Contrary to what critics say, Big East is still alive

[dmac80]

Contrary to what critics say, Big East is still alive and swishing

The first two nights of the Big East tournament provided fans with as many competitive games and buzzer beaters as any conference tournament this year and were enjoyable and exhausting to the 55,000-plus fans who made the annual pilgrimage to the Garden.

BY DICK WEISS / SPECIAL TO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014, 2:09 AM


Every TV network and other conferences will tell you that the Big East is not what it used to be.
And ESPN has been beating the drum as loudly as any network, sending one of its top announcing crews to promote the American Athletic Conference tournament, which has replaced the Big East in its rotation, and with the release of the documentary entitled, “Requiem for the Big East,” that will air Sunday that celebrates the success the most successful league in college basketball but seems to ignore why many of the founding institutions were forced to step outside the Camelot that Disney created for its shareholders.
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, whom I greatly respect, reportedly said Villanova was the “most unknown 28-3 team in the country,” an obvious shot at Fox Sports, which has not yet established itself as a porthole to the world of college basketball.
The challenge for this newly reconstructed conference is this: If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it really happen?

The first two nights of the Big East tournament provided fans with as many competitive games and buzzer beaters as any conference tournament this year and were enjoyable and exhausting to the 55,000-plus fans who made the annual pilgrimage to the Garden that has become as big a part of the city’s tapestry as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and has provided a platform for many of the league’s coaches, players and programs. They got to watch Creighton All-American forward Doug McDermott go for 35 points against DePaul and Seton Hall upset Villanova, the No. 3 team in both the AP and Coaches’ polls.
But the Bluejays who will play for a championship Saturday night — against Providence — are not incumbents and lack the familiarity and recognition the league has provided its more recent successful programs.
Friday night, college basketball fans, who are creatures of habit, had to choose between watching N.C. State vs. Syracuse and Duke vs. Clemson in the ACC quarterfinals, Louisville vs. Houston and Cincinnati vs. Connecticut in AAC semis, Kansas vs. Iowa State in Big 12 semis on the ESPN family or Seton Hall vs. Providence and Creighton vs. Xavier on Fox. The Big East fell victim to the ESPN Championship Week marketing machine that has had a ripple effect on every other league in the country.
The Big East has a solid six-year deal with the Garden for its tournaments, but that reportedly did not stop other ESPN commentators from suggesting the ACC would be better served playing its tournament at the Garden on a semi-regular basis and subtly hinting that the Big East could not sell its tourney out. And it has not stopped ACC officials at the world’s “Most Famous Arena” from investigating the possibility. The idea was turned down by the Garden, which has no interest in rotating conferences.

There is little question that the ACC would like gain a foothold in the boroughs. Friday, SI.com broke a story suggesting that the ACC was in the final stages of cutting a deal with Barclays Center to move its tournament there in 2017 and 2018, which would please Syracuse’s massive alumni group in the metro area, which has no desire to trek to Greensboro and eat its meals at Denny’s while at the same time damage the Big East brand unless St. John’s, Villanova and Georgetown — the brightest stars in the conference’s galaxy — can sustain a national profile. Technically, the Atlantic 10 has a deal in place to play its tournament at Barclays through 2017. But the ACC is apparently willing to make a scheduling deal with the A-10 if it will leave Brooklyn a year early.
The ACC obviously sees the advantage of increased visibility in the Northeast, where the Big Ten already has a footprint, by holding a prime-time event in the city, which has served as the home for its biggest competition the last 32 years.
No one can predict the future, and only time will tell whether the Big East can make a Phoenix-like rise from the ashes the way it did after the ACC staged two devastating raids on the league, buying up assets when realized it couldn’t beat it. It will be up to the Big East to silence its critics as it has done on the court this week. New Yorkers have a refined palate for quality competition in events such as this, and the Big East has answered the bell with good crowds and quality play.
The newly constructed Big East may not be what it used to be and likely deserves only four NCAA Tournament bids in a transition year, but it is not the weak link it has been painted as by its critics in the media and the BCS conferences, who want to lower the baskets for everyone else.
There is still work to be done. Fox has to do a better job of portioning out the games well enough to sustain the appetite for the Big East. New commissioner Val Ackerman has to be a more vocal voice and advocate for the league on the men’s side. And the schools need to use the same strategy their coaches have used to beat teams from other major conferences so the Big East can focus on being the best league it can be following the advice of that old Erasmus grad Al Davis, who uttered the famous words, “Just win, baby.”


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[NJRedman]

Great article.

[LeMoyne00]

The action has been great... its too bad more people haven't seen it - it'd go a lot farther in silencing critics than this article.

The building hasn't been anywhere near full for any of the sessions so far and last night a third of the building had their smartphones out watching the 'Cuse game on WatchESPN or following the score at least. Plus, I haven't heard any chest pumping from Fox Sports 1 on the ratings, so I'm assuming they are just mediocre.

If more people had witnessed it, we'd be hearing more of the Big East is still alive and well, but for as good as its been its taking a backseat.

[NJRedman]

The action has been great... its too bad more people haven't seen it - it'd go a lot farther in silencing critics than this article.

The building hasn't been anywhere near full for any of the sessions so far and last night a third of the building had their smartphones out watching the 'Cuse game on WatchESPN or following the score at least. Plus, I haven't heard any chest pumping from Fox Sports 1 on the ratings, so I'm assuming they are just mediocre.

If more people had witnessed it, we'd be hearing more of the Big East is still alive and well, but for as good as its been its taking a backseat.

Who is this clown? Hasn't been anywhere near full? Watching Cuse on their smart phones? Go troll somewhere else while watching your team in Greensboro.

[Peter]

The action has been great... its too bad more people haven't seen it - it'd go a lot farther in silencing critics than this article.

The building hasn't been anywhere near full for any of the sessions so far and last night a third of the building had their smartphones out watching the 'Cuse game on WatchESPN or following the score at least. Plus, I haven't heard any chest pumping from Fox Sports 1 on the ratings, so I'm assuming they are just mediocre.

If more people had witnessed it, we'd be hearing more of the Big East is still alive and well, but for as good as its been its taking a backseat.

Lemonyne- you sure complain a lot about the BigEast for a fan. FS1 is a work in progress and everyone knows it. I didn't see a single Cuse fan at MSG worrying about anything but the games here. Other than you apparently.

[billyjack]

Yeah, nice article.
Fans in the northeast know that the ACC tried to destroy the respected and beloved Big East. The ACC now is trying to market themselves up here. How do they really expect us to cozy up to them?... "hey, we tried to kill you and failed... now please watch our sucky product in Brooklyn..." I watched about 15 total minutes of ACC play. 8 minutes was watching SEC Tennessee beat Virginia by 35 pts.

[dmac80]

The article got the contract with MSG wrong (10 years not 6) but correctly wonders, where is Val Ackerman? We need a front and center leader vocalizing and selling Big East teams and their case for being selected.

[NJRedman]

The article got the contract with MSG wrong (10 years not 6) but correctly wonders, where is Val Ackerman? We need a front and center leader vocalizing and selling Big East teams and their case for being selected.

I disagree, you don't see any other commishes out there pounding the drum for their teams to be selected for the tournament. Thats not what they do. Her presence needs to be felt where it counts, and thats during meetings pertaining to all the conferences and the NCAA. She needs to make sure the BCS conferences don't pass rules that allow them to do certain things that we can't.

[XUDynasty]

Nice article. The criticism of the new BE is obnoxious and way off base. We should have the NPOY and might have a 1 seed in the tourney... All while G'town and Marquette are down and Butler has had their most disappointing season in memory. It will be interesting to see what kind of coverage we get from CBS once the tourney starts. The reality is that CBS is the king of college basketball: not ESPN. I think our coverage will be extremely favorable over the next couple weeks.

[gosports1]

maybe its good that "no one has seen the BE play" that way thye wont be able to prepare for us and we can beat their a** and get our teams further along