Big 12 and Big East almost merged

[DudeAnon]

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/ucathle ... /10325391/

[Jet915]

As a Creighton fan, I'm glad this didn't happen!

[Bill Marsh]

As a Creighton fan, I'm glad this didn't happen!

As aCatholic college fan, I'm glad it didn't happen too. The new Big East is much more to my liking.

[billyjack]

As a Friar fan, the 10 of us in the Big East is easily my favorite set-up.
Glad we didn't merge with the Big 12.

Oliver Luck basically talks into every microphone he can find. The guy is a clown, and used to leak stuff to the press constantly, doesn't know when to shut up, and always thinks he's the smartest guy in the room... he's the Jay Bilas of college football.

[robinreed]

I would have preferred that the old Big East hung together on the condition that XU and Creighton were added. It would have been a monster conference however once Syracuse and Pitt left the existance of the football - basketball alliance was clearly at an end. Worse still was the addition of schools like Tulane, ECU etc. to what eventually became the AAC. Those schools had no history or interest in basketball and have little following even in their home city and amongst their own students. Living in that type of situation would have been degrading to the basketball schools which have a right to be proud of the old BE basketball tradition.

As to Ollie Luck he is a former lawyer who had political aspirations when he lived in Texas. He has an ego the size of Eurasia and an amazing ability to take credit for things which he either had nothing to do with or which eventually failed. Still he has a much higher opinion of himself than even most people in sports, an area of vastly over inflated self worth, and that opinion is totally unwarranted. I was pleased that U of Texas turned down his bid to become their AD.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Had the Big XII and Old Big East merged, it would have just postponed the inevitable. A conference with schools split by the division of football (as shown with the Old Big East) can only last so long before the universities start fighting each other with the regard to the identity and direction of the conference. Don't get me wrong, the prospect of the conference below looks very cool:

Proposed Big East/Big XII merger (with additions of TCU, UCF)*, for a 20-team conference, with 12 full-time members:

Full Members
Baylor
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Louisville
Rutgers
South Florida
TCU
West Virginia

Basketball Only:
Creighton
DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Providence
Seton Hall
St. Johns
Villanova

*I'm going to assume there would have been conflict with the football/basketball members over the invites to UCF (whom USF notoriously voted against for years in the Old Big East) and TCU (whom the basketball schools would not want - perhaps they would fight for Memphis, who had stronger basketball program, but weaker football program).

I, for one, am very happy where Marquette and the Big East ended up. I watched a majority of the Big East games last year, and looked forward to each one. I could not be more excited for the future of our conference. I wouldn't trade that hypothetical conference for what we are building now.

[stever20]

that would have been a very interesting basketball conference. The interesting thing would have been would Fox have paid even more to us for that conference. I think it's very possible- just because of Kansas, UConn, and Cincy and even WVU/Baylor back then... Also, I wonder if USF would have tried to block UCF if Memphis may have been a viable replacement. Imagine- Baylor, Cincy, UConn, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Louisville, Memphis, WVU- plus Butler, Nova, Georgetown. That's almost as good as what we had with the Big East a few years ago.

I do wonder if we added 1 more basketball school- I'm not so certain that it would have been Creighton by any stretch. Butler would have been to me the odds on favorite, remember timing wise, they're coming off the back to back title game appearances. They would have fit perfectly between Cincy and DePaul. Don't think Xavier would have had any shot with Cincy still around, same as Temple with Villanova.

[gosports1]

i was going to ask if Creighton stilll would have made the cut in this merger since it the the B12 EAST would be 19 members. Nebraska would be a nice fit. golden warrior beat me to it

[gosports1]

that would have been a very interesting basketball conference. The interesting thing would have been would Fox have paid even more to us for that conference. I think it's very possible- just because of Kansas, UConn, and Cincy and even WVU/Baylor back then... Also, I wonder if USF would have tried to block UCF if Memphis may have been a viable replacement. Imagine- Baylor, Cincy, UConn, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Louisville, Memphis, WVU- plus Butler, Nova, Georgetown. That's almost as good as what we had with the Big East a few years ago.

I do wonder if we added 1 more basketball school- I'm not so certain that it would have been Creighton by any stretch. Butler would have been to me the odds on favorite, remember timing wise, they're coming off the back to back title game appearances. They would have fit perfectly between Cincy and DePaul. Don't think Xavier would have had any shot with Cincy still around, same as Temple with Villanova.

My time line may be off, but i think ND was still around at this point, weren't they?

[GoldenWarrior11]

that would have been a very interesting basketball conference. The interesting thing would have been would Fox have paid even more to us for that conference. I think it's very possible- just because of Kansas, UConn, and Cincy and even WVU/Baylor back then... Also, I wonder if USF would have tried to block UCF if Memphis may have been a viable replacement. Imagine- Baylor, Cincy, UConn, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Louisville, Memphis, WVU- plus Butler, Nova, Georgetown. That's almost as good as what we had with the Big East a few years ago.

I do wonder if we added 1 more basketball school- I'm not so certain that it would have been Creighton by any stretch. Butler would have been to me the odds on favorite, remember timing wise, they're coming off the back to back title game appearances. They would have fit perfectly between Cincy and DePaul. Don't think Xavier would have had any shot with Cincy still around, same as Temple with Villanova.

My time line may be off, but i think ND was still around at this point, weren't they?

You are absolutely correct. Notre Dame didn't defect until AFTER Rutgers and Louisville joined the B1G and ACC, respectively. I would then assume you would switch out Creighton for Notre Dame, right? With ND wishing to become a national brand, they would be playing regularly in Texas, Florida and the Northeast in basketball (perhaps even joining the said league with the same 5-game deal they created with the ACC).

The concept falls apart in that, if the PAC-12 went to 16 (with Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State), you would have to imagine the SEC and B1G went to 16 as well to compete. I would guess the SEC would then look at West Virginia and another ACC team (Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina), and the B1G would then look at Kansas, Iowa State, Rutgers, and Maryland to get to 16 (I don't think they'd invite UCONN, who isn't AAU).

No matter how you look at it (Old Big East, Big 12-East, American), the conference would still be ripe for the picking by the higher football conferences. That is NO WAY to be a part of a conference.