Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="omniorange, post: 2698339, member: 636"] In 2010 the B1G wanted three teams, Texas, ND, and one of TAMU or Nebraska. This is what was actually discussed at the CIC meeting held at the AAU conference in April or May of that year including a nice power point presentation, or so I am told. Delany believed no one would turn down an invite from the B1G. He soon learned differently. TAMU wanted no part of it, just like they didn't want any part of the PAC a month or so later. Their aspirations were the SEC or remain in the B12. Texas was curious about the B1G, but not enough to remove their request for TTU to replace TAMU in a "package" deal of at least two teams in Texas, knowing the B1G would not likely agree to TTU. ND was not enthused at all, but since Texas was showing some interest they didn't out right scuttle it from the beginning. ND was worried about the dissolution of the Big East and even though their fans kept insisting for years that if the split ever did occur, the Irish would simply go with the Catholic schools, the truth was obvious to everyone else that outside of maybe basketball, the rest of their olympic sports would suffer. ND's football revenues basically fund those non-revenue sports so the Irish administration was going to want a good home for those sports outside the Catholic League. Which is why ND held on even longer than Texas in terms of entertaining B1G expansion. To this day I still believe the report out of Indianapolis in June 2010 which indicated that the B1G expansion to 12 would be Nebraska alone and if the league expanded beyond 12 it would likely be ND, Maryland, Rutgers, and SU. PSU (or should I say JoePa) wanted Maryland and us, Delany wanted Rutgers. And most wanted the Irish. Reports are the Irish preferred Pitt to Rutgers but that Delany reportedly said if Pitt took any spot it would be Syracuse's. Expansion to 16 basically blew up and they decided to only expand to 12 with Nebraska. The B1G did indeed kick off this frenzy in late 2009, as the Pitt article indicates, but this meeting that took place between Pitt admins, ND admins, and the Big East Commissioner to develop a way to hold the Big East together is questionable at best. Obviously the relatively new commissioner would need to play a big role but does anyone truly believe Pitt and/or ND were capable of persuading the other football schools to stay committed or be able to soothe the egos of the basketball schools if they needed to implement something they wouldn't necessarily want? Let's be realistic here, again outside the commissioner there is ONE school and ONLY one school in the Big East that could ever get [B]both sides[/B] to agree on anything and that was SU. Which is why I have stated on here in the past that there was a pact between Pitt, SU, and ND that they would either make a go of it in the Big East or go to a different conference either together or separately, preferably together. Now I have no doubt the top two ideas discussed by Pitt, ND, and SU to strengthen the case (not that this would have guaranteed anything) for the football schools to stay committed to the Big East were: 1) strengthen the football of the conference by getting to 9/10 members (which led to TCU being invited - with Pitt and ND leading that charge although for some reason the Eers' fans kept crediting Mr. Awesome Oliver Luck) and 2) getting a better TV contract (possibly with a grant of rights attached?), but Georgetown, Pitt, and a few others thought ESPN had low-balled the contract (though it was a nice increase) and hoped NBC would go higher. Anyway we all know what happened next in late summer early Fall 2011 - SEC willing to take TAMU so long as no Big 12 school threatens a lawsuit. ACC invites SU and Pitt (ND's Swarbrick takes a swipe at both about not taking into account the "greater good"). TCU asks for its release from the Big East (which they were scheduled to join the following Fall 2012) so they could go to the Big 12. Mizzou is invited to the SEC. WVU is invited to the Big 12 (since Pitt option taken off the table by ACC taking Pitt) and sues Big East to be allowed to withdraw much sooner than contractually obligated to do. ND joins the ACC as a partial member. Maryland and Rutgers join the B1G (which is in line with that 2010 report out of Indianapolis). Louisville replaces Maryland in the ACC. For the record, the $7.5 million exit fee from the Big East mentioned in the Pitt article was actually negotiated by SU with the Big East conference in private about a week before Pitt got the same deal. They didn't need to go the public route at all of a lawsuit and grandstanding like they did. Lastly, the hybrid Big East was created precisely because the basketball schools didn't want to lose SU and when SU left the building, the hybrid lasted one more year in what basically amounted to its death throes. Long live the ACC and Long Live the Catholic Big East basketball conference. The AAC can rot. Cheers, Neil [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?