Pitt Paper: Break Up Big East Conference

[kchoya]

www.post-gazette.com/pg/05005/437358.stm

"The football-playing schools need to separate from the other members and form a league of their own, where schools share common interests and goals."

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Saw the link off DFW's front page, and read the column. Didn't say much that was that interesting, although it is mainly a rehash of the same arguments that were made before the big east realignment... of course, the columnist thinks it would make sense for the football schools to retain Notre Dame...

Not sure of the likelihood of all of this happening, but it is somewhat amazing that the BE has lasted to this point, and therefore, somewhat hard to imagine the conference not surviving yet another plan to break it up.

[SFHoya99]

I just find it funny -- every five years the teams cut would be pretty different.

Frankly, I think I'd put that sucker up on a bulletin board.

[showcase]

The best conference isn't necessarily the one with the best teams. Even when the ACC didn't have the best teams -- like in 1985 when the Big East had three teams in the Final Four -- it was the best conference. It was so because it had tradition and rivalries and fabulous home-and-home competition. That's what makes a great conference.

I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth. *#$! ACC homer. And isn't the ACC doing away with these cherished home-and-homes?

It's never a good idea to have such diverse members under the same umbrella. It's always best for universities within the same conference to have similar goals and objectives. With such divergent interests, massive divorce is the way to go. The football-playing schools need to separate from the other members and form a league of their own, where schools share common interests and goals.

It won't hurt that this league would be a basketball powerhouse. The members would be: Connecticut, Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers and South Florida. What a league that would be. If it were together this season, every member except South Florida and Rutgers would have an excellent chance of qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

This guy is a sports columnist? He's like a year late and a dollar short. Where was this braniac when the ACC was pilfering Miami, BC, and VTech? I bet he thinks he came up with this genius realignment concept all on his own.

And as if ND would deign to associate its football program with those clowns.

The Big East teams left out of this league would be DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova. These schools have many things in common, most notably they've all seen better days as basketball powers. They all are going downhill and most don't figure to stop.

Hey, Smizik: Bucknell 69, Pitt 66.

[SFHoya99]

No, the very best part is where he says nine teams is too many.

Hey, buddy, nine teams is what the ACC has had for years! It is perfect -- home and homes leading to a 16 game season.

And it is great for him, as long as it is the ACC?

[showcase]

Reading this piece left me wondering why some columnist would dredge up pie-in-the-sky fantasies from a year ago. The little devil's advocate in my brain said "Well, columnists are supposed to stir up controversy and discussion."

If that's what this piece was intended to do, however, dredging up canned crap(and really bad crap, at that) for an audience that you're already going to have a hard time winning over does little more than mark this Smizik clown as the Ashlee Simpson of columnists.

[MCIGuy]

The most annoying thing about this is that it comes after a season in which the BE football teams did not distinguish themselves and absolutely STUNK in the Bowl games.

This is typical stuff coming from football schools and the hacks that cover them. As soon as UConn won their first Bowl game fans on their basketball board started talking about which conference they should join. One newspaper writer wrote that they should move to the Big Ten.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Well hey, it was against that powerhouse -- Toledo!

[Cambridge]

Yawn...if Pitt wants to go start a conference with South Florida...go ahead.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

Didn't Pitt get rocked by Utah 35-7? I don't like the super conferences but it is the future when football is paying the bills.

[2ndRyan]

Where's this hack been?

Marquette and DePaul are clearly programs on the rise. St. John's once it digs out will be good again. There'll always be city kids that decide to stay home and play. Once we starting mining the DC talent lode again, we will be at least respectable and some years quite good.

That bozo is right about one thing- if the basketball schools go their own way, they keep the Big East name. I suggest this dork name his dream conference 3M (Mediocre Mid-Major).

[JimmyHoya]

This man has greater logic than GOD!

Providence saw better days in the late 80's with Pitino..and a magical year in 1997 when they got to the Elite 8...which are OBVIOUSLY superior to the past 3 CONSECUTIVE year's of sucess where they've gone from teh dumpster, to a competitive team, to an NCAA team, to what should be another great year with a PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE. Calling this steady trend "progress" is a farse! Look back 15 years and see the greatness!




....someone let this clown know that the 2000 election is gonna be a mess, sell his .com stocks, and to scrap future NYC trip plans. He's a few years too late...

[HOYAPLAYA]

I guess Pitt should drop their football program and leave the big east now that we've beat them on their home floor.

[kghoya]

HOYAPLAYA said:

I guess Pitt should drop their football program and leave the big east now that we've beat them on their home floor.

agreed!

[Big Dog]

The guy writes for a paper in Pittsburgh for a reason. Not worth expending a breath to worry what he thinks.

[Fan Of The Game]

Bring on the Hartfod Courant!

[DFW HOYA]

Anotehr setback for the I-A Big East teams:

Houston beat #17 Louisville, 70-67. Houston.

The Cougars, once as strong a program as you could find in college hoops, had not defeated a Top 25 team in not three years, but since 1996. Despite being the largest school in a city of 4 million, only 4,238 came out to see an upset of a Top 20 team.

sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200501050254

[Big Dog]

Stuff like this is encouraging. It further demonstrates the increased parity across all of college basketball now that most truly top players go straight to the pros. What it means is that the lines between big conference and small conference teams (yes I know Louisville and Houston are still in the same conference at the moment) are becoming more and more blurred WHICH MEANS that concerns about major conference break-ups and membership aren't really so important.

[DanMcQ]

...get a load of this one written after the Pitt loss to Bucknell and before the GU game:

Ron Cook: Pitt's loss [to Bucknell] not end of world

www.post-gazette.com/pg/05004/436846.stm

"One ugly loss doesn't mean Taft and Chevon Troutman no longer are one of the top inside combinations in America.

One ugly loss doesn't mean Carl Krauser isn't still the best point guard in the Big East.

One ugly loss doesn't mean Jamie Dixon suddenly has forgotten how to coach or will panic or will allow his team to crumble."

"I'm guessing Pitt will play well tomorrow night and make Georgetown pay."


...give me a call when you return from Vegas, Ron...

[Hoyaholic]

Smizik's argument is poorly written and his logic non-sensical, but I for one agree that the Big East is a complete mess and part of me was hoping for a final football/non-football rift last year.

I'd rather play in a league, all-Catholic or otherwise, where schools share relatively similar profiles and the scheduling retains continuity year-to-year. The 16 team format is going to suck, just like all the others before it since we expanded beyond Miami.

All good things come to an end. Connecticut and Syracuse barely acknowledge us as rivals anymore. Let them have their football-centric conference. I'll take a basketball-first conference with the seven teams he mentioned plus Xavier, ND, and maybe one more.