They will have a hard enough time finding one good basketball school. Adding 3 and improving the dollar payout for existing conference members is not going to happen.
Gonzaga and Dayton would improve their league, UMASS is in the tight footprint of the eastern division and means very low travel costs for all of the sports teams and has a very good chance to become strong under FM.
The parties involved are trying to keep it under wraps, but once the new teams agree to join it has to go public. That has to happen first before a new contract can be negotiated.
It was just for a moment. I am out now and will stay out for good.
You mean, when he leaves to take over for JB. (I forget which font is the 'I live in a fantasy world font')
Must...stay...strong...
Gonzaga could win several nattys in a row and still not be attractive to those conferences for the most important reason of all - no football.
You can be good and still be overrated. They play in a mid major conference and rack up easy wins most of the season. They’ve been good for 20 years but only in elite territory the past 5 or 6. Their run of greatness will end. The media obsession with them is approaching a Duke-level of annoying. I rooted for them when they played Carolina in the title game. But I’m nearly as sick of them as I am of the blue bloods.
I liked Morrison.
How about the Big East leaders try focusing on getting their name-brand programs UConn and Georgetown back to their former greatness? Improve the product you already have. Instead of adding a program 3,000 miles away that could and likely will have the same downward trend Gtown experienced post-Thompson and especially in the New Big East. And making travel onerous on the student athletes in all sports. These schools’ leaders don’t actually try to engage in thinking about the long term implications of these decisions. It’s all about winning the press conference and making a splash to them.The TV contract for the New Big East expires relatively soon. Industry experts says the NBE contract with Fox lost a lot of money for Fox. It is not clear whether Fox will want them back. If so, they might have to take a haircut to stay with that network.
Rights for sports appear to be on the upswing (at least for the giant conferences). Maybe the NBE can find someone willing to match or even improve their old Fox contract.
The New Big East commissioner did recently say the conference is thinking about expansion, specifically to improve its basketball.
They will need a big basketball name. This article says Gonzaga or Kansas or no expansion. I think it is right on the money.
Should The Big East Expand?
Commissioner Val Ackerman opened the door to adding a school (or schools?) to the conference this week. But is it a good idea?www.anonymouseagle.com
So we know the NBE is looking for a school with great basketball. Does UMass fit the bill?
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The answer, as everyone knows, is no. UMass has one of the worse basketball programs in the country.
If you made a list of 50 schools the NBE might consider, I am not sure UMass would be on it. UConn dislikes UMass greatly and are as likely to campaign for them to be added to the NBE as Syracuse and Boston College are to support adding UConn to the ACC.
That said, UConn and UMass are the two worst football programs in the country and both want to play each other every season in hopes of avoiding an 0-12 season. That is one thing these schools do have in common.
Phew. I was starting to have serious doubts about the wisdom of crowds once you, too, seemed to be swept into the Black Hole.It was just for a moment. I am out now and will stay out for good.
Kind of like UMass.
Rick should have opened an Italian restaurant and had me run it for him, it would have been the spot. The current BigEast deal probably has a renegotiation clause in it if the league adds additional teams. Since it only has 2 years left to it, the final year may be nullified if a new contract is agreed to.
8. (Turn it 90 degrees.)
Dave Gavitt is rolling over in his grave.Nothing says "Big East" like Spokane, Washington.
Multiply your denominators?
Gotta say, not an impressive campus from my visits.
That's actually not a bad name for a Pitino-run restaurant.
