interesting take on building a college team

[hoyaloya]

HoyaJake: Thanks for the good info.

[hoyafan23]

I wish we could somehow get some western teams. I cant help but think about gonzaga, UNLV, or BYU. UNLVs recruiting will make them a top 25 team shortly and none of them have football.

On a side note also the idea of a UConn or Memphis deal where they play all sports but football is also intriguing if you lock them into not bailing.

[HoyasAreHungry]

UNLV and BYU have football FYI.

What you mentioned above about Memphis and Uconn would be my wish for sure. Like it or not we need programs like that. Similarly, they should want to play in the BE. Just hope they would somehow see it that way.

[Deleted]

UConn didn't invest $100 Million in their football program to play in the MAC. That leaves them in the AAC until a P5 invite comes (if ever).

Memphis has a history with the southern schools now in the AAC. At least now they can say they are in a better basketball conference with Cincinnati, UConn and Temple. The top half of the AAC is a pretty good basketball conference. The bottom half is atrocious.

[drquigley]

I think we miss the point when we talk about new teams and their attendance. I don't care about how they draw at home as much as I care about how they draw on the road, I.e. What kind of alumni base do they have? Teams like Butler, Xavier, and even Creighton won't do well on the road unless, like Creighton this year, they are a top 20 team. I don't see St Louis packing the Verizon Center next year. If we expand we need to get VCU and maybe UMASS. Or better yet dump DePaul and replace them with VCU.

[njhoya78]

Feb 20, 2014 8:14:17 GMT -5 HoyasAreHungry said:

UNLV and BYU have football FYI.

What you mentioned above about Memphis and Uconn would be my wish for sure. Like it or not we need programs like that. Similarly, they should want to play in the BE. Just hope they would somehow see it that way.

Unless Memphis and UConn drop football entirely (which isn't happening), they are not coming to the Big East. You can't "bind" them to coming with all sports but football, and expect that will keep them in the league; we tried that in the old Big East, and we saw how well that worked out. It would be a big mistake for the league to invite schools such as Memphis and UConn who have invested significant resources in upgrading their football programs; college football is the engine that runs (or ruins, as the case may be) college sports today, and schools who harbor the misguided belief that they can compete at that level have very different motivations than those which led to the formation of the new Big East. For this league to grow and succeed, it has to adhere to the original mission statement.

[DFW HOYA]

Feb 20, 2014 11:00:07 GMT -5 njhoya78 said:

Feb 20, 2014 8:14:17 GMT -5 HoyasAreHungry said:

UNLV and BYU have football FYI.

What you mentioned above about Memphis and Uconn would be my wish for sure. Like it or not we need programs like that. Similarly, they should want to play in the BE. Just hope they would somehow see it that way.

Unless Memphis and UConn drop football entirely (which isn't happening), they are not coming to the Big East. You can't "bind" them to coming with all sports but football, and expect that will keep them in the league; we tried that in the old Big East, and we saw how well that worked out. It would be a big mistake for the league to invite schools such as Memphis and UConn who have invested significant resources in upgrading their football programs; college football is the engine that runs (or ruins, as the case may be) college sports today, and schools who harbor the misguided belief that they can compete at that level have very different motivations than those which led to the formation of the new Big East. For this league to grow and succeed, it has to adhere to the original mission statement.

You could get UConn and Temple if they signed a basketball grant of rights, which is what's keeping the ACC together (for now). Cincinnati and USF may be angling for a Big 12 invite which would leave the Huskies further in the cold (pun intneded).

For the Big East to grow and survive, it must build in sports beyond merely basketball, otherwise, it's a Fox-fortified scheduling agreement between schools that otherwise don't commit to athletics beyond one sport.

Weak roots do not grow tall trees.

[hoyafan23]

i am just tired of the big east having close to no coverage. Sure we have nova and creighton this year, but we need more brand names. If we add St. Louis or Dayton (or someone of that caliber) with the exception of Georgetown (usually) many of these teams will have mostly down years with the exception of 1 to 2 good years every 5 years. Coming from the east coast i loved playing big schools because it would always allow for friendly competition amongst friends so each game would count a little more (i know many people who went to louisville, cuse, uconn OR who grew up liking them). Now we are playing teams like Butler, Xavier, SH, Depaul, St. Johns who I know close to no one roots for away from there hometown cities

Another factor is the rivalry factor. Maybe it is too young but I attended the Gtown-Nova game and there was not that same spirit/hate. I am interested to see the next two years with everyone's recruiting classes but I just pray we get some big named universities in the Big East. Hopefully we become the same big east and not just a glorified/historic A10.

[hoyafan23]

On a side note thought...

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

6 teams projected in for the Big East just as much as any other league...

[hoyasaxa2003]

Feb 20, 2014 12:16:44 GMT -5 hoyafan23 said:

i am just tired of the big east having close to no coverage. Sure we have nova and creighton this year, but we need more brand names. If we add St. Louis or Dayton (or someone of that caliber) with the exception of Georgetown (usually) many of these teams will have mostly down years with the exception of 1 to 2 good years every 5 years. Coming from the east coast i loved playing big schools because it would always allow for friendly competition amongst friends so each game would count a little more (i know many people who went to louisville, cuse, uconn OR who grew up liking them). Now we are playing teams like Butler, Xavier, SH, Depaul, St. Johns who I know close to no one roots for away from there hometown cities

Another factor is the rivalry factor. Maybe it is too young but I attended the Gtown-Nova game and there was not that same spirit/hate. I am interested to see the next two years with everyone's recruiting classes but I just pray we get some big named universities in the Big East. Hopefully we become the same big east and not just a glorified/historic A10.

One of the problems we will face in getting coverage is the fact that ESPN controls much of the sports coverage in the United States, and they have absolutely no incentive to provide that coverage to us. The best way to remedy that is to have elite programs that make a splash in March - the only way to force some level of coverage.

Of course, the other factor would be Fox Sports 1 increasing its stature and influence, which would obviously help the Big East in a lot of ways. That will not happen overnight, for sure, but I am sure Fox Sports 1 will be aggressively seeking to improve its distribution as time goes on.

Unfortunately, rivalries need time to develop, so in that sense there's not a whole lot we can do. You really need a series of competitive games over multiple seasons against very good teams. I think it will happen, but it may take a while, and I certainly would not expect any Syracuse-Georgetown type rivalries to form quickly, if ever.

I am definitely among those who would prefer to see adding Temple and Connecticut (or Memphis) than teams like Dayton or St. Louis. Until the football landscape shakes out, I really don't think the Big East should expand, unless you have an option to add an extremely valuable program. The only way I can see that we would draw Connecticut is if they are left on the outside looking in when the football shuffling stops, and they have no better choice. That would probably also require the AAC collapsing (or getting to the point where the better programs all leave for better conferences), which is still a very real possibility.

[This Just In]

Feb 20, 2014 12:10:26 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Feb 20, 2014 11:00:07 GMT -5 njhoya78 said:

Unless Memphis and UConn drop football entirely (which isn't happening), they are not coming to the Big East. You can't "bind" them to coming with all sports but football, and expect that will keep them in the league; we tried that in the old Big East, and we saw how well that worked out. It would be a big mistake for the league to invite schools such as Memphis and UConn who have invested significant resources in upgrading their football programs; college football is the engine that runs (or ruins, as the case may be) college sports today, and schools who harbor the misguided belief that they can compete at that level have very different motivations than those which led to the formation of the new Big East. For this league to grow and succeed, it has to adhere to the original mission statement.

You could get UConn and Temple if they signed a basketball grant of rights, which is what's keeping the ACC together (for now). Cincinnati and USF may be angling for a Big 12 invite which would leave the Huskies further in the cold (pun intneded).

For the Big East to grow and survive, it must build in sports beyond merely basketball, otherwise, it's a Fox-fortified scheduling agreement between schools that otherwise don't commit to athletics beyond one sport.

Weak roots do not grow tall trees.

Agree.  Unless the New Big East wants a long-term view of being 1-dimensional or a few years away from being considered a new mid-major, then the other sports must be equally addressed...primarily the glaring football issue.

[the_way]

Feb 20, 2014 15:18:07 GMT -5 This Just In said:

Feb 20, 2014 12:10:26 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

You could get UConn and Temple if they signed a basketball grant of rights, which is what's keeping the ACC together (for now). Cincinnati and USF may be angling for a Big 12 invite which would leave the Huskies further in the cold (pun intneded).

For the Big East to grow and survive, it must build in sports beyond merely basketball, otherwise, it's a Fox-fortified scheduling agreement between schools that otherwise don't commit to athletics beyond one sport.

Weak roots do not grow tall trees.

Agree.  Unless the New Big East wants a long-term view of being 1-dimensional or a few years away from being considered a new mid-major, then the other sports must be equally addressed...primarily the glaring football issue.

Unfortunately, we are already a new mid-major or A-10. As time goes on, that reality is becoming clearer and clearer.

But, it could have been worse.

The New Big East knows what it is. We are a basketball conference. And we fans just have to accept it. Football is growing and growing and growing. And will continue to dictate how things go.

So, we had to go the alternate route.

We, along with the other schools, were fortunate enough to form the New Big East. Also, Fox Sports 1 was willing to take us. We both probably needed each other to trying to get off the ground.

It has been an adjustment phase this year. Not seeing our guys on Big Monday's. Not playing Pitt, Cuse or UCONN gives you a little empty feeling. It was a great ride, the Old Big East.

We've been spoiled.

Change is inevitable. We have the New Big East. It could have been worse. We could have ended up in the Patriot league.