Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[stever20]

Mind you, this is in February 2010...before Nebraska, Missouri, Texas A&M, Colorado, et. al. moved conferences. Before talk of 16-team superconferences. At the time, the Big East was a BCS football conference, and arguably the greatest basketball conference ever assembled. Majerus' prediction proved prescient.

In February 2010, the Big East was in the midst of a season that would eventually finish 3rd. The year before that in 2009 it finished 4th.

The Big East finished 3rd in 2016 and 2nd in 2015. There is a certain amount of fairy tale about the 2000s Big East that just doesn't hold up if you look at the data. (below)

Big East finishes (Sagarin) over the last decade.

16 - 3rd
15 - 2nd
14 - 5th
13 - 2nd
12 - 3rd
11 - 1st
10 - 3rd
09 - 4th
08 - 3rd
07 - 5th

Just stop.. 2010-13, the average finish was 2.50.
2010- 2 sweet 16, 1 final 4
2011- 2 sweet 16, 1 final 4, 1 title
2012- 4 sweet 16, 1 elite 8, 1 final 4
2013- 3 sweet 16, 3 elite 8, 2 final 4, 1 title
so 11 sweet 16, 6 elite 8 teams, 5 final 4's, and 2 titles.
I'm sorry, but 3.33 average Sagarin, with 2 sweet 16's, and 1 final 4 just doesn't match up at all with the 2010-13 Big East, which was the best conference EVER. Not to mention in those 4 years the Big East got 36 bids combined- or 9 per year. That ain't no fairy tail. That's reality.

[DudeAnon]

Just stop.. 2010-13, the average finish was 2.50.
2010- 2 sweet 16, 1 final 4
2011- 2 sweet 16, 1 final 4, 1 title
2012- 4 sweet 16, 1 elite 8, 1 final 4
2013- 3 sweet 16, 3 elite 8, 2 final 4, 1 title
so 11 sweet 16, 6 elite 8 teams, 5 final 4's, and 2 titles.
I'm sorry, but 3.33 average Sagarin, with 2 sweet 16's, and 1 final 4 just doesn't match up at all with the 2010-13 Big East, which was the best conference EVER. Not to mention in those 4 years the Big East got 36 bids combined- or 9 per year. That ain't no fairy tail. That's reality.

And yet it still fell apart. Goes to show you that all those accomplishments mean nothing to football schools.

[anXUfan]

Is there any reasonable, unbiased measure by which the Big East is anything but a top five basketball conference?

Why are we constantly having to defend its legitimacy on this board?

[adoraz]

Is there any reasonable, unbiased measure by which the Big East is anything but a top five basketball conference?

Why are we constantly having to defend its legitimacy on this board?

Big East can't win in the tournament. Oh wait...

Wonder what the argument will be next year...

[GoldenWarrior11]

Is there any reasonable, unbiased measure by which the Big East is anything but a top five basketball conference?

Why are we constantly having to defend its legitimacy on this board?

Big East can't win in the tournament. Oh wait...

Wonder what the argument will be next year...

Look no further than the AAC board...

1.) No one watches Fox
2.) Football drives the bus
3.) We are small time Catholic schools
4.) We don't have ESPN
5.) We don't have large alumni numbers
6.) We don't have exposure
7.) The C7 should be blamed for the lack of success at Tulane and East Carolina, as well as holding them back from Big East invitations for so long.

[anXUfan]

Is there any reasonable, unbiased measure by which the Big East is anything but a top five basketball conference?

Why are we constantly having to defend its legitimacy on this board?

Big East can't win in the tournament. Oh wait...

Wonder what the argument will be next year...

Look no further than the AAC board...

1.) No one watches Fox
2.) Football drives the bus
3.) We are small time Catholic schools
4.) We don't have ESPN
5.) We don't have large alumni numbers
6.) We don't have exposure
7.) The C7 should be blamed for the lack of success at Tulane and East Carolina, as well as holding them back from Big East invitations for so long.

All that and worse could be true, but the Big East would still be one of the best basketball conferences in America. Try to spin all you want, but it's just a reality. And one we shouldn't need to fret over on this board of all places.

[FenwayFriar]

Is there any reasonable, unbiased measure by which the Big East is anything but a top five basketball conference?

Why are we constantly having to defend its legitimacy on this board?

Simple. Because we have an AAC fanboy who posts 80% of the time. Everyone is constantly running in circles defending our legitimacy to one person. Who knew it would be to a "Georgetown fan"?

[Edrick]

It's a fairy tale. The Big East has finished 1st ONE TIME in the past 10 years. Not only was it not the best ever, it wasn't even the best of its era. It's make believe nonsense that gets thrown around even though the data doesn't support it. The Big East WAS an elite conference 5 years ago. It's elite now. It doesn't have to be romantic or have fish stories told about it. Or have blithering idiots like this board's court jester add even more salt to the mythos.

[Westbrook#36]

It's a fairy tale. The Big East has finished 1st ONE TIME in the past 10 years. Not only was it not the best ever, it wasn't even the best of its era. It's make believe nonsense that gets thrown around even though the data doesn't support it. The Big East WAS an elite conference 5 years ago. It's elite now. It doesn't have to be romantic or have fish stories told about it. Or have blithering idiots like this board's court jester add even more salt to the mythos.

[DudeAnon]

It's a fairy tale. The Big East has finished 1st ONE TIME in the past 10 years. Not only was it not the best ever, it wasn't even the best of its era. It's make believe nonsense that gets thrown around even though the data doesn't support it. The Big East WAS an elite conference 5 years ago. It's elite now. It doesn't have to be romantic or have fish stories told about it. Or have blithering idiots like this board's court jester add even more salt to the mythos.

I think a better comparison would be how the C7 are faring in the NBE vs the OBE. I would say the new conference has elevated all of the C7 programs except for Georgetown and Marquette (and DePaul staying stagnant). The new 3 have obviously benefited immensely, that goes without saying.