don't put down the wrong address so your admission letter goes to the wrong place, and you are essentially assured of getting in. its Average ACT composite is 23, with a full 75% of all new students being below 26. You have a 50-50 chance to get into WSU with a 16 on your ACT. How many of your fellow students at your school got in with that? Is that really a fit for the BE in any way? Its fans aren't insane and moronic in a good way. They are insane and moronic in an embarrassing, I can't believe we have any association with those clowns, type of way.

[DudeAnon]

I can assure you that DudeAnnon is way out on his own island with maybe a few inhabitants in terms Creighton fans who either think WSU would be a good addition to the BE - and frankly whether they ever were a rival (outside of about the last two years CU was in the MVC - and even at that it was because Marshall was such a whiney d**k that CU fans cared (good coach, though, obviously)). WSU is was and always will be a glorified junior college. Its academic admission standards are not even two or three rungs below BE schools. It has a 95% admission rate. Fill out your application and don't put down the wrong address so your admission letter goes to the wrong place, and you are essentially assured of getting in. its Average ACT composite is 23, with a full 75% of all new students being below 26. You have a 50-50 chance to get into WSU with a 16 on your ACT. How many of your fellow students at your school got in with that? Is that really a fit for the BE in any way? Its fans aren't insane and moronic in a good way. They are insane and moronic in an embarrassing, I can't believe we have any association with those clowns, type of way.

Maybe this conference needs some variety? Ultimately, this is a conference based on basketball. Glorified junior colleges have fanbases and students too, why the elitism?

[bluejayfanatic]

Maybe this conference needs some variety? Ultimately, this is a conference based on basketball. Glorified junior colleges have fanbases and students too, why the elitism?

Academic prestige is part of our brand. Like the private counterpart of the Big Ten. We are academically rigorous, basketball-obsessed private universities in large, urban areas. UConn gets a pass because it meets almost all the criteria except for being private, which is excused because of its historical affiliation with the Big East. The conference went down this brand-dilution rabbit hole before and it ended up hitting the reset button. Let's not do it again.

[DudeAnon]

Maybe this conference needs some variety? Ultimately, this is a conference based on basketball. Glorified junior colleges have fanbases and students too, why the elitism?

Academic prestige is part of our brand. Like the private counterpart of the Big Ten. We are academically rigorous, basketball-obsessed private universities in large, urban areas. UConn gets a pass because it meets almost all the criteria except for being private, which is excused because of its historical affiliation with the Big East. The conference went down this brand-dilution rabbit hole before and it ended up with us hitting the reset button. Let's not do it again.

If you think that is the best route to go down for building the brand of the conference then I can respect that but I will disagree.

WSU, UD and VCU could all be easily argued as top half programs if they were added to the league right now. Add in their likely boost in recruiting etc. and it seems like a net positive. Adding great basketball programs in lieu of academic branding is a no-brainer for me. I don't want to be too disrespectful to my C7 brethren, but I think many of you have an inflated sense of self. Take away the "brand" and how many Big East schools can do better than those 3 in recent basketball success and fan support? Nova and Xavier for sure. Everyone else is up for debate.

[Savannah Jay]

I can assure you that DudeAnnon is way out on his own island with maybe a few inhabitants in terms Creighton fans who either think WSU would be a good addition to the BE - and frankly whether they ever were a rival (outside of about the last two years CU was in the MVC - and even at that it was because Marshall was such a whiney d**k that CU fans cared (good coach, though, obviously)). WSU is was and always will be a glorified junior college. Its academic admission standards are not even two or three rungs below BE schools. It has a 95% admission rate. Fill out your application and don't put down the wrong address so your admission letter goes to the wrong place, and you are essentially assured of getting in. its Average ACT composite is 23, with a full 75% of all new students being below 26. You have a 50-50 chance to get into WSU with a 16 on your ACT. How many of your fellow students at your school got in with that? Is that really a fit for the BE in any way? Its fans aren't insane and moronic in a good way. They are insane and moronic in an embarrassing, I can't believe we have any association with those clowns, type of way.

Maybe this conference needs some variety? Ultimately, this is a conference based on basketball. Glorified junior colleges have fanbases and students too, why the elitism?

Because the presidents of the respective universities made a conscious choice relative to conference membership. I cannot imagine a world where the president of Georgetown or the president of Villanova want their schools/brands associated with a school like Wichita.

[bluejayfanatic]

If you think that is the best route to go down for building the brand of the conference then I can respect that but I will disagree.

WSU, UD and VCU could all be easily argued as top half programs if they were added to the league right now. Add in their likely boost in recruiting etc. and it seems like a net positive. Adding great basketball programs in lieu of academic branding is a no-brainer for me. I don't want to be too disrespectful to my C7 brethren, but I think many of you have an inflated sense of self. Take away the "brand" and how many Big East schools can do better than those 3 in recent basketball success and fan support? Nova and Xavier for sure. Everyone else is up for debate.

Recent basketball success and fan support are 2 factors to consider, but they aren't the entire equation. The problem is everyone looks at Wichita, VCU, and Dayton, checks a few boxes, and says they're a good fit, what's the hold up? X, Butler, and Creighton were carefully vetted by this conference prior to invitations being extended. There's a reason the other three weren't included, and unless there's been a major change for any of these institutions, there's no reason to reconsider their admission.

[Barley]

Seems like we haven't talked about realignment in a long time. I wanted to share a comment from Creighton AD and NCAA basketball chairman Bruce Rasmussen in today's Omaha newspaper.

One more from Rass, on Big East expansion:

“It’s always on the table. I don’t think there’s a school today that would get the seven votes that it takes. I thought Wichita (State) was one of those, was on the (table) and had a great interest in the league. But there was no way Wichita was getting seven votes.

“UConn is a school that has made a tremendous commitment to football and they have to decide what they’re going to do with football or they can decide upon leaving the conference that they’re in. UConn has been discussed a lot, but the elephant in the room is, what do we do with their football program?”

Interesting.

full link- http://www.omaha.com/sports/shatel/shat ... 73ebc.html

Anyone arguing for Wichita needs to re-read the original post and bolded section.