Expansion: UAB to reunite with Marquette and DePaul in NBE?

[R Jay]

We've gone over this before. If the F5 kills the NCAA Tournament in its current form will they make the same profit as before? I think we ended up split on the issue. FWIW, I just can't see the F5 cutting off everyone but themselves. They might cut out the minor conferences, but the Big East, A-10, AAC (if it still exists within the next 10 years), MWC, and maybe C-USA should still be "in," as long as they play by the F5's rules.

[BigMac]

/Sarcasm on/ UAB plays football? /Sarcasm off/

Seriously, get used to this folks, today UAB, Tomorrow UMASS and UCONN. With the F5 adding full cost per athlete it's going to bust dozens of programs off the gridiron. Just be glad our universities made those decisions half a century ago (although my Dad, Grandad and Uncles were PISSED when the Jays dropped pigskin!), because it won't affect us much at all. And as long as Delaney is running the B1G, they will bring us along wherever they go. The Gavitt Tipoff, which lasts until 2024 is just one example of how we're permanently "in" with the Bigs.

[Dew]

The Big East would be foolish to do anything until the F5 football mess starts to sort itself out.

[TBC Alum]

The Big East would be foolish to do anything until the F5 football mess starts to sort itself out.

I believe in the very near future the F5 mess will generate a list of candidates to join the conference from which we will be able to choose the best matches.

Because of that, I pay little attention to the arguments about who is best to join the conference today. Your arguments today may have little or no validity on what things may look like in the future.

[Bill Marsh]

The Big East would be foolish to do anything until the F5 football mess starts to sort itself out.

I believe in the very near future the F5 mess will generate a list of candidates to join the conference from which we will be able to choose the best matches.

Because of that, I pay little attention to the arguments about who is best to join the conference today. Your arguments today may have little or no validity on what things may look like in the future.

The only basketball schools in the current footprint that could be available in the next decade as a result of dropping football are UMass and Temple. UConn will certainly not be dropping football for a very long time if ever. Much more likely is that they are eventually added to a P5 conference. The rest of the schools in the North aren't worth talking about even I'd they do drop football.

[robinreed]

The Big East would be foolish to do anything until the F5 football mess starts to sort itself out.

I believe in the very near future the F5 mess will generate a list of candidates to join the conference from which we will be able to choose the best matches.

Because of that, I pay little attention to the arguments about who is best to join the conference today. Your arguments today may have little or no validity on what things may look like in the future.

The only basketball schools in the current footprint that could be available in the next decade as a result of dropping football are UMass and Temple. UConn will certainly not be dropping football for a very long time if ever. Much more likely is that they are eventually added to a P5 conference. The rest of the schools in the North aren't worth talking about even I'd they do drop football.

Bill,
You are correct in saying the northeast schools except for UCONN are not worth adding. UCONN has invested so much (i.e. the state and taxpayers) in football that they will never drop football. Even going back to FCS would be unacceptable to them. This despite the fact that their future in major college football appears to be miserable. I do not believe football should block their entry into the Big East however.

Something that several posters here seem to have overlooked is that UAB, one of the dregs of CUSA, is not giving up football because of it's cost. They are giving up football because they are being forced to do so by the state of Alabama college board of trustees. Apparently a former coach/AD at UAB had an argument with the legendary Bear Briant and later said several uncomplimentary things about him in public. When Bear's son Paul Briant was recently appointed to the BOT he made it his mission to shut down the UAB football program and he finally has succeeded. So much for freedom of speech in Alabama. The UAB community seem very angry with Briant and the BOT but are powerless to do anything about it. UAB wants to continue football even if it means the continuance of a sub par program. Of course football is a religion in the deep south and not having it constitutes something close to emasculation.

[Bill Marsh]

I believe in the very near future the F5 mess will generate a list of candidates to join the conference from which we will be able to choose the best matches.

Because of that, I pay little attention to the arguments about who is best to join the conference today. Your arguments today may have little or no validity on what things may look like in the future.

The only basketball schools in the current footprint that could be available in the next decade as a result of dropping football are UMass and Temple. UConn will certainly not be dropping football for a very long time if ever. Much more likely is that they are eventually added to a P5 conference. The rest of the schools in the North aren't worth talking about even I'd they do drop football.

Bill,
You are correct in saying the northeast schools except for UCONN are not worth adding. UCONN has invested so much (i.e. the state and taxpayers) in football that they will never drop football. Even going back to FCS would be unacceptable to them. This despite the fact that their future in major college football appears to be miserable. I do not believe football should block their entry into the Big East however.

Something that several posters here seem to have overlooked is that UAB, one of the dregs of CUSA, is not giving up football because of it's cost. They are giving up football because they are being forced to do so by the state of Alabama college board of trustees. Apparently a former coach/AD at UAB had an argument with the legendary Bear Briant and later said several uncomplimentary things about him in public. When Bear's son Paul Briant was recently appointed to the BOT he made it his mission to shut down the UAB football program and he finally has succeeded. So much for freedom of speech in Alabama. The UAB community seem very angry with Briant and the BOT but are powerless to do anything about it. UAB wants to continue football even if it means the continuance of a sub par program. Of course football is a religion in the deep south and not having it constitutes something close to emasculation.

Emasculation? Ouch. That hurts.

[murphy]

I respect your points, but we can agree to disagree. My hopes aren't up, so I could really care less. Don't tell me how no one cares about how well UD travels and fills arenas. Have you seen some of the NBE games on Fox Sports? Have you seen empty arenas at St. Johns? Depaul? Seton Hall? Even Georgetown? When Fox wants to grow, don't tell me they don't care about Dayton's following because Dayton is a good atmosphere on TV. Every year they have one of the top tv markets as far as ratings go for college basketball. I know everyone on here hates ESPN, but that is why they are always on their pre-season tournaments. Dayton outdrew Gonzaga last year to Maui and this year outdrew Uconn in Puerto Rico.

Ohio, I do not know that anyone here disputes what you are saying about the Dayton fanbase/attendence. I think where your point fails however is that you seem to believe that FOX somehow benefits from sold out arenas. They don't. They make their money on selling advertising and from carriage fees. Presumably, because of X's nearby presence, adding Dayton isn't going to add a lot of additional revenues in terms of additional carriage fees. While you can attempt to argue that sold out houses means that there are better TV ratings for those teams, I, as a fan of a school with top 5 attendance nationally last year, think that is a big time stretch. Just because a team may be popular in its local community does not mean it has a national following that would lead to some noticeable ratings bump, especially in the sport of college basketball where there are just so many D1 programs.

Similarly, the number of fans that travel does not benefit FOX either. Now ESPN, which owns some MTEs, does stand to benefit from ticket sales to those events. FOX though, at least until the time that they create their own MTEs, does not get any monetary bump because fans may attend an MTE.

I am sure that if FOX were to be picking expansion teams, they would push for big schools with huge fanbases and national followings, not small private schools.

ok, Bjuejay, When the new BE was formed they selected Creighton - as small private school from a small market surrounded by farmland for as far as they eye can see. Lots of cows/sheep/pigs but no humans to speak of. UD is a 150 year old top tier private Catholic reseach university sitting in the middle of one of the top 60 min population centers in the US and has the close the best local and travelling fan base.

What is your point?

[robinreed]

UAB PRESIDENT AND COACH ADDRESS THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS RE ABOLISHING THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM. (Taken from youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6urb50 ... e=youtu.be

[Jet915]

I respect your points, but we can agree to disagree. My hopes aren't up, so I could really care less. Don't tell me how no one cares about how well UD travels and fills arenas. Have you seen some of the NBE games on Fox Sports? Have you seen empty arenas at St. Johns? Depaul? Seton Hall? Even Georgetown? When Fox wants to grow, don't tell me they don't care about Dayton's following because Dayton is a good atmosphere on TV. Every year they have one of the top tv markets as far as ratings go for college basketball. I know everyone on here hates ESPN, but that is why they are always on their pre-season tournaments. Dayton outdrew Gonzaga last year to Maui and this year outdrew Uconn in Puerto Rico.

Ohio, I do not know that anyone here disputes what you are saying about the Dayton fanbase/attendence. I think where your point fails however is that you seem to believe that FOX somehow benefits from sold out arenas. They don't. They make their money on selling advertising and from carriage fees. Presumably, because of X's nearby presence, adding Dayton isn't going to add a lot of additional revenues in terms of additional carriage fees. While you can attempt to argue that sold out houses means that there are better TV ratings for those teams, I, as a fan of a school with top 5 attendance nationally last year, think that is a big time stretch. Just because a team may be popular in its local community does not mean it has a national following that would lead to some noticeable ratings bump, especially in the sport of college basketball where there are just so many D1 programs.

Similarly, the number of fans that travel does not benefit FOX either. Now ESPN, which owns some MTEs, does stand to benefit from ticket sales to those events. FOX though, at least until the time that they create their own MTEs, does not get any monetary bump because fans may attend an MTE.

I am sure that if FOX were to be picking expansion teams, they would push for big schools with huge fanbases and national followings, not small private schools.

ok, Bjuejay, When the new BE was formed they selected Creighton - as small private school from a small market surrounded by farmland for as far as they eye can see. Lots of cows/sheep/pigs but no humans to speak of. UD is a 150 year old top tier private Catholic reseach university sitting in the middle of one of the top 60 min population centers in the US and has the close the best local and travelling fan base.

What is your point?

Sounds like sour grapes to me. Omaha is in a metro population of 800.000 and 1.2 million if you include Lincoln which is 45 minutes away. Our small "private" school still boasts 8000 students, many of which graduate with law, medical, pharmacy, dental degrees (which means lots of rich support). Our facilities are brand new, our fan support is better than yours and we've had success not only in basketball, but soccer, volleyball and baseball as well. Have fun in the A-10.