Non-Big East Conference Realignment Thread v. 2017

[muskienick]

I'm surprised that WSU ism't interested in getting into a Conference that stresses BASKETBALL rather than football. Their entry into the A-10 would cause that Conference to send the AAC down yet another notch from relevancy. It would also probably elevate the A-10 to a level above at least one one of the Power 5 FB conferences!

Tulsa is one of their big rivals, and honestly the A10 isn't any more stable than the AAC, as their best programs are prime candidate to get poached by the Big East.

The AAC also has a national program that is an anchor for basketball in UConn. No one in the A-10 can come close to that. Between UConn, Cincinnati, Temple and Memphis, as well as the the rise of Houston, SMU and UCF, there are a lot of programs that Wichita State could rely on in order to strengthen its conference schedule. You would also have some regionality in Tulsa, Houston, SMU and Tulane.

Those are some valid points, but there is absolutely no assurance that UD and SLU are headed to the Big East any time soon (or ever)! As a matter of fact, one might conjecture that UConn to the Big East is just as likely, if not more so, and how badly would THAT affect the AAC? Furthermore, Wichita has no football at this time. Unless they were living in some underground residence that received absolutely no media input at all, do you think they learned NOTHING from the C7's departure from their old Big East Football partners? I doubt that Wichita would like their step-child status any more so than the C7 liked theirs in the old Big East! Membership in the A-10 would be a nice step up for a good number of years since there is little, if any, need for the Big East to expand (unless UConn comes a-calling)!

What's the old saying? If it works --- Don't fix it! And the 10-member Big East is working just fine. The only real improvement would be for UConn to seek membership in our Conference on the Big East's terms and the Big East then schedule a 20-game (each) round robin conference schedule.

[Bill Marsh]

Tulsa is one of their big rivals, and honestly the A10 isn't any more stable than the AAC, as their best programs are prime candidate to get poached by the Big East.

The AAC also has a national program that is an anchor for basketball in UConn. No one in the A-10 can come close to that. Between UConn, Cincinnati, Temple and Memphis, as well as the the rise of Houston, SMU and UCF, there are a lot of programs that Wichita State could rely on in order to strengthen its conference schedule. You would also have some regionality in Tulsa, Houston, SMU and Tulane.

Those are some valid points, but there is absolutely no assurance that UD and SLU are headed to the Big East any time soon (or ever)! As a matter of fact, one might conjecture that UConn to the Big East is just as likely, if not more so, and how badly would THAT affect the AAC? Furthermore, Wichita has no football at this time. Unless they were living in some underground residence that received absolutely no media input at all, do you think they learned NOTHING from the C7's departure from their old Big East Football partners? I doubt that Wichita would like their step-child status any more so than the C7 liked theirs in the old Big East! Membership in the A-10 would be a nice step up for a good number of years since there is little, if any, need for the Big East to expand (unless UConn comes a-calling)!

What's the old saying? If it works --- Don't fix it! And the 10-member Big East is working just fine. The only real improvement would be for UConn to seek membership in our Conference on the Big East's terms and the Big East then schedule a 20-game (each) round robin conference schedule.

The measure of whether it's working will eventually be the size of the TV contract the Big East is offered. The size of that contract will be driven by perceived value, which will be at least partly based on the conference's ratings on Fox. With 8 years left on the contract, there is time for that to sort itself out - although negotiations will certainly begin before the 8 years are up and it will become more complicated if there are other bidders.

TV revenue is what makes the Big East special ultimately. So while it works competitively, it isn't yet working in the ratings and if they don't eventually improve to a level that justifies what Fox is paying, the next. Contract won't bring in the same revenue as the current one.

So what does the conference do? It can do nothing, hope the ratings improve, and take their chances. Or they can add new members at some point who will add content, will add eyeballs, and will possibly add viewership by attracting the interest of casual fans.

[xusandy]

Marsh: "The measure of whether it's working will eventually be the size of the TV contract the Big East is offered. The size of that contract will be driven by perceived value, which will be at least partly based on the conference's ratings on Fox. With 8 years left on the contract, there is time for that to sort itself out - although negotiations will certainly begin before the 8 years are up and it will become more complicated if there are other bidders. TV revenue is what makes the Big East special ultimately."

Nah; I couldn't disagree more. The measure of whether it's working is simply how happy the conference members are to be here -- and there's absolutely nothing to make me believe that's very dependent on the size of the TV contract for men's basketball. IMHO, what really makes the Big East special is the common institutional values of its members.

[Bill Marsh]

Marsh: "The measure of whether it's working will eventually be the size of the TV contract the Big East is offered. The size of that contract will be driven by perceived value, which will be at least partly based on the conference's ratings on Fox. With 8 years left on the contract, there is time for that to sort itself out - although negotiations will certainly begin before the 8 years are up and it will become more complicated if there are other bidders. TV revenue is what makes the Big East special ultimately."

Nah; I couldn't disagree more. The measure of whether it's working is simply how happy the conference members are to be here -- and there's absolutely nothing to make me believe that's very dependent on the size of the TV contract for men's basketball. IMHO, what really makes the Big East special is the common institutional values of its members.

That's fine and I have no disagreement with any of what you say.

What I'm talking about when I say "makes them special" is specifically in relation to what enables them to stand shoulder to shoulder with the F5, what enables them to stand head & shoulders above the other non-F5 leagues, what enables them to compete for national titles and get 7 teams into the tournament.

I'm sure that Ivy League members are happy to be there and I'm sure they share common institutional values. But they are not a multi-bid league, they don't compete for national championships, and they don't sell out MSG for their conference tournament. Try doing that without a lucrative TV deal. The contrast is the "special" that I'm talking about.

[kayako]

Nah; I couldn't disagree more. The measure of whether it's working is simply how happy the conference members are to be here -- and there's absolutely nothing to make me believe that's very dependent on the size of the TV contract for men's basketball. IMHO, what really makes the Big East special is the common institutional values of its members.

Yeah, like if expanding to 12 can make that happiness evaporate, I doubt we had a strong unity to begin with. If current 10 members are as strongly united as you suggest, additional teams can not harm us but contribute more FS1 viewers.

[jaybydna]

Wichita State fans are seeing black helicopters and sealed envelopes. (sorry, old MVC Joke)

They are going nuts on their board about a pending invite to the AAC. As much as I despise some of their fans (most?), that is the best possible outcome for them, minus a BigEast bid. MVC is in real trouble now. They are talking about getting the Dakotas and Omaha, but not sure MVC is much of a step up from the Summit anymore. Perhaps those leagues will merge.

[stever20]

Wichita State fans are seeing black helicopters and sealed envelopes. (sorry, old MVC Joke)

They are going nuts on their board about a pending invite to the AAC. As much as I despise some of their fans (most?), that is the best possible outcome for them, minus a BigEast bid. MVC is in real trouble now. They are talking about getting the Dakotas and Omaha, but not sure MVC is much of a step up from the Summit anymore. Perhaps those leagues will merge.

Katz with an article on that today. Sounds very probable. AAC would get pretty interesting- with 9/12 teams finishing this year top 150 RPI. So top teams would have a shot to only play sub 150 rpi teams maybe only 3 times.

MVC would have then only 1 team in the top 140 from this year in the RPI.

[Dwon]

ESPN Breaking headline news this morning basically stated that WSU will be joining the AAC in the 17/18 season. Called it in the add VCU UD thread last night.Don't know why it wasn't an add vcu and wsu thread instead...

[kayako]

ESPN Breaking headline news this morning basically stated that WSU will be joining the AAC in the 17/18 season. Called it in the add VCU UD thread last night.Don't know why it wasn't an add vcu and wsu thread instead...

Georgetown should totally steal their thunder and pry Marshall out of WSU.

[admin]

SI's Pete Thamel wrote tonight that Wichita State and the AAC are finalizing plans for the Shockers to join the AAC beginning next season.