To the Big East? I don't know who this guy is or how reputable he is but this is what he is reporting. Also Memphis. Here's the deal with Memphis.... Fed EX has offered to pay any BCS conference 10 million to take them. Sounds like the BE is going to be proactive although an 18 team basketball conference? Seriously? http://www.clickorlando.com/knights/23927913/detail.html
The Big East is a mess... Memphis would be a good fit in the new Big XII... PS I wonder, are there any schools with a football conference and no bball team? 18 team is crazy...
They need to make that their thanksgiving games. Regardless of what happens, we'll be playing USF again. Skip Holtz, unlike The Jim, wants to use the rivalry... If only Judy Genshaft didnt hate us so much. I've heard as early as next Wednesday, UCF and Memphis, will receive "conditional invites." The riff between football and basketball schools is really proving to be a hassle... The football teams want to fix the scheduling nightmare, and the basketball teams want to avoid the forming of divisions, and would rather give money to Nova to bring there program up to FBS standards... and that's an absolute joke. I don't see nova even WANTING to be FBS.
I couldn't answer that, because I can't take the Nova talk seriously. This guy Ping, who started the rumors, is usually spot on with breaking stories, honestly. He was the first to report the Meyer health issue midseason last year, while UF denied the story. As you've seen, I believe the Big Easts only way of survival is through being proactive, and that is basically what the the UCF AD has been preaching to the Big East... And according to Pingalore, UCF has successfully convinced the Big East members to make a move. UCF and Memphis being the combo. Big East gets the Orlando market and the FL travel partner, while adding a very well funded basketball school in Memphis. I'm of the belief that the Big East is going to be quiet for at least another week, while the presidents make the votes. It's gotten really quiet down here. Like, really quiet. Before the Pac10/Big10 expansions happened, Orlando was a hotbed for talk. Now that UCF has been mentioned nationally, nobody knows anything.
What happens when I can't sleep: So me and my roommate were hanging out discussing some expansion ideas, since this just doesn't get old for me. Even though the WVU AD has said the Big East will not split up, I think the best way for them to become successful would be to have a split in conferences, but operate under one umbrella. Lets say they "split" (Football schools = BE Basketball schools = LE)but stay under the same league office and combine for a single TV network. For MBB, and I guess WBB too, have an inter-league tournament. Pretty sure NCAA policy is if 6 schools have been together for 5+ years then they can split and form a new conference and be granted an automatic bid to NCAA Championships. The BE and LE would essentially run themselves as separate conferences for the sake of championships (volleyball, soccer, tennis, baseball, etc.) For Mens and Womens BB, some interleague system would work fine. The BE and LE, operating under the one main league office could have split coverage on a Big East Network. Possible league: Big East 1.) Rutgers 2.)UCONN 3.) Syracuse 4.)Louisville 5.)Cincinnati 6.)Pittsburgh 7.)West Virginia 8.)USF 9.)UCF*** 10.)Memphis*** Little East 1.) Notre Dame 2.) Depaul 3.) Georgetown 4.) Marquette 5.) Providence 6.) St. Johns 7.) Seton Hall 8.) Villanova Possible Additions (pick 2) 9.) Dayton**** 10.) Xavier*** 11.) Richmond*** 12.) UMASS**** Would something like this work, realistically?
The Big East would LOVE if Villanova upped it's program to FBS standards. They extended an offer out to 'Nova (and UConn, who accepted) to join in 1997, which 'Nova declined. The two biggest issues regarding an upgrade right now seem to be: (1) the school doesn't seem to have the money, and thus support from the administration, to make such a move (2) the stadium on campus doesn't seat enough for FBS standards (I think there needs to be a minimum of 15,000 seats and the stadium seats 12,000), and Radnor township won't give Villanova permission to make the necessary expansion. But many think they'd be able to rent out the new Philadelphia Union stadium for the six or so home games a year. As to why Villanova and not Georgetown, Villanova's team has done fairly well in FCS as of late, and just won the championship last year. They beat Temple, who had a good year last year and made it to bowl game, in September. My guess is that they feel Villanova would be able to be competitive fairly quickly after making a move, whereas Georgetown's team has not been really competitive at all at the FCS level. As a current student, I'd say most students and alumni would absolutely love to see Villanova play in the Big East. However, the problem seems to be that the administration will fight tooth and nail with the rest of the basketball only schools to keep the even eight-and-eight split. The only way I see 'Nova making the jump is if Big East officials go to the administration and say, "Look, we need to expand our football conference. You have an invite to upgrade and keep the status quo, but if you don't, there's a chance you and the other basketball-only's will be left out in the wind." However, I don't expect the Big East to ever do that, and I really don't think Villanova would abandon the other Catholic schools like that (as they seem to think a Catholic-only basketball league featuring those schools and the likes of Xavier, Dayton, etc. would be just as competitive/highly-thought of as the Big East), and that really is a shame, because if the Big East doesn't act now, when another realignment comes, there's a very realistic chance it's going to be forced into either cutting the cord with the basketball only schools, or getting picked to shreds by the Big 10/ACC.
I missed this before responding, but this is most likely what would eventually happen if Villanova were to refuse to upgrade it's football program and the Big East added two other football schools. The basketball only schools would break apart and form their own conference, while looking to add some of the schools you mentioned (I've also heard schools like St. Joes, Temple, URI, St. Louis and Fordham talked about in addition to the ones you listed). The basketball-only schools in the Big East have some of the biggest egos I've ever heard of. They seem to think they'd be just fine in their own conference, when the reality is that most of their money comes from the TV contract and revenue sharing they get from being members of the Big East, and they're going to really struggle to get that as their own rouge conference. While they seem to think they'll be just as big as the Big East and the other BCS conferences, it's more likely they'd fall to the ranks of the A-10 and other mid-majors, where they won't see nearly as much money.
One thing I don't get (not living in the US)... are there really so many more people following college football than college basketball? I would have thought that TV-wise they would be worth roughly the same... I thought football had a bit more fans but bball had more games (TV worth = how many commercials they can sell).
i heard about this and this is good and i am sure about that Big East is going to be easily for at least two another weeks.Nobody knows anything what actually going to happen.we can just hope and i am still hoping for that.
