Is Homogeneity Of Membership Good Or Bad?

[Toronto Rapture]

So this is the kind of discussion that takes place during the offseason...

[billyjack]

i picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

[Xudash]

He had me at "conversating".

[gosports1]

If the old Big East taught us anything, its that a greater quantity can coexist with quality..

Except for it collapsing in spectacular fashion

Teams were poached for football. No one is talking about adding football schools.
When the C7 took the road of bb-only, it conceded its sameness with the BCS group. No matter what has happened since then, the BE is differently aligned than the other big conferences. That decision has a lot of ramifications that haven't fully played out yet.
Imo, the conference should be striving to be more like that group in other ways, such as size and consistent bids. There just is not enough of a sample size yet to assume the bids will keep coming in large numbers, especially when other conferences are making moves.
I never argued to pick up St Loius or Valpo right now. I merely stated that our options are becoming limited - due to inaction - to what will be left, if the Big East doesn't act from positions of strength to get even stronger.

If you wait until you absolutely have to add then you will get McDonalds instead of filet mignon.

Edit: I can't grasp the argument of maintaining a footprint (in respect to Gonzaga) in the modern era. Programs take planes to games now. We can afford the extra fuel. Do you realize how long it takes to drive from providence to Omaha by car or bus?

Less than it takes to get from Boston to Miami, Seattle to Tuscon, Storrs to New Orleans, Storrs to Dallas, Storrs to Wichita, Morgantown to Lubbock

[Hall2012]

Who was it (an ESPN writer I believe) that said something along the lines of the Big East is still a conference. All the other power conferences are just media rights consortiums - schools spread across the map with little in common. I think having like minded schools is a real strength of our conference. In this era of mega conferences with teams a lot of teams moving around, the similarities make us recognizable and help our brand. I think the adding public schools detracts from that and turns us into another "media rights consortium." The only exception, I believe, is UConn. Because despite a few years playing in the AAC, the UConn brand is still synonymous the Big East. UConn was also the only public founding member of Dave Gavitt's original Big East.

[Dwon]

It would be foolish to believe uconn is coming back after it just left to create a league of its own for football. It wouldn't make sense for them to do that because they would be cutting in the pockets of fellow aac members by decreasing the reputation of the aac. You don't increase the reputation of two leagues that compete with each other...That's a big no no in business. Plus if the BE wants to remain private school league it shows it has a limited ceiling on who they can add where as the aac can keep on adding schools as it pleasees. It even has the flexibility to add schools for basketball only like they did with Wichita.I mean the idiocy can go on and on but it has to come to and some way right... That's what I'm here for .

And by like minded institutions, I suppose you mean rich white people that can afford 30k a year for schooling..?

[_lh]

Who was it (an ESPN writer I believe) that said something along the lines of the Big East is still a conference. All the other power conferences are just media rights consortiums - schools spread across the map with little in common. I think having like minded schools is a real strength of our conference. In this era of mega conferences with teams a lot of teams moving around, the similarities make us recognizable and help our brand. I think the adding public schools detracts from that and turns us into another "media rights consortium." The only exception, I believe, is UConn. Because despite a few years playing in the AAC, the UConn brand is still synonymous the Big East. UConn was also the only public founding member of Dave Gavitt's original Big East.

Very well said. The current BE is just about as perfect of a conference for basketball that you can get. There is no need to expand. The BE only expands for UCONN, ND or Kansas, in the event one or more of those 3 some how miraculously becomes available and are interested in joining the BE. VCU add nothing. UD adds nothing. There are VCU fans and UD fans on here constantly stirring the pot because they really want their teams to be invited to join the BE.

You constantly hear that FS1 is going to make the BE expand by 2 when the contract expires. 1.) No one knows what tv deal deals or even TV will look like in 3 years let alone close to 10 years from now. TV deals as we knew them are all probably dead anyway. 2.) If the league is happy with the 10 teams and can't get UCONN, ND or Kansas, they should stand their ground and fight for what they believe is a perfect conference. Now if we could just get SLU and Gonzaga to switch locations we might be on to something.

[Hall2012]

Who was it (an ESPN writer I believe) that said something along the lines of the Big East is still a conference. All the other power conferences are just media rights consortiums - schools spread across the map with little in common. I think having like minded schools is a real strength of our conference. In this era of mega conferences with teams a lot of teams moving around, the similarities make us recognizable and help our brand. I think the adding public schools detracts from that and turns us into another "media rights consortium." The only exception, I believe, is UConn. Because despite a few years playing in the AAC, the UConn brand is still synonymous the Big East. UConn was also the only public founding member of Dave Gavitt's original Big East.

Very well said. The current BE is just about as perfect of a conference for basketball that you can get. There is no need to expand. The BE only expands for UCONN, ND or Kansas, in the event one or more of those 3 some how miraculously becomes available and are interested in joining the BE. VCU add nothing. UD adds nothing. There are VCU fans and UD fans on here constantly stirring the pot because they really want their teams to be invited to join the BE.

You constantly hear that FS1 is going to make the BE expand by 2 when the contract expires. 1.) No one knows what tv deal deals or even TV will look like in 3 years let alone close to 10 years from now. TV deals as we knew them are all probably dead anyway. 2.) If the league is happy with the 10 teams and can't get UCONN, ND or Kansas, they should stand their ground and fight for what they believe is a perfect conference. Now if we could just get SLU and Gonzaga to switch locations we might be on to something.

Gonzaga would need to switch locations. SLU is actually in a great location, it just needs to start winning.

[GoldenWarrior11]

It would be foolish to believe uconn is coming back after it just left to create a league of its own league for football. It wouldn't make sense for them to do that because they would be cutting in the pockets of fellow aac members by decreasing the reputation of the aac. You don't increase the reputation of two leagues that compete with each other...That's a big no no in business. Plus if the BE wants to remain private school league it shows it has a limited ceiling on who they can add where as the aac can keep on adding schools as it pleasees. It even has the flexibility to add schools for basketball only like they did with Wichita.I mean the idiocy can go on and on but it has to come to and some way right... That's what I'm here for .

And by like minded institutions, you mean rich white people what can afford 30k a year..?

The Big East is composed of like-minded Institutions: Private/Catholic Universities, in big metropolitan cities, with strong academics, and prestigious basketball programs that can play in large arenas and that don't have FBS Football. Since you are on the outside looking in, I can understand why you may have difficulty with this concept.

The only exception to a like-minded addition to the Big East would be a college basketball Blue Blood: Duke, UConn, Kansas, etc. - and that only occurs if there is a nuclear option that blows up the P5 as we know it, leaving behind the weak football programs at the expense of basketball.

There is still a slim chance UConn returns to the Big East. A high-number of their distinguished alumni/fans hate where football currently stands. If Randy Edsall is unable to get UConn out of the bottom of the AAC, and with the peanuts the league will likely continue to make in comparison to the P5, it would be the financially prudent and athletically responsible decision for UConn to return to the Big East. It would be a win/win for both parties.

[Hall2012]

It would be foolish to believe uconn is coming back after it just left to create a league of its own league for football. It wouldn't make sense for them to do that because they would be cutting in the pockets of fellow aac members by decreasing the reputation of the aac. You don't increase the reputation of two leagues that compete with each other...That's a big no no in business. Plus if the BE wants to remain private school league it shows it has a limited ceiling on who they can add where as the aac can keep on adding schools as it pleasees. It even has the flexibility to add schools for basketball only like they did with Wichita.I mean the idiocy can go on and on but it has to come to and some way right... That's what I'm here for .

And by like minded institutions, I suppose you mean rich white people what can afford 30k a year for schooling..?

Big East schools are plenty diverse, so leave your racism out of this. They're also perfectly affordable- if you earn it. The private school model is pretty much this:
1. They'll grant admission to pretty much anyone who's willing to pay their high posted rates (less so for some of the more selective schools, obviously)
2. They give A LOT of scholarship money to those who earn it (and fill their quotas, which actually makes them easier for minorities to afford than your "rich white people.")

Speaking from my experience at Seton Hall at least - almost nobody pays the full posted tuition.

As for UConn - perhaps it is foolish to think they'll want to cut their losses with a football program that's done nothing but bleed money from their athletic budget. The thing with chasing "P5 football revenue" is that it also comes with P5 football expenses. And the schools trying to get noticed by the P5, like UConn, face the challenge of needing to compete on expenses without getting the revenue. But that's totally up to them. If UConn wants to cut football and come back, we should take them. If not, there's zero need to look for somebody else to replace them with.

As for the AAC having the "flexibility" to add public/private and football/basketball only schools - let them go ahead and do that. They can have Dayton and VCU too. [Sarcasm]I bet that'll make UConn and Cincy happy enough that they'll stop searching for a way out.[/Sarcasm] The only idiocy will be them repeating literally the exact same mistake that caused the breakup of old Big East.