We need to go back to the big east

[2B20Again]

I'm tired of this false narrative. Our recruiting didn't fall off as a result of being in the ACC. We were recruiting against the ACC when we were in the Big East and we did just fine. We pulled guys from Cali, Michigan, Delmarva, Canada going back decades. The problem was NCAA
sanctions and a philosophy shift, loss of our lead recruiter, and throw in a little nepotism and old man cantankerism.

That hit a lot of the right buttons.

 

[AlaskaSU]

We were well past the sanctions when we joined the ACC. In fact, we did well our first year when we used BE recruits. We had previously survived loss of many lead recruiters. Why is it so hard to understand that we are not a fit for the ACC?

 

[Cusefan0307]

We were well past the sanctions when we joined the ACC. In fact, we did well our first year when we used BE recruits. We had previously survived loss of many lead recruiters. Why is it so hard to understand that we are not a fit for the ACC?

The sanctions didn't happen until 2015. We were already in the league for 2 years. You're wrong again.

 

[AlaskaSU]

There were 2 sanctions and we survived the first.

 

[Bayside44]

There were 2 sanctions and we survived the first.

Are you talking about the early 90s?

 

[Hopkins16]

No looking back or going back. Moving forward, we need a top notch coach and new assistants who can go out and recruit and can coach. Money can and will buy that. Do we have the money?

 

[tbonezone]

I have questioned the attendance too when/if we get bounced from the big boy football table. How many fans show for a home schedule of Duke, Wake, BC, Colgate and UCONN playing for a spot in the second or third biggest championship in football?

i submit that there would be marginally fewer syracuse football fans attending a game against Vermont or Uconn in november as there would be against say a Clemson. and they may actually walk back down the hill with the glow of victory. it's my opinion that true syracuse football people show up to watch syracuse football no matter the opponent. and probably more so for a team that's 6-2 as opposed to 2-6. we've all seen the crowds.(and screw those ticket sold numbers) sparse first half to scarce in the 4th qtr. we've dropped quite a few pounds since joining the ACC. let's get back to punching in our own weight class.

 

[elimunelson]

Post of the year

I think the decisions will be made for us not us making decisions.

We are already second tier football. It’ll be official once the 2 conf split. At that point the school should put on their Dave Gavett hat and think holistically about what’s best for regionals sports in this area

 

[IHeartSUFball]

Yes basketball and football will be playing in a water downed d1aa type thing then

 

[Ernie4459]

Let’s ask UCONN if they’d like to trade places. We go back to the Big East and they join the ACC. You think the school with the two best basketball programs would choose to stay in the Big East? UConn is hemorrhaging money. They pay Hurley the same amount of money that they earn from their football TV contract

Syracuse has a chance in the portal/NIL era if it wants to take advantage of it. It’s up to the University administrators to figure it out. They may have the money they may not. But they have a much better chance trying to pay players than trying to simply convince them to come here instead of somewhere else.

But please stop thinking we’d be better off back in the Big East. College hops is dangerously close to being irrelevant nationally. It barely gets talked about until March Madness. And as far as GTown rivalry… well that ship sailed and sunk many years ago.

It kind of like when people refused to see that things were going bad with Pasqualoni and Boeheim. They were watching in the present but seeing the past. And just like with football Greg Robinson wasn’t a good hire. That didn’t mean Coach P didn’t need to be replaced. Autry wasn’t the right hire but Jimmy needed to go long before he did.

The 80’s and 90’s were the best era in major SU sports history. A relevant football program, a national power basketball program and the best lacrosse program in the country. This could be the most dangerous time for Syracuse athletics in its history. If a large part of the fan base continues to pine for the past they should be careful what they wish for.

 

[djorange1989]

This program went down the tubes because JB stuck around too long and his replacement has been a massive failure. This would have happened in the Big East too. If college sports gets its collective head out of its arse, they will separate football from all other sports and then re-align all other sports into geographically logical conferences to end the stupidity of Syracuse water polo flying to Cal. In that case, I would love SU to go back to a revamped Big East, but if they don’t invest and have the right head coach and staff, they will suck there too.

 

[Cusefan95]

Let’s ask UCONN if they’d like to trade places. We go back to the Big East and they join the ACC. You think the school with the two best basketball programs would choose to stay in the Big East? UConn is hemorrhaging money. They pay Hurley the same amount of money that they earn from their football TV contract

Syracuse has a chance in the portal/NIL era if it wants to take advantage of it. It’s up to the University administrators to figure it out. They may have the money they may not. But they have a much better chance trying to pay players than trying to simply convince them to come here instead of somewhere else.

But please stop thinking we’d be better off back in the Big East. College hops is dangerously close to being irrelevant nationally. It barely gets talked about until March Madness. And as far as GTown rivalry… well that ship sailed and sunk many years ago.

It kind of like when people refused to see that things were going bad with Pasqualoni and Boeheim. They were watching in the present but seeing the past. And just like with football Greg Robinson wasn’t a good hire. That didn’t mean Coach P didn’t need to be replaced. Autry wasn’t the right hire but Jimmy needed to go long before he did.

The 80’s and 90’s were the best era in major SU sports history. A relevant football program, a national power basketball program and the best lacrosse program in the country. This could be the most dangerous time for Syracuse athletics in its history. If a large part of the fan base continues to pine for the past they should be careful what they wish for.

A great way to fail in business is to allow emotions to drive decisions. Syracuse is great at it.

They made an emotional decision based primarily on loyalty to keep Coach P. Then after getting embarrassed in a bowl weeks later, they made an emotional decision based on being humiliated to let him go (at that point the right decision was to stick with the original decision and wait a year for the inevitable). Then emotional attachments allowed JB to stick around way too long. And I doubt he would have been shuffled out the door if he didn’t embarrass the school by saying he decided when he left and no one else - so even that was partially emotion-driven. Trying to stay in house with no legitimate coaching search was also primarily emotion- driven.

Going back to the Big East would be a catastrophic decision based primarily on emotions of nostalgia and a sense of loss. While it would be absolutely disastrous - based on the track record at Syracuse, I’m not sure a very bad emotional decision is ever fully off the table.

 

[JimBoston]

In the current college sports landscape, to be a top athletic program, you either need to be a flagship state school or a private school with deep pocket boosters. SMU, Duke, Miami have rallied the boosters to compete. Syracuse and BC have not.

 

[Fat tire 13]

The problem is that you’re advancing a destructive narrative that we can’t be good again unless we’re in the Big East. And that’s not a good look and not true. A good proven coach can make the program good again.

Agree 100%

Being in the ACC would be amazingly fun if we were actually good at football/basketball

That win against Duke in the dome our first year was one of the best games I’ve seen in person. You’re never going to get that against a nostalgic Big East rival in 2026

Best chance of maximizing money, resources, etc is staying in the ACC. Let’s hope we don’t blow it before we are relegated to some lesser conference because we suck

In the portal/NIL era fortunes can turn in an instant. Being inflexible/nostalgic is nice for making excuses but that’s it

I loved the glory days of the Big East but sadly it’s gone

 

[elimunelson]

Chamelot. ACC prob blares brooks and Dunn

We are a big east team. Period. Our DNA is nyc. Once the ACC implodes we need to rebuild that. St. John’s UConn tonite proves to me that we are missing out not being in that tournament

 

[Marsh01]

That would mean the death of football in syracuse if we made the move back. Football is the brass ring and its not going to change

 

[durhamcuse]

The ACC is our home. There is no going back. I moaned about it for a couple of years from the basketball perspective, but football runs the show. ACC is not perfect as a conference, but it is light years better than the Big East in terms of being relevant in the future. Now, is the time for our basketball team to become relevant again and our football team to have no more hiccups.

 

[Cusefan95]

Chamelot. ACC prob blares brooks and Dunn

We are a big east team. Period. Our DNA is nyc. Once the ACC implodes we need to rebuild that. St. John’s UConn tonite proves to me that we are missing out not being in that tournament

UConn is in the Big East, is winning natties - and is doing everything possible to get the hell out to a league that can make football viable. Their administration would trade places with us in a second - even if their fans missed the Big East, the endless bleeding of red ink from the AD has to stop eventually. As a private school, Syracuse has much lower tolerance for red ink - its an unmitigated disaster which will implode the entire athletic department if we end up with no other option except slinking back in defeat to the Big East. It’s astonishing how adamant some of our fans are to ignore that.

I loved the Big East tournament. I miss going. I also know it’s a catastrophe if I ever have the option to do so again to see Syracuse play.

 

[elimunelson]

That would mean the death of football in syracuse if we made the move back. Football is the brass ring and its not going to change

Football is going to die. I’m fine waiting but the result should be a rebuild of the north east conference.

Our football is not going into the big leagues.

 

[Dinkyspond]

This program went down the tubes because JB stuck around too long and his replacement has been a massive failure. This would have happened in the Big East too. If college sports gets its collective head out of its arse, they will separate football from all other sports and then re-align all other sports into geographically logical conferences to end the stupidity of Syracuse water polo flying to Cal. In that case, I would love SU to go back to a revamped Big East, but if they don’t invest and have the right head coach and staff, they will suck there too.

this makes the most sense and I have heard expert pundits say the same thing. Football is the cash cow, realign that to make it an airplane sport and realign the rest of the sports according to geography, traditional rivalries. You only travel 5 or 6 times a year in football and it's once a week.

 

[elimunelson]

UConn is in the Big East, is winning natties - and is doing everything possible to get the hell out to a league that can make football viable. Their administration would trade places with us in a second - even if their fans missed the Big East, the endless bleeding of red ink from the AD has to stop eventually. As a private school, Syracuse has much lower tolerance for red ink - its an unmitigated disaster which will implode the entire athletic department if we end up with no other option except slinking back in defeat to the Big East. It’s astonishing how adamant some of our fans are to ignore that.

I loved the Big East tournament. I miss going. I also know it’s a catastrophe if I ever have the option to do so again to see Syracuse play.

Providence, Georgetown are private. BC too.

We love to make excuses. Football is dead. We just don’t know it yet. If we can maintain this welfare check I’m all for it. But eventually it will be gone

 

[Cusefan95]

That would mean the death of football in syracuse if we made the move back. Football is the brass ring and its not going to change

If Syracuse ended up back in the Big East, dropping football would probably be required since TV revenues would be cut so much. At that point, once debt on renovations are paid down enough then imploding the Dome to use that prime real estate land for something more useful makes a lot of sense. That would mean basketball either builds a small arena elsewhere (like south campus) or rents War Memorial or works with the city to build a new arena for school and city use.

So it’s not just “death of football”. Going back to the Big East has consequences for basketball proponents of the idea pretend won’t happen.

If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that anyone claiming we can go back again is wrong. You never, ever can. We might be able to go forward into a new version of the Big East and Syracuse basketball - but that’s not what the fans are envisioning. And they won’t like it if it happens - not at all.

 

[Cusefan95]

Football is going to die. I’m fine waiting but the result should be a rebuild of the north east conference.

Our football is not going into the big leagues.

It’s kinda pointless to have a football stadium if you don’t have a football team, correct?

Do you recognize that the land the Dome sits on being redeveloped is highly likely, and basketball will move into a smaller venue? Or are you delusional and think that won’t happen, we’ll draw 30,000 fans to basketball again, everything will look just like it did in 1987 for hoops?

 

[elimunelson]

If Syracuse ended up back in the Big East, dropping football would probably be required since TV revenues would be cut so much. At that point, once debt on renovations are paid down enough then imploding the Dome to use that prime real estate land for something more useful makes a lot of sense. That would mean basketball either builds a small arena elsewhere (like south campus) or rents War Memorial or works with the city to build a new arena for school and city use.

So it’s not just “death of football”. Going back to the Big East has consequences for basketball proponents of the idea pretend won’t happen.

If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that anyone claiming we can go back again is wrong. You never, ever can. We might be able to go forward into a new version of the Big East and Syracuse basketball - but that’s not what the fans are envisioning. And they won’t like it if it happens - not at all.

You are looking at it sooo myopically. Pay attn to the world right now. We barely can compete in the ACC if our qb goes down. Our hc punted on season

We will be out of the ACC by 2030-2032 when anyone w program is brought into the other leagues. We will end up w peer programs who are not big enough. We will get some tv money . At this point I’d advocate for SU to situate the other sports to think regional. My entire point .

If football is consumed by big 10
Then I’m wrong 100% and sure let’s stick it out if we get 50-100mm per. That’s obvious

but seeing Rick vs Hurley tonite u would have to be brain dead to not want to be part of this heavyweight fight. SMU, Berkeley yuck

 

[orange79]

That would mean the death of football in syracuse if we made the move back. Football is the brass ring and its not going to change

The people that don't get this are the ones that totally don't care about football.

And that's fine. But don't be ridiculous about it.