Big East Conference Expansion Ideas and Discussion

[BillikensWin]

There is all of 0% chance Gonzaga joins this league (for just so many reasons it isn't worth listing). I'd give VCU about a 5% chance, only because, well you never know.

Its going to be some combination of St. Louis, Richmond, and UD - and rightfully so. Possibly some powerhouse private team emerges on the East coast in the next 4-5 years that is not currently in a Big East market, but I don't see it.

If this is the case, then this league has lower aspirations than I thought they did.

Keep taking shots at SLU, Bill. I haven't posted much, but you have been consistently knocking SLU across a couple boards. Last 2 tournaments, swept the A-10 less than a year ago. Does what SLU did 20 or 30 years ago matter? No, it doesn't. Those players and those coaches aren't around.

[Bill Marsh]

There is all of 0% chance Gonzaga joins this league (for just so many reasons it isn't worth listing). I'd give VCU about a 5% chance, only because, well you never know.

Its going to be some combination of St. Louis, Richmond, and UD - and rightfully so. Possibly some powerhouse private team emerges on the East coast in the next 4-5 years that is not currently in a Big East market, but I don't see it.

If this is the case, then this league has lower aspirations than I thought they did.

Keep taking shots at SLU, Bill. I haven't posted much, but you have been consistently knocking SLU across a couple boards. Last 2 tournaments, swept the A-10 less than a year ago. Does what SLU did 20 or 30 years ago matter? No, it doesn't. Those players and those coaches aren't around.

My comment was aimed at UD and UR. St Louis is okay with me if they are paired with VCU. No offense intended to SLU.

[BillikensWin]

My comment was aimed at UD and UR. St Louis is okay with me if they are paired with VCU. No offense intended to SLU.[/quote]

Yeah, I think we've had this exact same conversation before.

[HoosierPal]

To the common fan many of BE teams are not known. I used to mix up Villanova and Vanderbilt, St. John and st joe, etc. Georgetown is the biggest name. To really set them apart BE has to do big things in next 2-3 years and really this year may be more important to take the media momentum into next year

By common fan do you mean clueless fan? Plenty of people know SJU, Nova, G'Town, Marquette, etc. How can you confuse Nova and Vandy? Totally different colors and histories. St. Joe's (Philly) gets confused with St. John's (Queens) which gets confused with St. Joe's (Brooklyn/LI) which also gets confused with St. John the Baptist (catholic HS on LI). When people refer to "St. John's basketball" though, they know you assume the Big East version.

Believe it or not, outside of the east coast those are not name brand schools. Like i said, Georgetown is and Midwest knows Marquette but to a casual observer/fan it's all the same if your name isn't unc, duke, ucla, etc

You are correct Hoopfan. Ask any of the 70,000 Big Ten fans in Indy today to name off the 10 Big East teams, and you will be lucky to find 1 who can do it. While the Big East looms large in the NE, it is just another conference in the Midwest.

[Bill Marsh]

By common fan do you mean clueless fan? Plenty of people know SJU, Nova, G'Town, Marquette, etc. How can you confuse Nova and Vandy? Totally different colors and histories. St. Joe's (Philly) gets confused with St. John's (Queens) which gets confused with St. Joe's (Brooklyn/LI) which also gets confused with St. John the Baptist (catholic HS on LI). When people refer to "St. John's basketball" though, they know you assume the Big East version.

Believe it or not, outside of the east coast those are not name brand schools. Like i said, Georgetown is and Midwest knows Marquette but to a casual observer/fan it's all the same if your name isn't unc, duke, ucla, etc

You are correct Hoopfan. Ask any of the 70,000 Big Ten fans in Indy today to name off the 10 Big East teams, and you will be lucky to find 1 who can do it. While the Big East looms large in the NE, it is just another conference in the Midwest.

This is an important point when it comes to expansion. The Big East IS a high profile conference on the East Coast. Expansion decisions need to factor this into the mix.

A Big East weighted toward the Midwest with 2 additions like SLU + Dayton and no one added in the East makes the majority of the conference a second tier playing in the shadow of the Big Ten. They MUST include at least one East Coast school in any expansion plans.

Less of a factor but still important is attendance at the Big East tournament at MSG. The greater the distance that members are removed from NY & MSG, the less likely they are to support the tournament with ticket purchases over the long haul. Maintaining the tournament as a marquee event with high attendance is essential to the success of the conference.

[Dave]

You are correct Hoopfan. Ask any of the 70,000 Big Ten fans in Indy today to name off the 10 Big East teams, and you will be lucky to find 1 who can do it. While the Big East looms large in the NE, it is just another conference in the Midwest.

Ask any fans outside of the Big 10 to name the Big Ten teams and they will be challenged with the bottom half. Even if you asked them how many teams are in the Big 10, they'd be challenged.

[Bluejay]

Well, Dayton lost to an Illinois St team that is currently undergoing a ton of turmoil. Maybe Dayton should shoot for the MVC instead of the BE?

[Jet915]

OWH article with a tidbit on expansion from the commish:

Presidents and athletic directors from the 10 member schools met last week in New York to discuss a number of topics including expansion. Ackerman said that topic drew very little discussion.

“It's a topic we're spending very little time on right now,” Ackerman said. “We're really focused right now on what we call the excellence of 10. We want to make sure the 10 schools we have together, and in the case of the three new schools, are integrated into the new conference.

“We're very excited about the 10-team configuration for basketball because with the 18 conference games, the math works out for an even home-and-home. We're not ruling out expansion in the long term, but at this point, it's not something we've set our sights on.”

http://www.omaha.com/article/20131208/SPORTS/131208890/1070

[stever20]

I think 2 things-
1- even if they were interested in expansion, they wouldn't say it. They would know it would create a feeding frenzy quite frankly(just imagine what it would do here!)
2- it would be interesting if we got 3 teams in the tourney only, or even the 4 like Lunardi said last week with 1 being in the PIG, if that would change some folks minds towards expansion.

now for all we know, everything Ackerman is saying may be just as she's saying it- just dealing with realignment the last 3-4 years- I've learned you can take any commishes words with a grain of salt basically.

[Lavinwood]

Umm...I'm not sure I could rattle off every single team in 1 conference either. I bet that nationally people could name at least 3 Big East schools though. Many would still name old ones because the realignment was recent but give it a few years to sink in. The Northeast could not give 2 turds about college football. We have gritty, urban cities where we are raised marveling at basketball. We aren't farm boys. College football is so flawed for so many reasons and that's why the NFL fills our football void. Quick example is a team with the #66 SOS (FSU) getting the #1 ranking, beating DUKE (LOL!) in the championship game, while playing in a conference with 1 other ranked team. You will almost never find the #66 SOS basketball team playing in the championship game if they even got an invite to begin with. I'm not sure why football doesn't have a huge tourney where the champions of each conference have to face each other. They just assume teams are the best instead of letting us find out on the field, and that is ridiculous. So stop talking about the Big Ten and how you guys don't know the Big East. We don't care for the whole NCAAFB scene unless it's the national champ game. All I could rattle off for the B1G right away would be OSU and Michigan. Then I'd have to stop and think making sure not to confuse it with the Big 12. So the feeling is mutual...we don't know you either and I'm not sure we want to. We are proud of being a basketball centric conference. That's our specialty.