Awful.

[HRE Otto IV]

Just looking at the Big East...

The current version has 5 teams out of 11 that have 2 or more categories in the Top 32.

The prior version would have had 8 teams out of 16. Plus one team with one Top 32.

The version before that would have had 6 teams out of 14. Plus one team with one Top 32.

The OG version would have had 5 teams out of 9.

 

[Cuse181]

Uconn sucks

 

[OrangeDW]

UConn's win lowest-viewed NCAA final on record

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Obviously, as there is no Big East football conference. My dream has always been to have a conference of the top NE football programs, (several of whom are pretty good at basketball, too) and another conference of the best basketball schools. In the wake of being 'left behind' in a super-conference 'rapture', maybe we can do something like that.

In BBall you need an 11 team league. That gives you inventory (110 league games) and allows for a round robin. But how do you get to 11 from the left behinds? The 9 OG Big East teams should all be chosen, but then who? You still need 2 more schools.

Maybe Notre Dame (almost like a NE) if they stay Indy in FB. Maybe Duke (almost like a NE) if they get left behind.

Looking at old Big East schools
Does Miami (almost like a NE) get left behind? Are they too far away? West Virginia doesn't fit the other 9 schools but they have a history. Would they leave the B12? Same with Louisville and Cincinnati but they are less NE compared to WV. Plus I think both prefer the B12. VA Tech isn't good enough and is in the middle of nowhere. They likely don't get left behind anyway. USF no way.

Looking at current Big East schools
No way to DePaul, Butler, or Creighton. Marquette is good but too far away. Xavier I suppose is the best choice but isn't a good choice.

Non Big East schools
Temple adds another mouth in a market you are already in. Same for UMass. VCU is probably the best choice from the non Big East schools.

I would say ND and Duke would be the first choices. If they aren't available then WV and VCU. If WV doesn't come along then who? I think you would have to stay at 10 in that case.


For FB you need 10 teams. That gives you 45 games and allows for playing everyone in conference. I think SU, Pitt, UConn, BC makes sense. Where do you go from there? You need SIX more teams.

Old Big East
Temple fits but do you invite Nova instead? You need a team in Florida. Miami would be obvious if they are still around. But if they are not, you are left with UCF (are they leaving the B12?) or USF. Does VA Tech get left behind? Does WV or Cincinnati leave the B12? Does Louisville prefer the B12 or a NE conference?

Non Big East
Army and Navy makes sense. I think ECU would be a good fit and there is some history there are an Eastern Indy. UMass doesn't add anything. James Madison gets you into VA and they seem like a pretty decent program.

So most likely the 10 teams would be SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Army, Navy, Temple or Nova, James Madison, ECU, USF. If you are lucky you get WV, Cincy, Louisville, UCF instead of JMU, ECU, Army, Navy. If you are really lucky then VA Tech and Miami are still around instead of Cincy and Louisville.


If you are looking at the best combo to create one league for both sports then I think you see SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Nova, Army/St Johns, Navy/Georgetown as your core. You need a Florida school for recruiting. So in order Miami or UCF or USF.

Now you need two more schools. I think Duke if available is #1. Then VA Tech, WV, Cincy, Louisville. Then a 2nd Florida school. But it is possible that none of those teams are available.

If ND is still Indy in FB then you can add them as well to give you 11 in BBall. In FB you get a 6 game scheduling agreement with them. That way you play ND home and away every 4 years.


I think best case in a left behind would be...

SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Nova, Army/St Johns, Navy/Georgetown, Miami, VA Tech, Duke, Notre Dame

That is old Big East FB minus Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia and plus Army, Duke, Navy, Nova, UConn. Which is clearly worse.

It is old Big East BBall minus Rutgers, West Virginia, Providence, Seton Hall and plus Duke. Which is clearly better.


Edit

Unless you are willing to go to 22 games in BBall. Then I would say take away Army/Navy and add West Virginia. So you are at 9 in FB and 12 in BBall. In FB you play ND home and away over 3 years.

Which is old Big East FB minus Rutgers/Temple and plus UConn/Duke/Nova. Which arguably is a better conference. Miami, VA Tech, and SU are down but would have an easier time getting back. WV and BC are the same. Pitt is much better. UConn and Duke are way better than those Rutgers and Temple teams. Nova would likely be better than those two as well.

It would be less FB inventory, more BBall inventory, and more quality FB inventory (WV instead of Army/Navy).

 

[SWC75]

In BBall you need an 11 team league. That gives you inventory (110 league games) and allows for a round robin. But how do you get to 11 from the left behinds? The 9 OG Big East teams should all be chosen, but then who? You still need 2 more schools.

Maybe Notre Dame (almost like a NE) if they stay Indy in FB. Maybe Duke (almost like a NE) if they get left behind.

Looking at old Big East schools
Does Miami (almost like a NE) get left behind? Are they too far away? West Virginia doesn't fit the other 9 schools but they have a history. Would they leave the B12? Same with Louisville and Cincinnati but they are less NE compared to WV. Plus I think both prefer the B12. VA Tech isn't good enough and is in the middle of nowhere. They likely don't get left behind anyway. USF no way.

Looking at current Big East schools
No way to DePaul, Butler, or Creighton. Marquette is good but too far away. Xavier I suppose is the best choice but isn't a good choice.

Non Big East schools
Temple adds another mouth in a market you are already in. Same for UMass. VCU is probably the best choice from the non Big East schools.

I would say ND and Duke would be the first choices. If they aren't available then WV and VCU. If WV doesn't come along then who? I think you would have to stay at 10 in that case.


For FB you need 10 teams. That gives you 45 games and allows for playing everyone in conference. I think SU, Pitt, UConn, BC makes sense. Where do you go from there? You need SIX more teams.

Old Big East
Temple fits but do you invite Nova instead? You need a team in Florida. Miami would be obvious if they are still around. But if they are not, you are left with UCF (are they leaving the B12?) or USF. Does VA Tech get left behind? Does WV or Cincinnati leave the B12? Does Louisville prefer the B12 or a NE conference?

Non Big East
Army and Navy makes sense. I think ECU would be a good fit and there is some history there are an Eastern Indy. UMass doesn't add anything. James Madison gets you into VA and they seem like a pretty decent program.

So most likely the 10 teams would be SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Army, Navy, Temple or Nova, James Madison, ECU, USF. If you are lucky you get WV, Cincy, Louisville, UCF instead of JMU, ECU, Army, Navy. If you are really lucky then VA Tech and Miami are still around instead of Cincy and Louisville.


If you are looking at the best combo to create one league for both sports then I think you see SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Nova, Army/St Johns, Navy/Georgetown as your core. You need a Florida school for recruiting. So in order Miami or UCF or USF.

Now you need two more schools. I think Duke if available is #1. Then VA Tech, WV, Cincy, Louisville. Then a 2nd Florida school. But it is possible that none of those teams are available.

If ND is still Indy in FB then you can add them as well to give you 11 in BBall. In FB you get a 6 game scheduling agreement with them. That way you play ND home and away every 4 years.


I think best case in a left behind would be...

SU, Pitt, UConn, BC, Nova, Army/St Johns, Navy/Georgetown, Miami, VA Tech, Duke, Notre Dame

That is old Big East FB minus Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia and plus Army, Duke, Navy, Nova, UConn. Which is clearly worse.

It is old Big East BBall minus Rutgers, West Virginia, Providence, Seton Hall and plus Duke. Which is clearly better.

9 is the perfect number. You play 8 teams once in football and twice in basketball. With 12 you have two divisions and you play the five teams in your division and three in the other divisions in football, play the five in your division twice in basketball and the 6 for the other division. You don't need more than that.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

9 is the perfect number. You play 8 teams once in football and twice in basketball. With 12 you have two divisions and you play the five teams in your division and three in the other divisions in football, play the five in your division twice in basketball and the 6 for the other division. You don't need more than that.

9 isn't enough inventory,

With 12 you lose playing everyone yearly in FB and both home and away yearly in BBall. That for me is too big.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Going by the old Lambert definition of a Northeastern team these are the 16 non B1G/SEC FBS teams:

SU (6 Lamberts), Army (9 Lamberts), UB (1 DII), UConn (1), UMass (2 FCS, 1 DII), BC (5), Pitt (6), Temple, Navy (6), UVA, VA Tech (2), JMU (7 FCS), ODU (1 FCS), Liberty, WV (4), Marshall

There is no need to invite UB, UMass, ODU, Liberty, Marshall so that gets you down to 11. I doubt UVA or VA Tech are left behind so now it is 9. I don't think JMU is worth adding unless you need one more team to fill in. WV already left the Big East for the B12. Why would they go back to a Northeast conference?

You need a Florida team for recruiting. So at least one of FSU, Miami (4 Lamberts), UCF, USF, FAU, FIU. I doubt FSU or Miami get left behind. Both FAU and FIU are small time. UCF has no incentive joining a Northeastern conference. So that leaves USF.

Going back to the Lambert definition, teams in the Big East were considered Northeastern. So besides USF you have Cincinnati (1 Lambert) and Louisville (1). Would either really want to be in a Northeast conference vs being elsewhere?

So I think you are looking at SU, Army, UConn, BC, Pitt, Temple, Navy, JMU, USF as your Northeast leftovers conference.

If you wanted another team to make a round 10 then you are likely deciding between ECU and FAU. That conference stinks. There is no reason for SU, UConn, BC, or Pitt to create that conference over joining the B12. If FSU, Miami, UCF, VA Tech, UVA, WV, Cincy, Louisville are in play then it could work. But then it is not a Northeast conference, is it?

I do think the original Big East could would have worked. The BBall side, lack of inventory, and free loaders killed it. I think a current conference of Miami, VA Tech, WV, Pitt, SU, BC, UConn, Temple along with 2-3 of UCF, USF, Louisville, Cincinnati would be a fine conference in FB.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Obviously, as there is no Big East football conference. My dream has always been to have a conference of the top NE football programs, (several of whom are pretty good at basketball, too) and another conference of the best basketball schools. In the wake of being 'left behind' in a super-conference 'rapture', maybe we can do something like that.

Well…UConn decided to roll the dice on independence for football to help basketball. We COULD do that I guess. In the same sense that I COULD see how it feels to hit my hand with a ball peen hammer. Both seem like really bad ideas though.

I like your idea tho.

 

[tentoesin]

You guys will be fine. You're overthinking this. You in here forming new conferences and whatnot. You needed a new coach and some fresh air for years. You did that. It's hard. Autry might be the guy. He might not. But you had to get here. Dump the zone. You're in a good conference with a good tv deal. With the portal you can bounce back faster. I'm a UConn guy who hasn't been here in years and it pains me to say this but with the right staff targeting the right guys I can't see why you couldn't be back to building toward something in short order.

 

[HOFCeluck]

You guys will be fine. You're overthinking this. You in here forming new conferences and whatnot. You needed a new coach and some fresh air for years. You did that. It's hard. Autry might be the guy. He might not. But you had to get here. Dump the zone. You're in a good conference with a good tv deal. With the portal you can bounce back faster. I'm a UConn guy who hasn't been here in years and it pains me to say this but with the right staff targeting the right guys I can't see why you couldn't be back to building toward something in short order.

You’re supposed to come in here with 5>1 and Tyler Olander blasts and acting all dickish and such. That’s how this usually works.

 

[OrangeDW]

You’re supposed to come in here with 5>1 and Tyler Olander blasts and acting all dickish and such. That’s how this usually works.

It’s gonna be like that King of Queens episode where the guy from the rival post office pretends to be Doug’s friend to gain his trust, and ends up leaving him rolled up in bubble wrap.

 

[rrlbees]

It’s gonna be like that King of Queens episode where the guy from the rival post office pretends to be Doug’s friend to gain his trust, and ends up leaving him rolled up in bubble wrap.

Lol. I remember that one.

 

[syrBossHogg]

UConn's win lowest-viewed NCAA final on record

"Blue Blood"

 

[SWC75]

9 isn't enough inventory,

With 12 you lose playing everyone yearly in FB and both home and away yearly in BBall. That for me is too big.

It was in the 80's. If they were all FB/BB schools, it would work just fine. How many conferences have had 11 teams?

 

[CuseCPT]

It really is odd. No one cares about UConn BBall. For a school in between NYC and Boston, you would think there would be a ton of interest but there never has been. It is why they haven't been invited to a P5. They cannot deliver even with the great success.

I would trade being popular for their success.

 

[CuseCPT]

"Blue Blood"

Ratings having nothing to do with being a Blue Blood. If having tons of random fans all over to watch your games made you a Blue Blood, Notre Dame would be the bluest of the blue bloods, along with teams like Ohio State and Michigan. Of course teams like Duke and UNC have the fanbase to pump ratings and the titles to back it up.

 

[Cuse181]

Ratings having nothing to do with being a Blue Blood. If having tons of random fans all over to watch your games made you a Blue Blood, Notre Dame would be the bluest of the blue bloods, along with teams like Ohio State and Michigan. Of course teams like Duke and UNC have the fanbase to pump ratings and the titles to back it up.

Notre dame is considered a football blue blood despite limited national football success in the last 5 decades almost entirely because they have a massive fan base.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Ratings having nothing to do with being a Blue Blood. If having tons of random fans all over to watch your games made you a Blue Blood, Notre Dame would be the bluest of the blue bloods, along with teams like Ohio State and Michigan. Of course teams like Duke and UNC have the fanbase to pump ratings and the titles to back it up.

Those schools you mentioned are blue bloods in football, and they do drive ratings in that sport

 

[HRE Otto IV]

It was in the 80's. If they were all FB/BB schools, it would work just fine. How many conferences have had 11 teams?

The 80s were a totally different environment.

The Big East is currently at 11. I think for FB 10 is the right number.

I think at this point we are tied to Notre Dame. If they ever decide to join the B16 or SEC, they would want SU and BC to gone along too.

If they stay Indy in FB which in theory is their best shot at the playoffs and a national schedule, they will try and get some form of an ACC or a new Northeast conference.

If I am ND my ideal is a Northeast centric conference consisting of SU, Pitt, BC, UConn, Nova, St Johns, Georgetown, 2 Florida schools (best case FSU and Miami, worst case USF and FAU) Army (FB only), Navy (FB only), plus one other team (depending on who is left).

That is a pretty good BBall conference. FB they get to play 5x over 9 years in NY, PA, New England, Florida plus 4-5 times in Maryland and 2-3 times for that 10th team. And most of those teams aren’t very challenging.

They get to keep Navy every year, they can still play a California game very year (USC/Stanford), and still have 4 open slots to schedule (2 cupcakes, 2 P5).

 

[Cuse181]

The 80s were a totally different environment.

The Big East is currently at 11. I think for FB 10 is the right number.

I think at this point we are tied to Notre Dame. If they ever decide to join the B16 or SEC, they would want SU and BC to gone along too.

If they stay Indy in FB which in theory is their best shot at the playoffs and a national schedule, they will try and get some form of an ACC or a new Northeast conference.

If I am ND my ideal is a Northeast centric conference consisting of SU, Pitt, BC, UConn, Nova, St Johns, Georgetown, 2 Florida schools (best case FSU and Miami, worst case USF and FAU) Army (FB only), Navy (FB only), plus one other team (depending on who is left).

That is a pretty good BBall conference. FB they get to play 5x over 9 years in NY, PA, New England, Florida plus 4-5 times in Maryland and 2-3 times for that 10th team. And most of those teams aren’t very challenging.

They get to keep Navy every year, they can still play a California game very year (USC/Stanford), and still have 4 open slots to schedule (2 cupcakes, 2 P5).

Why would ND be worried about Syracuse or BC?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Why would ND be worried about Syracuse or BC?

They aren't worried about either. But they would like to be playing in New York and New England. They also would like to have regional rivals that are not hard to defeat. IMO ND would want the condition of joining the B16/SEC to be that SU and BC come too. That way in an X + Y/Y model they have Northeastern teams that they can handle on the field.

Going to the B16 without those assurances would turn ND into a less successful Midwestern school instead of a successful National school. That is the last thing they want.

Same with the going to the SEC. They would never join the SEC as currently constructed. But if the SEC (ESPN) could get BC, SU, Pitt, UVA, UNC, Duke it would make the SEC more attractive to ND.

As long as SU, BC, Pitt are outside of the B16/SEC, Notre Dame can stay Indy in FB. If those three are in the B16/SEC, then ND is put in a tight corner. They would need to join the B12 which lacks Northeastern exposure.

 

[Doc5120]

Notre dame is considered a football blue blood despite limited national football success in the last 5 decades almost entirely because they have a massive fan base.

I'm no ND fan (really can't stand them), but "limited success" in 5 decades is so incredibly wrong.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Former NBA, UConn star arrested on weapons, threatening charges

He was arrested twice last year, including for allegedly punching his son at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

www.syracuse.com

 

[OrangeDW]

I'm no ND fan (really can't stand them), but "limited success" in 5 decades is so incredibly wrong.

Right. They played for an NC at least once in the last decade or so.

 

[tentoesin]

You’re supposed to come in here with 5>1 and Tyler Olander blasts and acting all dickish and such. That’s how this usually works.

That would be boring.