Must Read: Sunday Article on Football side found by Orangeyes

[EastCoast2]

Absolutely true. If the ACC decides to expand again (either because ND finally says yes, or because the SEC takes a team or two), I would think UConn makes the cut.

Agree. Kind of silly to think one school, BC, blocked UConn to the ACC. If Duke, UNC, FSU, Clemson, UMD etc really wanted UConn, UConn they would have. A newbie school like BC isn't making these decisions

 

[ACCBballFan]

The Monday links thread takes the UCONN sour grapes perspective to a new level, Scandal.

http://www.businessinsider.com/scand...erence-2011-10

Rutgers chimes in - Boise, Air Force and Navy to be targeted by Big East?

Here's another link that corroborates. Desperate times call for desperate measures by both parties, the BE and the teams being wooed.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...-options-other-sports-football-joins-big-east

So you can see the theme starting to emerge. Over time, the Big “East” overly concentrated on Basketball to detriment of Football and Academics with first round of CUSA teams.

As super conferences emerge, BE loses some of its better Football teams that also happen to be some of its better Basketball and Academic schools, first Cuse and Pitt and only a matter of time before either West VA or Louisville, for its football and better Bball, not its academics, is next.

To survive, Big East has to again do a Horace Greeley and Go West this time with football only offers to minor or mid-major being more politically correct conferences like MWC and CUSA whose football teams are not ready for major conference play in P12 or B12, but their Bball and in some cases academics are dilutive.

This temporarily keeps BE football alive, mortgages the “East” brand by going further central/West and dilutes basketball to prop up football until some day the Boise State and AFA go into the P12 super conference and the Houston and SMU’s, or likely Cincy and other of UL or West VA first and then these two, go into B12 or SEC, since very few temporarily annexed into BE meet the academic standards of ACC or B1G.

It makes some sense from Boise St and AFA perspective, both strong academically BTW, to only have to add 4 longer football flights, actually 3 and one not as long as Hawaii when they join MWC from WAC in 2012 or Seattle also joining MWC in 2012.

They each get an easier shot at BCS bid without Boise St. having to get crushed back to reality in one of the stronger football schedules every weekend.

Also makes sense for WAC rather than the more stable MVC to use them in a mutually beneficial non-football arrangement to replace Hawaii to help AFA and Boise St keep their non-football travel costs down.

One of the comments inside the Rutgers link made some sense from football perspective, not as much from geography to also add Houston bad in Academics and Bball, SMU bad in Bball but good academically before B12 does, and instead of, or rather before, the other two rumored in both links ECU bad in both and Temple, better in Bball than academics:

"MustangMike October 09, 2011 at 7:03PM

East: West Virginia, Navy, UCONN, Rutgers, USF, UCF

West: AFA, Boise State, Louisville, Cincinnati, SMU, Houston

Add 3 Top 25 programs next week, assuming SMU and Houston both win."

Whether Missouri stays in B12 to level that off at 10 and someone else from BE joins SEC to get to 14, or whether MO is SEC 14 and B12 adds someone in BE to get back to at least 10, BE may still lose at least one more, West VA or UL, and have to have one more team besides those above (Temple or ECU or upgraded Nova) to keep 5 and add 7 for 12 in football.

And that's the best case for BE of B12 staying at 10 not yet going to 12 or SEC staying at 13-14, not yet going to 16. It only gets worse over time.

So BE responds/reacts/panics by adding at least 2-4 as football only and 3-4 in all sports gets BE up to a watered down 16-18 in Bball.

Boise St and Houston instead of Syracuse and Pitt is not a bad football trade, but leaves a lot to be desired in Bball as do UCF, SMU, Houston, ECU, any of these except Temple, still a bad trade in both sports for WV or UL but have to survive first, then worry about dilution in Bball.

At the same time, the 8 non-BE football schools already have Depaul, Seton Hall and Providence diluting Nova, G-town, Notre Dame, Marquette and St. Johns; in Bball.

For time being they still have UCONN, Cincy and one or both of WV and UL to offset the Bball dilution of USF and Rutgers. It’s a slow bleed as more Bball powers more attractive in football and academics depart BE to be replaced by schools such as Temple, UCF, ECU, SMU, and Houston.

Eventually at least for the top 5 of the 8 non-football BE schools, it makes more sense to stop the continual dilution and to merge with some of these Catholic school Bball teams:

WCC 26Gonzaga -1
A10 14Xavier -1
A10 St. Bonaventure -7
HOR Detroit -5
MVC 53-Creighton -4
WCC St. Mary's -1
MAAC 55-Iona -2
A10 Duquesne -4
MAAC Fairfield -1
WCC Santa Clara -4
A10 Dayton -7
WCC Portland -5

One day even leaving DePaul, Seton Hall and Providence in competition with some of these for who is least dilutive in a Bball only conference.

 

[Cusefan95]

Truth be told, if Pitt and Cuse said no, the Big East would have had a better chance of surviving. We should not be so smug to think that our leaving was immaterial to the breakup by assuming that the ACC would have just taken two other Big East teams.

I think you're right, if Syracuse and Pitt said no the ACC would have just decided to stay at 12 teams, lived with a contract that massively underpaid them, and accepted the risk that getting paid less than market value could have driven Florida State and/or Va Tech to the SEC.

 

[ACCBballFan]

I think you're right, if Syracuse and Pitt said no the ACC would have just decided to stay at 12 teams, lived with a contract that massively underpaid them, and accepted the risk that getting paid less than market value could have driven Florida State and/or Va Tech to the SEC.

Ah, yes. altruism and realism.

It's one thing when they are slightly misaligned, another when they are pulling in exact opposite directions.

 

[orange79]

I think you're right, if Syracuse and Pitt said no the ACC would have just decided to stay at 12 teams, lived with a contract that massively underpaid them, and accepted the risk that getting paid less than market value could have driven Florida State and/or Va Tech to the SEC.

Of course, we never would have said no. Never.