End of Expansion . . . for now?

[PoppyHart]

ND isn't about revenue maximizing. If they were, they would have banner displays everywhere you look inside their stadium, instead of the one small NBC sign. They are about independence and tradition, for better or worse. I don't see them going anywhere.

 

[newmexicuse]

ND isn't about revenue maximizing. If they were, they would have banner displays everywhere you look inside their stadium, instead of the one small NBC sign. They are about independence and tradition, for better or worse. I don't see them going anywhere.

Funniest post yet !!!

 

[General20]

The reason to strike a death blow to the Big East is that, like you said, if things stay as they are now, it will still be a power basketball conference. It will remain on equal footing or a half step below the new ACC and will still control much of the northeast AND have MSG locked up. To me, that makes the Big East a tremendous threat to the ACC and hurts Syracuse recruiting. By grabbing Uconn, the ACC can in one fell swoop knock out it's only rival on the east coast, cause more teams to have to move around thus forcing ND closer to a decision point, and potentially wipe out ND's cushy home for basketball and olympic sports - again putting pressure on them to make a move.

Further, if the Big East reacts by grabbing more teams - they could come from the Big 12 which may make Texas available to the ACC.

I just don't see a downside to adding Uconn. If you add them and the swing and miss on ND, then on Texas, you'll still have your pick of Rutgers or Louisville. As an added bonus it gets us our modern era basketball rival, makes the ACC unquestioned #1 in BB and shifts the center of gravity of the conference a little more north which helps us as well.

We are not recruiting against a particular conference. We recruit against particular schools. One of the schools we recruit against the most often is UConn. If we are in the ACC and they are in an unstable Big East, that is advantage SU. Ditto, Villanova and Georgetown. I dont think that wrecking the Big East any more that it is already wrecked (assuming they lose their BCS big which seems very likely) is going to matter where recruiting is concerned.

No matter what we do to the Big East's football schools - even if we take UConn. St. John's will still play in a very viable Big East basketball league with Georgetown, Nova, etc. So the Big East will still have a claim on MSG. I think the ACC is going to play at MSG or not based on how much money they are willing to throw at MSG, not based at all on who is or is not playing in the Big East conference.

 

[PoppyHart]

Funniest post yet !!!

NBC pays ND about $15 million per year. Big 10, with its Big 10 network, ABC/ESPN deal, and (now) conference championship game, distributes well north of $20 million. It was 22.6 million in 2011. If it was only about money for them ...

 

[Moontan]

Going to 15 makes no sense. It's a football scheduling nightmare. You can't do pods (3*5 doesn't work... do the math) so you'd be left with a 7-team division and an 8-team division. Yuck.

 

[IthacaMatt]

As for the rest? Texas is going to stay in the Big 12 as long as possible. Notre Dame is going to stay independent as long as possible, and the conferences that want those two schools (namely the B1G, the Pac -whatever, and the ACC) are not going to expand further until the door is officially closed on the big fish..

This is exactly where we are, right on the money. The SEC will need to add one, though, so we're not done yet.

Surprised they turned down WVU so quickly. They must have designs on Texas, too, but I just can't see them allowing Texas to keep its own network - although, on the other hand, they have a great enough TV deal without Texas. But would that continue to be the case?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Don't be suprised to see WVU and Louisville end up in the Big 12. If that is the case, the BE is done as a football conference. I say 65/35 that OU rights the ship in the Big 12 and swallow the BE's football dreams.

Makes a lot of sense. Big East has lost the faith of Louisville, for sure, and Pitino has been speaking out, too, not just Jurich.

 

[IthacaMatt]

We are not recruiting against a particular conference. We recruit against particular schools. One of the schools we recruit against the most often is UConn. If we are in the ACC and they are in an unstable Big East, that is advantage SU. Ditto, Villanova and Georgetown. I dont think that wrecking the Big East any more that it is already wrecked (assuming they lose their BCS big which seems very likely) is going to matter where recruiting is concerned.

No matter what we do to the Big East's football schools - even if we take UConn. St. John's will still play in a very viable Big East basketball league with Georgetown, Nova, etc. So the Big East will still have a claim on MSG. I think the ACC is going to play at MSG or not based on how much money they are willing to throw at MSG, not based at all on who is or is not playing in the Big East conference.

If the Big East loses its BCS football status, within 10 years, UConn and Villanova and Georgetown and St. John's will be Atlantic 10 schools. They'll wind up merging with them, but keeping the Big East name. But that conference probably gets bounced to a week earlier in the Garden, or to Brooklyn or Jersey, or Hartford, or maybe Philly.

As much as UConn is a power now, give them 10 years post Calhoun in a league without BCS football, and they won't be able to hold a good coach. They are in the middle of nowhere, and play their football games how far from campus? How big an asset with 9,000 seat Gampel be when the games are never against the top 20 anymore?

The guys in Providence wrecked the league by never understanding football. Even Paul Freaking Tagliabue couldn't help that jamoke in Providence.

That's why the Big East is wheezing today.

And Nero Tweets "We'll have our tourney in Greensboro !" Are you ED ???? THIS is our leader !!

And Boeheim makes the very good point, "what happens if other teams leave? What are you going to tell the replacement schools? We'll have a place for you in a couple years?" The guys has no clue whatsoever. He needs to be recruiting new football teams NOW, not holding on to ones who are no longer in his league beyond next year.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Well, the BE did get burned before, when Miami and Va Tech left, and it took another year to get Cinci, Ville, and USF in.

I'd assume when the BE approves replacement teams, and they get permission from their conferences to leave, that SU and Pitt will be released.

The BE isn't going to let us walk out and risk being at 7 teams for 2012.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Louisville is going, mark it down. And so is West Virginia. The Big East is doomed as a football conference, now that the Big 12 looks to be holding together, and allowing Texas to keep their Longhorn Network money. My guess is the compromise to keep the rest of the Big 12 together is that Texas gets a reduced cut of the conference TV money, or perhaps none altogether, since half of their Big 12 games are going to be on their own network..