First Season In The Books: How Did The Big East Do?

[BillikensWin]

You may not see many Billiken fans on here for a little while. There's another Mizzou scandal that needs attention.

Good luck to all y'all.

[LeMoyne00]

The Big East is a better league in my opinion.

However, nothing he said or gave as reasons why the A-10 was better, was in accurate. They did have more teams higher ranked in the RPI, they did have more teams in the tourney, and they had better ratings success at their tourney and the better performances in the NCAA tourney.

Now I don't believe in the RPI, I don't look at it, I think it's what people insecure about their leagues and teams stress about. If you have a good program and play other good programs, you don't worry about your RPI.

Our conference had the better history, but we left it and started a new one and traded money and credits for the old name. No one will ever convince me comparing ourselves or taking credit for the amazing history that was played mostly against schools no longer involved is something to brag about. This year, we took teams from the A-10 conference and they got better as a conference and we stumbled.

The sooner we start realizing we are a new basketball conference and stop bragging about what was and is gone... we assured that when we announced December of 2012 that our programs were leaving the other remaining programs to form our own league. If we hadn't done that and the Big East without Pitt, Notre Dame, and 'Cuse still got 7-8 teams in this year - there would be no question about proving our worth or listening to the we're mid-major. We did that and caused the obvious reaction to our Big East claims.

So let's just embrace the future and let our basketball performance and atmosphere at our games NOW and going forward dictate who we are. If we live on history, we're going to be constantly judged on it by everyone else. Even as a fan of the conference, someone who spent his money to get FS2 and paid for tourney passes at the Garden - this year's Big East is a Big Failure if I'm forced to judge it on the past Big East some of you keep throwing back at any critics... if that is your best argument or selling point for the future, then our future isn't bright. Our members weren't ready for the Big East without the rest of the Big East -- our OOC's weren't good enough, our promotions didn't fill our arenas without all the common names, and we failed to get the message out about FS1 and the Tourney at the Garden. These are all things we can build on and prove we're major. We cannot rest on our laurels and hang on the coattails of programs no longer with us! We have to step it up and not get frustrated by some failures -- they happen to everyone -- including the mighty ACC who fell flat on its face this year just like we did.

[BEX]

Just 2 teams, Xavier (16) and Temple (8) played in 24 games in the same period for the A-10. woo friggin' woo. A-10 is so weak now dayton could win.

[flyerlax06]

The funny thing for me is that I wrote over 1600 words in that article about the BIG EAST AND THEIR FIRST YEAR and the biggest discussion has come about because of a throwaway line near the end about it being ludicrous for people to say that the A10 is a better league than the Big East. When I wrote it - and you can read the comments section of the article to see where I defend what I said - I was talking about the overall leagues and was not trying to diminish the year the A10 teams had but I was talking more about the big picture (and not the history, the future) of the strength of both leagues going forward.

[robinreed]

The BE did not do well in it's first year however the media deal (if we can improve ratings on Fox) and expansion will mean significant improvement in the next 2 to 3 years. I don't know if I can be stress enough that the TV ratings are the only thing that matters. If we have 10 teams in the top 25 but have continued poor TV ratings we are in trouble. If we have no teams in the top 25 but excellent TV ratings we are in the clover. I always have hated the saying "perception is reality" however when you depend on a TV contract for almost everything it is very true.

Also a previous poster suggested past history of the BE is important. There is NO past history in our conference except the name. Our glory must and I hope and believe will be in the future. Some on this blog have compared the BE to the Atlantic 10 and I know it has some good teams but this year is a rare event for them and is unlikely to be repeated in the next decade.

[flyerlax06]

The BE did not do well in it's first year however the media deal (if we can improve ratings on Fox) and expansion will mean significant improvement in the next 2 to 3 years. I don't know if I can be stress enough that the TV ratings are the only thing that matters. If we have 10 teams in the top 25 but have continued poor TV ratings we are in trouble. If we have no teams in the top 25 but excellent TV ratings we are in the clover. I always have hated the saying "perception is reality" however when you depend on a TV contract for almost everything it is very true.

Also a previous poster suggested past history of the BE is important. There is NO past history in our conference except the name. Our glory must and I hope and believe will be in the future. Some on this blog have compared the BE to the Atlantic 10 and I know it has some good teams but this year is a rare event for them and is unlikely to be repeated in the next decade.

re: history

When we paid for the name, we paid for the history and records as well. So, while you may be saying figuratively there is no history because this was year 1, we literally own the history and records from 1979-present.

[HoosierPal]

Taken from an ESPN article on NCAA Unit Payouts. With six games this year, the Big East earned units worth $1.5 million. Anyone knows how it is split? Divide by ten?

Do HolyLand of Hoops Message Board members get a slice?

This year, the NCAA will pay each conference $250,106 per game that its teams played in the tournament from 2008 to 2013. Next year, when the distribution from this season is included, units will be worth $255,379.

The NCAA says units paid out in 2016 and 2017 have already been calculated at $260,525 and $265,791, respectively. That puts the projection of the total value of units earned in this year's tournament at close to $1.6 million. Units earned from this tournament will be paid in mid-April from 2015 to 2020.

Based on the projections and its showing in this year's tournament, the Pac-12 will make $22.4 million off the 14 games its schools played, while the SEC and Big 12 will make $20.8 million off the 13 games their schools played.

What's impressive about the SEC's showing is that only three of its schools made the tournament, with Tennessee reaching the Sweet 16 and Kentucky and Florida making it to the Final Four. A lackluster showing by the ACC, which saw none of its teams make it past the Sweet 16, and a surprising run by UConn, gave the ACC and American Athletic Conference 11 shares each that will be worth about $17.6 million in the next six years.

The payouts mostly come from the NCAA's 14-year, $10.8 billion television deal with CBS and Turner. The NCAA will distribute $193.5 million this year from its basketball fund based on games played by conferences from 2008 to 2013.

The Big Ten earned $20.4 million last year. Most conferences, including the Big Ten, split the money they receive from the basketball fund equally among their member schools.

[Sactowndog]

The BE did not do well in it's first year however the media deal (if we can improve ratings on Fox) and expansion will mean significant improvement in the next 2 to 3 years. I don't know if I can be stress enough that the TV ratings are the only thing that matters. If we have 10 teams in the top 25 but have continued poor TV ratings we are in trouble. If we have no teams in the top 25 but excellent TV ratings we are in the clover. I always have hated the saying "perception is reality" however when you depend on a TV contract for almost everything it is very true.

Also a previous poster suggested past history of the BE is important. There is NO past history in our conference except the name. Our glory must and I hope and believe will be in the future. Some on this blog have compared the BE to the Atlantic 10 and I know it has some good teams but this year is a rare event for them and is unlikely to be repeated in the next decade.

The Big East chose institutional fit above all else: Rivalies, Diversity, Athletic Prowess, Depth of Conference. The old Big East had all those things and the new Big East does not.

We added teams that broke rivalries people watched and followed like Xavier - Dayton and Creighton - Wichita State. Look at the ratings for the Creighton - Wichita State games the year before and imagine the ratings those games would have garnered this year.

We opted for homogeneity which seems nice in principle but limits the appeal of your conference. Whether you like it or not you are seen as the private school catholic conference and their are broad swaths of the population that have no desire to follow that kind of conference. The old big east had a nice mix that made for some interesting public-private (Blueblood/working class) kind of rivalries. You don't think a Georgetown - VCU game or a Providence - UMass would be compelling TV. Instead the perception is a bunch of snobs playing among themselves. I follow the Big East because of personal relationships but I find the story lines staid and boring around a history where half the teams are gone.

Lastly conferences are evaluated by strength at the top not weakness at the bottom. When you are relatively small and have a significant institutional fit criteria you dilute your potential top. You don't see the AAC making those choices and they are clearly the better conference even though we should be because we supposedly have more focus on basketball versus football. But we have instead focused on institutional fit and that has limited our ability to compete.

An easy story can be made that the Big East is the third mid-major behind the AAC and the A-10. Since it is in ESPN's interest to do so they will reinforce that perception and perception will become reality. That perception will impact rankings and recruiting and ultimately any follow-on TV deal.

[Sactowndog]

The BE did not do well in it's first year however the media deal (if we can improve ratings on Fox) and expansion will mean significant improvement in the next 2 to 3 years. I don't know if I can be stress enough that the TV ratings are the only thing that matters. If we have 10 teams in the top 25 but have continued poor TV ratings we are in trouble. If we have no teams in the top 25 but excellent TV ratings we are in the clover. I always have hated the saying "perception is reality" however when you depend on a TV contract for almost everything it is very true.

Also a previous poster suggested past history of the BE is important. There is NO past history in our conference except the name. Our glory must and I hope and believe will be in the future. Some on this blog have compared the BE to the Atlantic 10 and I know it has some good teams but this year is a rare event for them and is unlikely to be repeated in the next decade.

re: history

When we paid for the name, we paid for the history and records as well. So, while you may be saying figuratively there is no history because this was year 1, we literally own the history and records from 1979-present.

But know one cares. Your rivalries were Georgetown - Syracuse. UConn - Villanova, West Virginia - Pitt, Marquette - Louisville. Notice none of these were small catholic school against small catholic school. Your Presidents have destroyed that feel in a way Gavitt would never have allowed. He would never have built a conference that appealed to a small segment of the population.

You want this conference to return to Glory you need to add 6 teams that have strong athletic programs, good potential rivals, are in basketball passionate states and don't look anything like a small private catholic school.

VCU - Georgetown
Wichita State - Creighton
U Mass - Providence

Would all be a great place to start.

[robinreed]

But know one cares. Your rivalries were Georgetown - Syracuse. UConn - Villanova, West Virginia - Pitt, Marquette - Louisville. Notice none of these were small catholic school against small catholic school. Your Presidents have destroyed that feel in a way Gavitt would never have allowed. He would never have built a conference that appealed to a small segment of the population.

You want this conference to return to Glory you need to add 6 teams that have strong athletic programs, good potential rivals, are in basketball passionate states and don't look anything like a small private catholic school.

VCU - Georgetown
Wichita State - Creighton
U Mass - Providence

Would all be a great place to start.

Sactowndog,
--------- I completely agree with Wichita State however it appears some Creighton fans fear such an add. The only thing I would suggest is that NO future addition be a D1A football school. This would eliminate U Mass.