Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Big 12 expansion candidates down to at least 12 schools, sources say – ESPN – September 1, 2016

Sources have said that it's "becoming less and less likely" that the league would expand to 14 teams. The most likely scenario is the Big 12 remains at 10 teams or adds two schools for a 12-team league with two six-team divisions, sources said.

Big 12 expansion tracker: Latest updates on which teams made the first cut – CBS Sports – September 1, 2016

Made the cut:
Air Force
BYU
Cincinnati
Colorado State
Houston
Memphis
Rice
South Florida
SMU
Temple
Tulane
UCF
UConn

Missed the cut:
Arkansas State
Boise State
East Carolina
New Mexico
Northern Illinois
San Diego State
UNLV

Zzzzzzzz . . .

The first cut was insufficiently ruthless. The Big 12 Presidents already know who their Top Six are, and at most, two schools will get invitations.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Report: Memphis a finalist for Big 12 expansion - The Memphis Commercial Appeal – August 31, 2016

The University of Memphis is one of "six to eight" schools on the Big 12's "preferred list" of expansion candidates according to a TMGcollegesports.com story Tuesday written by former Boston Globe columnist Mark Blaudschun.

Mark Blaudschun needs better sources. Or better guesses.

[Bill Marsh]

Would it surprise you if I were a Providence fan?

It would surprise me if you aren't also a UCONN fan. But don't get so defensive. We are all fans on this site and noone is expected to be an arbiter of unbiased truth.

Not being defensive, I'm just having some fun with you. And as I suspected, you seem to think I have an agenda to push. I don't.

I think this, "who are you a fan of?" stuff is silly. At 70, I'm not a fan of any school the way I was when I was 30. I'm a fan of good basketball and have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog Catholic schools and for Eastern basketball in general.

I hope I offer the perspective of someone who has lived through all of the changes in college hoops over the past 55 years since I attended my first college basketball games in the Garden. I tagged along when my brother was at Holy Cross and Jack "The Shot" Foley was star of the team and George Blaney was PG. I also got tickets to the Garden from my cousin who was a Vincentian priest, teaching at St. John's, and my uncle, a NYC cop who loved college basketball. My earliest memories of St. John's teams I saw in person were the Tony Jackson teams with LeRoy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovacs, and Ken McIntyre.

In the interests of full disclosure, I grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with basketball once I was able to reach the hoop with my shot. I played as long as I could at school, in leagues, and at playgrounds. Once the level of competition was beyond my ability, I satisfied my love of the game by becoming a gym rat both in the stands and playing for fun.

I went to Manhattan College and was a season ticket holder for their games in the Garden even after I graduated & while I was still living in the City. Back then Eastern basketball was more regional and mostly independent, so Manhattan could be competitive in a way that it is not now.

Even as a fan, there were players from other teams whom I would admire and I had the good fortune to see lots of top players because tickets to the Garden got you into a double header. I loved Barry Kramer and Mal Graham of NYU. Both went on to become lawyers and I think judges. I learned to love the St. Joe's fans as they stood up to sing "The Hawk will never die" with their team hopelessly behind with 2 minutes to go. I saw Elvin Hayes play in the Garden and Rick Mount shoot lights out there. I saw Texas Western lose to Manhattan in its last game of the season, it's last loss before a huge winning streak the next year in its historic run to the NC. I fell in Iove with Providence's Jimmie Walker and thought his teammate Mike Riordan was gritty even befor he later played for the Knicks. I later fell in love with Ernie D as a sophomore as I watched him almost single handedly beat a very good Manhattan team with great passes and timely shots before he became a big time scorer. In spite of him beating "my team", I loved his game and still think he was the best pure college point guard I ever saw.

I could go on, but I tell you all that because I love the game more than I love any one program and I have 50+ years of stored up memories. In 1974, Sports Illustrated picked Manhattan #8 in the country, preseason. A season long injury to star player, Bill Campion, ruined that season. Maybe it's because Manhattan never again reached those heights that I found my rooting interest expanding to include anyone from the East who could challenge the big nationa basketball "factories". I always felt that we in the Easst were underappreciated and disrespected.

So, I was delighted when the Big East was formed since it seemed like a possible vehicle for that recognition and Glory. By that time I was living in CT, so watching BE basketball meant getting Huskies tickets and of course I had a rooting interest there, but it was not exclusive the way it is for alums.

In 1986, my oldest daughter entered Providence just in time for their Final Four run. We had followed that team the year before and loved watching what Billy Donovan and the rest of the team was becoming. We were hooked on the Friars for life. Good thing because our youngest went to PC as well and was there for the Shamgod run to the Elite 8 in '97. In between, our middle daughter went to BC just in time for us to get on board for their run to the Elite 8 in '94 when Billy Curley put that team on his back. My son went to Fordham 25 years ago when they had some pretty good teams. The Rams didn't steal our hearts but they did give us a chance to see Lionel Simmons up close.

Hopefully this is more than anyone here wanted to know about my background and will never ask again for fear of provoking another long post. Unfortunately message boards sometimes involve ad hominem discussions, thereby drifting away from the actual topic at hand. It's my belief that when a poster becomes the topic of discussion, we all lose. That's why I've avoided responding to such comments in the past. Hopefully this will put it to bed.

[Xudash]

Would it surprise you if I were a Providence fan?

It would surprise me if you aren't also a UCONN fan. But don't get so defensive. We are all fans on this site and noone is expected to be an arbiter of unbiased truth.

Not being defensive, I'm just having some fun with you. And as I suspected, you seem to think I have an agenda to push. I don't.

I think this, "who are you a fan of?" stuff is silly. At 70, I'm not a fan of any school the way I was when I was 30. I'm a fan of good basketball and have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog Catholic schools and for Eastern basketball in general.

I hope I offer the perspective of someone who has lived through all of the changes in college hoops over the past 55 years since I attended my first college basketball games in the garden. I tagged along when my brother was at Holy Cross and Jack "The Shot" Foley was star of the team and George Blaney was PG. I also got tickets to the Garden from my cousin who was a Vincentian priest, teaching at St. John's, and my uncle, a NYC cop who loved college basketball. My earliest memories of St. John's teams I saw in person were the Tony Jackson teams with LeRoy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovacs, and Ken McIntyre.

In the interests of full disclosure, I grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with basketball once I was able to reach the hoop with my shot. I played as long as I could at school, in leagues, and at playgrounds. Once the level of co,petition was. Dying my ability, I satisfied my love of the game by becoming a gym rat both in the stands and playing for fun.

I went to Manhattan College and was a season ticket holder for their games in the Garden even after I graduated & while I was still living in the City. Back then Easter basketball was more regional and mostly independent, so Manhattan could be competitive in a way that it is not now.

Even as a fan, there were players from other teams whom I would admire andI had the good fortune to see lots of top players because tickets to the Garden got you into a double header. I loved Barry Kramer and Mal Graham of NYU. Both went on to become layers and I think judges. I learned to love the St. Joe's fans as they stood up to sing "The Hawk will never die" with their team hopelessly behind with 2 minutes to go. I saw ElvinHayes play in the Garden and Rick Mount shoot lights out there. I saw Texas Western lose to Manhattan in its last game of the season, it's last loss before a huge winning streak the next year in its historic run to the NC. I fell Iove with Providence's Jimmie Walker and thought his teammate Mike Riordan was gritty even befor he later played for the Knicks. I later fell in love with Ernie D as a sophomore as I watched him almost single handedly beat a very good Manhattan team with great passes and timely shots before he became a big time scorer. In spite of him beating "my team", I loved his game and still think he was the best pure college point guard I ever saw.

I could go on, but I tell you all that because I love the game more than I love any one program and I have 50+ years of stored up memories. In 1974, Sports Illustrated picked Manhattan #8 in the country, preseason. A season long injury to star player, Bill Campion, ruined that season. Maybe it's because Manhattan never again reached those heights that I found my rooting interest expanding to include anyone from the East who could challenge the big nationa basketball "factories". I always felt that we in the .east were under appreciated and disrespected.

So, I was delighted when the Big East was formed since it seemed like a possible vehicle for that. By that time I was living in CT, so watching BE basketball meant getting Huskies tickets and of course I had a rooting interest there, but it was not exclusive the way it is for alums.

In 1986, my oldest daughter entered Providence just in time for their Final Four run. We had followed that team the year before and loved watching what Billy Donovan and the rest of the team was becoming. We were hooked on the Friars for life. Good thing because our youngest went to PC as well and was there for the Shamgod run to the Elite 8 in '97. In between, our middle daughter went to BC just in time for us to get on board for their run to the Elite 8 in '94 when Billy Curley put that team on his back. My son went to Fordham 25 years ago when they had some pretty good teams. The Rams didn't steal our hearts but they did give us a chance to see Lionel Simmons up close.

Hopefully this is more than anyone here wanted to know about my background and will never ask again for fear of provoking another long post. Unfortunately message boards sometimes involve ad hominem discussions, thereby drifting away from the actual topic at hand. It's my belief that when a poster becomes the topic of discussion, we all lose. That's why I've avoided responding to such comments in the past. Hopefully this will put it to bed.

Superb post.

Thank you.

[whiteandblue77]

Not being defensive, I'm just having some fun with you. And as I suspected, you seem to think I have an agenda to push. I don't.

I think this, "who are you a fan of?" stuff is silly. At 70, I'm not a fan of any school the way I was when I was 30. I'm a fan of good basketball and have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog Catholic schools and for Eastern basketball in general.

I hope I offer the perspective of someone who has lived through all of the changes in college hoops over the past 55 years since I attended my first college basketball games in the garden. I tagged along when my brother was at Holy Cross and Jack "The Shot" Foley was star of the team and George Blaney was PG. I also got tickets to the Garden from my cousin who was a Vincentian priest, teaching at St. John's, and my uncle, a NYC cop who loved college basketball. My earliest memories of St. John's teams I saw in person were the Tony Jackson teams with LeRoy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovacs, and Ken McIntyre.

In the interests of full disclosure, I grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with basketball once I was able to reach the hoop with my shot. I played as long as I could at school, in leagues, and at playgrounds. Once the level of co,petition was. Dying my ability, I satisfied my love of the game by becoming a gym rat both in the stands and playing for fun.

I went to Manhattan College and was a season ticket holder for their games in the Garden even after I graduated & while I was still living in the City. Back then Easter basketball was more regional and mostly independent, so Manhattan could be competitive in a way that it is not now.

Even as a fan, there were players from other teams whom I would admire andI had the good fortune to see lots of top players because tickets to the Garden got you into a double header. I loved Barry Kramer and Mal Graham of NYU. Both went on to become layers and I think judges. I learned to love the St. Joe's fans as they stood up to sing "The Hawk will never die" with their team hopelessly behind with 2 minutes to go. I saw ElvinHayes play in the Garden and Rick Mount shoot lights out there. I saw Texas Western lose to Manhattan in its last game of the season, it's last loss before a huge winning streak the next year in its historic run to the NC. I fell Iove with Providence's Jimmie Walker and thought his teammate Mike Riordan was gritty even befor he later played for the Knicks. I later fell in love with Ernie D as a sophomore as I watched him almost single handedly beat a very good Manhattan team with great passes and timely shots before he became a big time scorer. In spite of him beating "my team", I loved his game and still think he was the best pure college point guard I ever saw.

I could go on, but I tell you all that because I love the game more than I love any one program and I have 50+ years of stored up memories. In 1974, Sports Illustrated picked Manhattan #8 in the country, preseason. A season long injury to star player, Bill Campion, ruined that season. Maybe it's because Manhattan never again reached those heights that I found my rooting interest expanding to include anyone from the East who could challenge the big nationa basketball "factories". I always felt that we in the .east were under appreciated and disrespected.

So, I was delighted when the Big East was formed since it seemed like a possible vehicle for that. By that time I was living in CT, so watching BE basketball meant getting Huskies tickets and of course I had a rooting interest there, but it was not exclusive the way it is for alums.

In 1986, my oldest daughter entered Providence just in time for their Final Four run. We had followed that team the year before and loved watching what Billy Donovan and the rest of the team was becoming. We were hooked on the Friars for life. Good thing because our youngest went to PC as well and was there for the Shamgod run to the Elite 8 in '97. In between, our middle daughter went to BC just in time for us to get on board for their run to the Elite 8 in '94 when Billy Curley put that team on his back. My son went to Fordham 25 years ago when they had some pretty good teams. The Rams didn't steal our hearts but they did give us a chance to see Lionel Simmons up close.

Hopefully this is more than anyone here wanted to know about my background and will never ask again for fear of provoking another long post. Unfortunately message boards sometimes involve ad hominem discussions, thereby drifting away from the actual topic at hand. It's my belief that when a poster becomes the topic of discussion, we all lose. That's why I've avoided responding to such comments in the past. Hopefully this will put it to bed.

Superb post.

Thank you.

Yes, thanks, that was honest and genuine and a nice read. Congrats on all you've done, what an incredibly awesome life!

[DudeAnon]

Would it surprise you if I were a Providence fan?

It would surprise me if you aren't also a UCONN fan. But don't get so defensive. We are all fans on this site and noone is expected to be an arbiter of unbiased truth.

Not being defensive, I'm just having some fun with you. And as I suspected, you seem to think I have an agenda to push. I don't.

I think this, "who are you a fan of?" stuff is silly. At 70, I'm not a fan of any school the way I was when I was 30. I'm a fan of good basketball and have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog Catholic schools and for Eastern basketball in general.

I hope I offer the perspective of someone who has lived through all of the changes in college hoops over the past 55 years since I attended my first college basketball games in the garden. I tagged along when my brother was at Holy Cross and Jack "The Shot" Foley was star of the team and George Blaney was PG. I also got tickets to the Garden from my cousin who was a Vincentian priest, teaching at St. John's, and my uncle, a NYC cop who loved college basketball. My earliest memories of St. John's teams I saw in person were the Tony Jackson teams with LeRoy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovacs, and Ken McIntyre.

In the interests of full disclosure, I grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with basketball once I was able to reach the hoop with my shot. I played as long as I could at school, in leagues, and at playgrounds. Once the level of co,petition was. Dying my ability, I satisfied my love of the game by becoming a gym rat both in the stands and playing for fun.

I went to Manhattan College and was a season ticket holder for their games in the Garden even after I graduated & while I was still living in the City. Back then Easter basketball was more regional and mostly independent, so Manhattan could be competitive in a way that it is not now.

Even as a fan, there were players from other teams whom I would admire andI had the good fortune to see lots of top players because tickets to the Garden got you into a double header. I loved Barry Kramer and Mal Graham of NYU. Both went on to become layers and I think judges. I learned to love the St. Joe's fans as they stood up to sing "The Hawk will never die" with their team hopelessly behind with 2 minutes to go. I saw ElvinHayes play in the Garden and Rick Mount shoot lights out there. I saw Texas Western lose to Manhattan in its last game of the season, it's last loss before a huge winning streak the next year in its historic run to the NC. I fell Iove with Providence's Jimmie Walker and thought his teammate Mike Riordan was gritty even befor he later played for the Knicks. I later fell in love with Ernie D as a sophomore as I watched him almost single handedly beat a very good Manhattan team with great passes and timely shots before he became a big time scorer. In spite of him beating "my team", I loved his game and still think he was the best pure college point guard I ever saw.

I could go on, but I tell you all that because I love the game more than I love any one program and I have 50+ years of stored up memories. In 1974, Sports Illustrated picked Manhattan #8 in the country, preseason. A season long injury to star player, Bill Campion, ruined that season. Maybe it's because Manhattan never again reached those heights that I found my rooting interest expanding to include anyone from the East who could challenge the big nationa basketball "factories". I always felt that we in the .east were under appreciated and disrespected.

So, I was delighted when the Big East was formed since it seemed like a possible vehicle for that. By that time I was living in CT, so watching BE basketball meant getting Huskies tickets and of course I had a rooting interest there, but it was not exclusive the way it is for alums.

In 1986, my oldest daughter entered Providence just in time for their Final Four run. We had followed that team the year before and loved watching what Billy Donovan and the rest of the team was becoming. We were hooked on the Friars for life. Good thing because our youngest went to PC as well and was there for the Shamgod run to the Elite 8 in '97. In between, our middle daughter went to BC just in time for us to get on board for their run to the Elite 8 in '94 when Billy Curley put that team on his back. My son went to Fordham 25 years ago when they had some pretty good teams. The Rams didn't steal our hearts but they did give us a chance to see Lionel Simmons up close.

Hopefully this is more than anyone here wanted to know about my background and will never ask again for fear of provoking another long post. Unfortunately message boards sometimes involve ad hominem discussions, thereby drifting away from the actual topic at hand. It's my belief that when a poster becomes the topic of discussion, we all lose. That's why I've avoided responding to such comments in the past. Hopefully this will put it to bed.

So you ARE a UCONN fan! jk, glad to have you on the board

[Jet915]

UCONN impressive tonight beating Maine 24-21....

[Edrick]

UCONN impressive tonight beating Maine 24-21....

As an aside, how terrible is Northeast football - especially in New England? ugh

[Bill Marsh]

It would surprise me if you aren't also a UCONN fan. But don't get so defensive. We are all fans on this site and noone is expected to be an arbiter of unbiased truth.

Not being defensive, I'm just having some fun with you. And as I suspected, you seem to think I have an agenda to push. I don't.

I think this, "who are you a fan of?" stuff is silly. At 70, I'm not a fan of any school the way I was when I was 30. I'm a fan of good basketball and have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog Catholic schools and for Eastern basketball in general.

I hope I offer the perspective of someone who has lived through all of the changes in college hoops over the past 55 years since I attended my first college basketball games in the garden. I tagged along when my brother was at Holy Cross and Jack "The Shot" Foley was star of the team and George Blaney was PG. I also got tickets to the Garden from my cousin who was a Vincentian priest, teaching at St. John's, and my uncle, a NYC cop who loved college basketball. My earliest memories of St. John's teams I saw in person were the Tony Jackson teams with LeRoy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovacs, and Ken McIntyre.

In the interests of full disclosure, I grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with basketball once I was able to reach the hoop with my shot. I played as long as I could at school, in leagues, and at playgrounds. Once the level of co,petition was. Dying my ability, I satisfied my love of the game by becoming a gym rat both in the stands and playing for fun. I went to Manhattan College and was a season ticket holder for their games in the Garden even after I graduated & while I was still living in the City. Back then Easter basketball was more regional and mostly independent, so Manhattan could be competitive in a way that it is not now.

Even as a fan, there were players from other teams whom I would admire andI had the good fortune to see lots of top players because tickets to the Garden got you into a double header. I loved Barry Kramer and Mal Graham of NYU. Both went on to become layers and I think judges. I learned to love the St. Joe's fans as they stood up to sing "The Hawk will never die" with their team hopelessly behind with 2 minutes to go. I saw ElvinHayes play in the Garden and Rick Mount shoot lights out there. I saw Texas Western lose to Manhattan in its last game of the season, it's last loss before a huge winning streak the next year in its historic run to the NC. I fell Iove with Providence's Jimmie Walker and thought his teammate Mike Riordan was gritty even befor he later played for the Knicks. I later fell in love with Ernie D as a sophomore as I watched him almost single handedly beat a very good Manhattan team with great passes and timely shots before he became a big time scorer. In spite of him beating "my team", I loved his game and still think he was the best pure college point guard I ever saw.

I could go on, but I tell you all that because I love the game more than I love any one program and I have 50+ years of stored up memories. In 1974, Sports Illustrated picked Manhattan #8 in the country, preseason. A season long injury to star player, Bill Campion, ruined that season. Maybe it's because Manhattan never again reached those heights that I found my rooting interest expanding to include anyone from the East who could challenge the big nationa basketball "factories". I always felt that we in the .east were under appreciated and disrespected.

So, I was delighted when the Big East was formed since it seemed like a possible vehicle for that. By that time I was living in CT, so watching BE basketball meant getting Huskies tickets and of course I had a rooting interest there, but it was not exclusive the way it is for alums.

In 1986, my oldest daughter entered Providence just in time for their Final Four run. We had followed that team the year before and loved watching what Billy Donovan and the rest of the team was becoming. We were hooked on the Friars for life. Good thing because our youngest went to PC as well and was there for the Shamgod run to the Elite 8 in '97. In between, our middle daughter went to BC just in time for us to get on board for their run to the Elite 8 in '94 when Billy Curley put that team on his back. My son went to Fordham 25 years ago when they had some pretty good teams. The Rams didn't steal our hearts but they did give us a chance to see Lionel Simmons up close.

Hopefully this is more than anyone here wanted to know about my background and will never ask again for fear of provoking another long post. Unfortunately message boards sometimes involve ad hominem discussions, thereby drifting away from the actual topic at hand. It's my belief that when a poster becomes the topic of discussion, we all lose. That's why I've avoided responding to such comments in the past. Hopefully this will put it to bed.

So you ARE a UCONN fan! jk, glad to have you on board.

Thank you.

Just a little bit UConn and a little bit rock & roll. Actually these days it's mostly Providence and Manhattan + anyone in the Big East vs the rest of the world

[billyjack]

Thanks for the great post Bill...!