ACC, PAC-12, and BIG alliance / conference realignment

[Scooch]

So I was thinking what would be my ideal for a 10 team non FB conference. Looking at history and location, it would make the most sense for the 9 OG Big East teams to be together. But who would be #10?

Really of those OGs, SU and Pitt are the outsiders location wise. The rest all represent the Amtrak line. Yes, UConn is not on it but they represent the entire state and thus the two stops. But if you wanted #10 to be an Amtrak fit, it is had to find one.

It is kinda nuts that there isn't a school that really represents Baltimore. The closest fits are Towson or Loyola neither of which are worth adding. Maryland I suppose could but they would be ACC bound. The other Amtrak hole is Wilmington, which Delaware could fill. But like Towson/Loyola, Delaware is not worth adding.

You could double up in Philly, with Temple being the best choice. They do have some history with the others on the FB side. UMass would fit I suppose but they have no history. Same with DC area George Mason/Washington. Penn State is Northeastern but again no history in BBall. Which leaves Rutgers.

The Rutgers Big East history is awful, but they do have a history. There is no reason to double up in NJ, but it was fun taking that place over. And it sets up nice rivalry week games: Rutgers-Seton Hall, BC-PC, StJ-UConn, Nova-Pitt, Cuse-GTown.

Outside of the location fit there is also the history fit. But many of the former Big East teams really are location outsiders. The current 5 Western Big East teams don't fit. The three FB 2.0s don't fit location wise or culturally. Of the three FB 1.0s the best fit would be West Virginia, not really culturally though.

Location they are a decent fit. They have had success in the Big East for BBall. They have a rival (Pitt), but then screw up the other rivalries. Who gets Seton Hall? Where does Nova go?

Lastly there is Notre Dame. I think they would be better with the current 5 Western Big East, St Louis, Dayton, etc. And if you take them, who is their rival? BC? Put PC with Seton Hall?

So I think I would have #10 as 1. Rutgers, 2. West Virginia, 3. Notre Dame.

This sums up why it was always difficult to put together a northeastern all-sports conference.

Since the northeast private schools deemphasized football in the 1950s, there simply hasn't been enough high-level football schools in the region. The core has been SU, Penn State, Pitt and BC for 70+ years, and never much beyond that.

If those 4 had gotten together at some point many decades ago with, say, Rutgers, Temple, Army and Navy, the basketball would have been awful, and the football depth would have been terrible too.

The best outcome for the northeast would have been sport-specific leagues. Hockey East is the gold standard of that - a geographically logical conference that plays at the highest level of its sport.

The Big East of the 80s was perfect for hoops. Once it had to become a football league it was always bound to fall apart.

 

[TexanMark]

Seton Hall is a fun home game because we take it over. And it is a good arena. Providence not as much but still a good trip.

Providence and Seton Hall are interchangeable to me. However, Providence has Lacrosse. However, keeping it at 10 I don't see the room.

One thought, inviting Johns Hopkins as an associate member would be cool in lacrosse...however, I could see them heading to the IVY or Patriot too

 

[Bayside44]

Providence and Seton Hall are interchangeable to me. However, Providence has Lacrosse. However, keeping it at 10 I don't see the room.

One thought, inviting Johns Hopkins as an associate member would be cool in lacrosse...however, I could see them heading to the IVY or Patriot too

They're in the B1G for lax.

 

[Scooch]

They're in the B1G for lax.

I never understood why the ACC didn't offer them membership first. Would have given us the 6 necessary for an auto-bid, and it makes geographic sense.

 

[orange79]

I never understood why the ACC didn't offer them membership first. Would have given us the 6 necessary for an auto-bid, and it makes geographic sense.

I wish they had, too. But the men's teams in the ACC don't do associate members.

 

[Scooch]

I wish they had, too. But the men's teams in the ACC don't do associate members.

Ah yes, I often forget how terribly the ACC is run.

 

[longtimefan]

I wish they had, too. But the men's teams in the ACC don't do associate members.

As always, it takes 2 to tango--JHU and the CIC (or whatever they call it now) are a logical marriage. Hopkins was, at least until 2025, the #1 recipient of federal research dollars. The association with all of those huge Midwest research universities was hard to turn down. Academics, and federal $$$, still count.

 

[TexanMark]

They're in the B1G for lax.

I know...but the premise is geographically sensible leagues