UConn escape plan - The Big East

[NJRedman]

Bottom line, Rutgers does not belong in the Big Ten, the ACC or the Big East. They are a mid-major school at best who never should have left the A-10.

You had better call the Big Ten office NOW. Tell them about their mistake. Tell them that you-know-better. And then tell the Big Ten how they should handle the rest of the season, seeing that Rutgers 10 basketball conference games left. I am sure they will thank you for bringing this oversight to their attention.

Aside from easy wins and a built in 1AA opponent in football Rutgers adds very little to the Big Ten.

1AA opponent? They've been to 8 bowl games in the last 10 years. Also you must not have read Franks response if you think they bring very little to the B1G.

Honestly, Seton Hall is lucky Sacred Heart turned down the Big East when it was formed or you guys might be sitting in the A-10 today. What do I mean might, of course you guys would.

[JOPO]

1AA opponent? They've been to 8 bowl games in the last 10 years. Also you must not have read Franks response if you think they bring very little to the B1G.

Honestly, Seton Hall is lucky Sacred Heart turned down the Big East when it was formed or you guys might be sitting in the A-10 today. What do I mean might, of course you guys would.

Eight minor bowls, most of which would not exist it college football did not reward mediocrity. Seriously, unless you are the parent or sibling of one of the players or coaches participating in the 'Everyone Gets A Trophy for Participating' Bowl who the hell is watching these games? You are welcome to continue to think that Rutgers is all that and a bag of nuts, the rest of us know the truth.

Also, the Big Ten was a fine conference until they decided to water down the product.

[Hall2012]

1AA opponent? They've been to 8 bowl games in the last 10 years. Also you must not have read Franks response if you think they bring very little to the B1G.

Honestly, Seton Hall is lucky Sacred Heart turned down the Big East when it was formed or you guys might be sitting in the A-10 today. What do I mean might, of course you guys would.

If you're gonna take a shot at us, at least get it right. An invitation was extended to Holy Cross, not Sacred Heart. It's debated whether Rutgers declining a Big East invitation (to stay in the A10, then the A8) paved the way for Seton Hall's entry into the league. There's conflicting reports, some saying that was the case and others saying they were both invited regardless.

But that's all irrelevant now, it was over 35 years ago. Fact of the matter is that is that Seton Hall, just like St. John's and the other 8 schools, is a member of the Big East.

[billyjack]

USF definitely did more than Rutgers, but that's not saying much. They never really contributed to the Big East (at least in basketball) in the 7 years they were there. One tournament appearance doesn't earn their spot.

Out of curiosity, why was South Florida added to the Big East after Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech left to the ACC (joining Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and DePaul in the BE)? Their football program was still in infancy stages (having just made transition to NCAA D-1 three years prior). Both USF and UCF were not considered very good in football. I would have thought that a Memphis/ECU combo would have been a nice compromise between the football and basketball schools.

It was mainly that the Big East wanted a football presence in the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida and hoped that, with the help of the Big East brand, USF could one day reach the levels of UofF, FSU, and Miami.

The part I never understood is why USF over UCF? All I can see is that Raymond James Stadium is preferable to the ancient Citrus Bowl and that Tampa is a slightly bigger media market than Orlando (ranked 13 vs 19).

But on the other hand, UCF has the second largest student body in the nation- which also means a lot of alumni. That alone should be a huge selling point. It's football team had also been around a lot longer, meaning it likely already has a larger market presence and would be less of a project- especially with all of those students and alumni to get excited by the power conference affiliation (even if it was the Big East).

Yeah, i would say So Fla got in because of football recruiting. Funny thing is they were in the Big East for 2-3 years before many of us realized that they were in Tampa. I had assumed they were near Miami.

By the way, stepping back a second...
it may sound like an obvious choice 25 years later (and we sold our soul in doing it), but adding Miami (Fla) was really a groundbreaking idea back then... a school that was 1000 miles from the nearest BE school. It was met with the usual criticism by typical short-sighted sportswriters ("too far from other schools", etc), similar to people criticizing the Big East for having schools in the Midwest. Anyway, this is yet another example of cutting edge thinking that the Big East came up with.

The Miami idea helped with football of course, and recruiting, but also provided winter snowbird transplant fans with an opportunity to see their favorite BE teams. Plus Miami back then was considered a pretty cool city, between Jimmy Johnson, Dan Marino, Crockett and Tubbs, anfand Tony Montana. It was worth scheduling a winter vacation around your team's Miami roadtrip.

USF, in Tampa, had an entirely different vibe. The Gulf Coast of Florida is like Sleepytown compared to Miami... it was a totally lower-quality dynamic. Sort of like if a conference wanted a presence in New York City, so decided to invite a school from Buffalo... or Syracuse.

[JOPO]

USF definitely did more than Rutgers, but that's not saying much. They never really contributed to the Big East (at least in basketball) in the 7 years they were there. One tournament appearance doesn't earn their spot.

Out of curiosity, why was South Florida added to the Big East after Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech left to the ACC (joining Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and DePaul in the BE)? Their football program was still in infancy stages (having just made transition to NCAA D-1 three years prior). Both USF and UCF were not considered very good in football. I would have thought that a Memphis/ECU combo would have been a nice compromise between the football and basketball schools.

It was mainly that the Big East wanted a football presence in the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida and hoped that, with the help of the Big East brand, USF could one day reach the levels of UofF, FSU, and Miami.

The part I never understood is why USF over UCF? All I can see is that Raymond James Stadium is preferable to the ancient Citrus Bowl and that Tampa is a slightly bigger media market than Orlando (ranked 13 vs 19).

But on the other hand, UCF has the second largest student body in the nation- which also means a lot of alumni. That alone should be a huge selling point. It's football team had also been around a lot longer, meaning it likely already has a larger market presence and would be less of a project- especially with all of those students and alumni to get excited by the power conference affiliation (even if it was the Big East).

Yeah, i would say So Fla got in because of football recruiting. Funny thing is they were in the Big East for 2-3 years before many of us realized that they were in Tampa. I had assumed they were near Miami.

By the way, stepping back a second...
it may sound like an obvious choice 25 years later (and we sold our soul in doing it), but adding Miami (Fla) was really a groundbreaking idea back then... a school that was 1000 miles from the nearest BE school. It was met with the usual criticism by typical short-sighted sportswriters ("too far from other schools", etc), similar to people criticizing the Big East for having schools in the Midwest. Anyway, this is yet another example of cutting edge thinking that the Big East came up with.

The Miami idea helped with football of course, and recruiting, but also provided winter snowbird transplant fans with an opportunity to see their favorite BE teams. Plus Miami back then was considered a pretty cool city, between Jimmy Johnson, Dan Marino, Crockett and Tubbs, anfand Tony Montana. It was worth scheduling a winter vacation around your team's Miami roadtrip.

USF, in Tampa, had an entirely different vibe. The Gulf Coast of Florida is like Sleepytown compared to Miami... it was a totally lower-quality dynamic. Sort of like if a conference wanted a presence in New York City, so decided to invite a school from Buffalo... or Syracuse.

I saw adding Miami as the beginning of the end. Miami sucked in basketball but we had to take them for the football yet Miami kept their baseball team out of the Big East. Same thing with Notre Dame, everything except their football. The Big East was used to build up the sucky teams some of these schools had without getting the benefit of the teams that actually knew what the hell they were doing. I have always believed that if the conference sponsored the sport and you played it you played it, you then played it in conference. No getting to pick and choose; that's bull!

[HoosierPal]

Bottom line, Rutgers does not belong in the Big Ten, the ACC or the Big East. They are a mid-major school at best who never should have left the A-10.

You had better call the Big Ten office NOW. Tell them about their mistake. Tell them that you-know-better. And then tell the Big Ten how they should handle the rest of the season, seeing that Rutgers 10 basketball conference games left. I am sure they will thank you for bringing this oversight to their attention.

Aside from easy wins and a built in 1AA opponent in football Rutgers adds very little to the Big Ten.

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.

[stever20]

I think the interesting thing would be if the Big East had not stuck together in 2005 but split at that point....

Football-
Pitt, WVU, Syracuse, Rutgers, presumably UConn
basketball-
Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St John's

the big questions-
1- where does ND go? My hunch is probably with football to keep bowl bids possible....
2- who else does the C5 add? DePaul and Marquette obviously. But after that? Xavier and Butler I think pretty good bets. #10 would have been real interesting. SLU smack dab in the Brad Soderburg era.
3- who else does the fb add? Cincy and Louisville obviously. USF I guess- gets them to 8/9. i'd guess Memphis would have been a lock to get them 9/10.

Just looking where we were back then- we were probably smart in sticking with the footballers at that point. Especially if Notre Dame had gone with the fb teams for other sports.

[billyjack]

You had better call the Big Ten office NOW. Tell them about their mistake. Tell them that you-know-better. And then tell the Big Ten how they should handle the rest of the season, seeing that Rutgers 10 basketball conference games left. I am sure they will thank you for bringing this oversight to their attention.

Aside from easy wins and a built in 1AA opponent in football Rutgers adds very little to the Big Ten.

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.

As far as Rutgers hoops goes, they've been horrible in the Big East. They had been solid in the A-10. They did have around 5-6 good-great years in the late 70's, which was perfect timing for them to get invited by Dave Gavitt. The BE was trying to get the top school in each city-state. When Rutgers, at the time the top team in New Jersey, turned down the offer, Seton Hall was added. The Hall had a long time relationship with PC, and were a natural fit.

[JOPO]

[quote="HoosierPal"]

The Big Ten Network has benefited nicely, thank you, from their new presence in the NY/NY/MD area. That equates to $$$$.

Did someone from Rutgers beat you up when you were a kid? There is no reason for you animosity to a fine institution.[/quote

No animosity whatsoever. Rutgers to many in New Jersey is a fallback option, not a first choice. They were never on my radar. When I was in high school Rutgers was always encouraged as a safety school, somewhere you knew you could go if you didn't get into or couldn't afford your top choices but did not want to go the county college route. Sorry, this is just the way it was. I went to a catholic high school geared toward college prep (about 98% of my class went on to college) so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

You and NJRedmen seem to have this vastly inflated view of Rutgers. I just do not see Rutgers on the same level as schools in the Big East, ACC, Big Ten and the like either athletically or academically. Rutgers to me is more on the level of a Temple or a UMass. Sorry, but Rutgers just does not hold much allure for me. They never seem to be happy with who they truly are and instead would like you to believe they are something they truly are not. Obviously they've been able to convince the two of you but I'm not buying what they are selling. I just don't see it.

[JOPO]

I think the interesting thing would be if the Big East had not stuck together in 2005 but split at that point....

Football-
Pitt, WVU, Syracuse, Rutgers, presumably UConn
basketball-
Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St John's

the big questions-
1- where does ND go? My hunch is probably with football to keep bowl bids possible....
2- who else does the C5 add? DePaul and Marquette obviously. But after that? Xavier and Butler I think pretty good bets. #10 would have been real interesting. SLU smack dab in the Brad Soderburg era.
3- who else does the fb add? Cincy and Louisville obviously. USF I guess- gets them to 8/9. i'd guess Memphis would have been a lock to get them 9/10.

Just looking where we were back then- we were probably smart in sticking with the footballers at that point. Especially if Notre Dame had gone with the fb teams for other sports.

Boston College may have stuck it out then and gone with the Big East football schools instead of being the only northern school in a southern conference in joining the ACC.