Will basketball follow football and be southern-based soon?

[Lawrinson14]

Figured this would be an interesting topic to debate during the off-season.

Seems like the SEC is finally opening their wallets for basketball. The conference now houses some major coaching names: Calipari, Donovan, Barnes, Pearl, Howland, and potentially Marshall to Alabama. Coupled with the demise of the Big East and relegation of tradition north east powers (Uconn, G-Twon, Nova, etc) to mid major leagues and unpopular tv stations, is college basketball going to follow football and become southern dominated?

Unfortunately, I think it will. If UConn does not find a conference home soon, Syracuse could be the sole bastion of northeastern basketball in 5-10 years. And I'm not sure if that is a good thing...

 

[CusefanATL]

interesting.

 

[raf4488]

Football is southern-based because that's where the talent is. The SEC investment in basketball will eventually pay off because of the enormous resources those schools have, but there is enough northern talent to support competitive basketball programs in the Northeast. Basketball, unlike football, is an urban sport, and no area of the country has more densely-populated urban areas than the Northeast. NYC, Boston, Philly, and especially the DC/Baltimore region will continue to produce a ton of talent.

As long as SU continues to invest in basketball, we'll be very successful.

 

[Alsacs]

No, its all about recruiting base. NY is the number #1 recruiting state for basketball. Thus, players want to stay closer to home.

SEC dominates FB because FL,SC,GA, produce so many elite athletes and they stay close to home.
For Basketball for the most part.
So. Cal feeds the Pac-12
Texas feeds the Big XII
NYC/DC/Philly feeds the Big East/ACC
Midwest/Chicago feeds the Big Ten
South feeds the SEC

Unlike in FB the South doesn't produce as much elite talent in BB than it does for FB. The Northeast will remain decent as long as they have good coaches.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Demographics would say yes. The northeast has been emptying out for decades. The south has been increasing in population. While football is still king in the south, you have to figure time and numbers will start shifting the balance of basketball in a southward direction as well. Alabama can put a national championship football team on the field while getting 80% of its recruits from within 200 miles of their campus.

 

[Cuse House]

Basketball will always be football's little brother in the South. Hard to break traditions.

 

[longislandcuse]

I think schools like Syracuse, Michigan State, Michigan etc will be ok but if the SEC keeps with this trend, I wouldn't be shocked to see them move up the ranks quickly in CBB. I'm actually pretty impressed at the buzz Barnes to UT got down south. A lot of these traditional football powerhouse schools will embrace CBB if these schools can build their brand and talent. This random, out of nowhere, spending spree on SEC coaches is a good start.

Also, ACC basketball is basically a bunch southern schools and Syracuse.

 

[dasher]

I think schools like Syracuse, Michigan State, Michigan etc will be ok but if the SEC keeps with this trend, I wouldn't be shocked to see them move up the ranks quickly in CBB. I'm actually pretty impressed at the buzz Barnes to UT got down south. A lot of these traditional football powerhouse schools will embrace CBB if these schools can build their brand and talent. This random, out of nowhere, spending spree on SEC coaches is a good start.

Also, ACC basketball is basically a bunch southern schools and Syracuse.

you forgot about B.C. and Pitt...oh wait..

 

[cuseattle]

Basketball will always be football's little brother in the South. Hard to break traditions.

And it would be hard to take b-ball out of the north. What other sport can you play when it's cold?

 

[Madbiker]

More high level high school basketball talent comes out of the Boston - DC corridor than anywhere else in the country. The east coast basketball schools will continue to thrive.

 

[jncuse]

Not sure -- the SEC was probably doing much better in the 90's than now... Maybe you are suggesting a rebirth. But it was some fairly good basketball in the SEC 20 years ago.

In the 90's, I remember the following peaks:
Kentucky won 2 national titles (96 and 98)
Arkansas won a title (94)
Florida made 2 final 4's
LSU reached #1 in the country in the early 90's
Mississippi St was in the final 4 (only to lose to us)
Missouri was a #1 seed
Auburn was a #1 seed.
South Carolina was a #2 seed.
Vanderbilt I believe was either a #2 or #3 seed.
Alabama had made the tourney 12 of 14 years (ending in 1995), including 6 #5 seeds or better.
Georgia peaked as a 3 seed.

I can't say they have done that well the past 10 years.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Basketball will always be football's little brother in the South. Hard to break traditions.

First thing I thought of is the kids down south play football first and then basketball second so the drain of talent away from hoops will continue as long as football is still king. Not a lot of great football comes out of inner cities in the northeast corridor (heck most schools don't have the space for sufficient facilities in the NE for football anyway) so the physically gifted kids go hoops first.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

I really don't see how Big East schools were 'relegated'. The Big East just had 6 teams in the tournament. Each school makes 5 mil a year from their tv contract. FS1 prioritizes them during basketball season. In 2014 the Big East was fifth in average attendance with 9,711 -- 950 behind second place ACC and 935 ahead of sixth place AAC.

 

[longislandcuse]

I really don't see how Big East schools were 'relegated'. The Big East just had 6 teams in the tournament. Each school makes 5 mil a year from their tv contract. FS1 prioritizes them during basketball season. In 2014 the Big East was fifth in average attendance with 9,711 -- 950 behind second place ACC and 935 ahead of sixth place AAC.

Noone thought or thinks that the drop off would be immediate. We're only one or two seasons removed from the P5 truly taking form.

 

[Alsacs]

I really don't see how Big East schools were 'relegated'. The Big East just had 6 teams in the tournament. Each school makes 5 mil a year from their tv contract. FS1 prioritizes them during basketball season. In 2014 the Big East was fifth in average attendance with 9,711 -- 950 behind second place ACC and 935 ahead of sixth place AAC.

They were relegated, but teams like Providence with Cooley, St. John's, Xavier/Butler this year, Creighton/Marquette last year stepped up. Villanova and Georgetown will always be fine because they are in Philly/DC and have enough brand cache.

The Big East will be a better version of the 1990's A-10.

 

[Lawrinson14]

I really don't see how Big East schools were 'relegated'. The Big East just had 6 teams in the tournament. Each school makes 5 mil a year from their tv contract. FS1 prioritizes them during basketball season. In 2014 the Big East was fifth in average attendance with 9,711 -- 950 behind second place ACC and 935 ahead of sixth place AAC.

6 teams that did nothing in the tournament. In 5-10 years I doubt they will be able to sustain getting 6 teams in. Also, Nova should just how lackluster the conference is by breezing through it and then losing to a mid tier ACC team.

FS1 could prioritize it all they want...no one is watching. http://georgetownvoice.com/2015/03/26/tv-ratings-for-big-east-tourney-fall/

• "This year’s 0.3 rating, however, is down 86 percent compared to the league’s 2013 final, which was broadcast on ESPN. That final, played between Syracuse and Louisville, drew a 2.3 rating."

The average attendance numbers are skewed. Only 1 team in the BE plays in an arena with a sub 10k capacity (Butler: 9,100). The ACC, for example, has 6 teams with sub 10k capacity arenas: BC (8,606), Duke (9,314), G Tech (8,600), Miami (7,972), Notre Dame (9,149), and Va Tech (9,847).

 

[dollarbill44]

It's also a numbers game. You can only have 13 scholarship players on a team, whereas football allows 85. Even if the south eventually gets a larger share of the top players, there will still be plenty of other players around for a broad base of schools to compete. Don't forget, the ACC has been around for quite a while and is mostly a southern conference.

Population shifts are also cyclical and don't last forever and don't necessarily translate to better sports programs. California is the highest populated state (and has been for a long time), yet the basketball programs haven't exactly dominated since John Wooden retired.

 

[Brooky03]

I think the downfall of the Big East will help the Big 10 and possibly West Coast basketball more than the South. Football is king in the South and the best athletes play football year-round. In colder states, a lot of the best athletes split sports or stick with basketball (especially in big cities). For instance, if you're a 6'5" high school kid in Alabama, you're doing your best to get to the NFL as a DE or TE, or something like that; you're not trying to play SG at the next level, even if you have a 45" vertical.

If we're assuming the talent is still going to come from the Northeast and Midwest, like it always has, the SEC will not pour signficant resources into bball, IMO. The ACC and Big 10 are in great shape to dominate the college basketball landscape for the foreseeable future. Nobody would even remember the SEC or Big 12 have basketball teams if not for KU and UK.

 

[shandeezy7]

Demographics would say yes. The northeast has been emptying out for decades. The south has been increasing in population. While football is still king in the south, you have to figure time and numbers will start shifting the balance of basketball in a southward direction as well. Alabama can put a national championship football team on the field while getting 80% of its recruits from within 200 miles of their campus.

Yes and no. The northeast in general has been leaking like a sieve in terms of population, but I'm guessing cities like New York, Boston, Baltimore, D.C., Philly, etc. have not lost much population at all, which is where the overwhelming majority of basketball talent in the Northeast comes from.

 

[Briancuse]

Never going to happen, other than Kentucky, football was always rule the roost, and bball will be a distraction until spring football.

 

[creatorsgam]

Scrap the basketball program. Freeze the floor of the Dome. Start a men's ice hockey team.
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