Does that make the A-10 a hunter or prey? I'm sure the CAA would love to have Richmond and Rhode Island (already football members).
Why should schools like Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul get a bigger cut than a school like Butler?Also, there have been some reports that the 7 former BE schools would initially get a larger chunk:
What hasn't really been discussed yet nationally is how this new conference's expansion will absolutely decimate the Atlantic 10. Based on reports, at least 4 and perhaps all 5 of the schools to be added will be poached from the A-10. Coupled with the forthcoming departures of Temple and NC-Charlotte, that potentially leaves the following 9 teams:
Duquesne
Fordham
G. Wash
LaSalle
U.Mass
Rhode Island
Richmond
St. Bonaventure
St. Joseph's
The A10 still has a better TV deal and the conference tourney at the Barclays Center. I think they would raid the CAA. George Mason would be a good candidate, perhaps Drexel too.Does that make the A-10 a hunter or prey? I'm sure the CAA would love to have Richmond and Rhode Island (already football members).
Mark Zeigler ‏@sdutzeiglerIt will be interesting to find out what happened at the Big East meeting today though.
As the Mountain West continues to talk with San Diego State about rejoining the conference, the Big East is prepared to move on with or without the Aztecs.
San Diego State will attend the Big East's meeting of athletic directors and presidents Friday in Dallas to "hear what is envisioned there," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said.
After talking with some Big East folks on the matter, there doesn't seem to be some big sales pitch prepared to keep San Diego State, which was scheduled to join the Big East on July 1 until Boise State opted to return to the MWC on Dec. 31.
If the Aztecs want in, they can stay, and the Big East would like to have them. Otherwise, losing SDSU is not going to break the conference's future, according to two Big East sources.
After taking several shots in 2012 -- the departure of Louisville, Rutgers and the seven Catholic basketball schools among the greatest hits list -- the Big East is eager to find out "who we are" at the Dallas meeting.
“Feels like the schools we have are ready to put the past behind and move forward as a group," one Big East source said.
In 2014, the league is replacing Louisville and Rutgers with Tulane and East Carolina. Navy joins for football in 2015.
Losing SDSU could prompt the Big East to drop plans of a Western footprint. The membership for 2014 as it stands: Cincinnati, South Florida, UConn, Central Florida, Temple, Memphis, SMU, Houston, East Carolina, Tulane.
Meanwhile, Thompson told CBSSports.com Thursday night he's been talking to SDSU president Elliot Hirshman "probably every day this week" about the dynamics of rejoining the MWC.
A president's vote is not imminent, Thompson said. Once San Diego State and the Mountain West agree to terms, Thompson must get a three-fourths majority vote of acceptance from his membership.
"I think it's cracking pretty well," Thompson said. "The devil's in the details, but no one's saying, 'No, let's shift gears.' They've spoken with CBS, TV consultants, trying to understand the whole TV structure and package."
A few days ago Andy Katz's column had this blurb:The meeting in Dallas produced no hard decisions, but the general consensus after the meeting was that San Diego State would be remaining with the Mountain West in all sports.
But following today's BE meetings, UMass sports blogger Matt Creedon tweeted this:Tulsa and UMass have been discussed as possible additions if the Big East decides to expand, according to multiple sources. Rice and Southern Miss were also tossed around. Meanwhile, the Mountain West expects to move on San Diego State by the end of this week, according to a league source. The MWC has to decide if it will go to 12 or 14. The MWC has interest in SMU and Houston, but SMU has let it be known to the MWC it has no interest as the Mustangs and Cougars are set to go to the Big East. UTEP desperately wants to be in the MWC, according to a source, and is on the MWC list. BYU is the first choice for the MWC but at this juncture the Cougars want to remain independent in football, WCC in other sports.
‏@MCreedon106
FWIW some guy claiming to have sources inside Houston AD is saying UMass will NOT get Big East invite. Never know these days. Could be true.
The only place where this is conceivable is in Uconn's dreams. The C7 aren't going to let in two football schools* who will be maneuvering to join a football conference the second the ink dries.New Blauds up, and potential good news (FINALLY) for UConn. Also, just an incredible amount of craziness that could go on in the next few months, esp with the football side of things.
http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=4719
Basically UConn and Cincy are pursuing a plan to stick with the Catholic 7 for all non-football sports. Meanwhile UConn and Cincy would potentially move on from the "BE football league if San Diego state remains with the MWC. UConn/Cincy and the BE florida and/or Texas teams could also make a move to the MWC says Blauds.
Butler Xavier and potentially STL could join the existing 9 (if UConn and Cincy actually make this work) to make a very nice 12 team hoops league. And if UConn and Cincy ever leave, they could stay at 10 or add 2 other competent schools.
MSG would also be happy to keep the UConn fanbase at the garden for what could be a very competitive BET.
One of his sources (or maybe his only sources on this) are from UConn. As a basketball and then football fan, I would love this although I still would miss Cuse and Pitt. But all things considered, the hoops would be much better than what currently might happen.
Potential hoops league
UConn
Georgetown
Marquette
Cincy
Butler
Xavier
Villanova
Providence
St. Johns
Seton Hall
Depaul
**3rd additional school - St. Louis? Someone else?
The crazy scenario is football. Is it really feasible for UConn/Cincy to try to play in the MWC? Would they tick off the rest of the new "Big East" and everything just falls apart and they're looking at the MAC? Is Blauds just pulling some of this out of his ass?
Who knows. But for hoops, I'd be all for it.
I can't see it ether. I guess maybe if as Blauds kind of suggests, that schools like Creighton and VCU would be just as available in 3 years as they are today. But still unless you are able to sell UConn and Cincy to the networks to get more money, I am not sure what value they bring the league and I think you would want to move forward with a conference that can be together longterm, and shares more of a similar size and student base.The only place where this is conceivable is in Uconn's dreams. The C7 aren't going to let in two football schools* who will be maneuvering to join a football conference the second the ink dries.
*I know UConn and Cincy aren't really "football schools", but that's whats driving the bus right now for every school that has a football team.
Name-wise, that's maybe true. Results-wise, Marquette's a better program than Georgetown and has been more consistent in recent decades (they've made the tournament every year since 2005 and have only missed it 6 times in the last 20 years; Georgetown's missed it 9 times in that period despite having an auto-bid option and a name that makes the selection committee want to pick them).As I see it, Xavier is essentially the most powerful school involved right now, because the C7 desperately needs them. Without X, the C7 honestly doesn't look that much stronger than the A10. Georgetown is the only premier program in the C7, Marquette and Villanova have been strong but inconsistent
Wouldn't having UConn in the conference valuable to Providence, St. John's, Nova, and G'Town? Would be better for them to travel to Storrs especially for their non-revenue sports vs. traveling to St. Louis or Omaha. Also if Cincy joins as well that makes 9 Big East schools that will be in this conference. Would give them a bigger claim to the Big East name should they want it.I can't see it ether. I guess maybe if as Blauds kind of suggests, that schools like Creighton and VCU would be just as available in 3 years as they are today. But still unless you are able to sell UConn and Cincy to the networks to get more money, I am not sure what value they bring the league and I think you would want to move forward with a conference that can be together longterm, and shares more of a similar size and student base.
I guess maybe you could let them in and give them big buyouts to leave. Basically set up something like a 5 -6 year plan. So basically they commit to 5 years, and if they leave before they, they basically pay an exit fee equal to what they would have earned in the remaining years. So if they leave in 2 years pay 3 years of TV fees. Leave in 4 years Pay 1 year of TV fee as an exit
From that article: The issue remains whether adding additional remembers would bring pro rata – equal or higher money than the current schools makeNothing new, per se, but Bowlsby did make some interesting comments about Big 12 expansion. This most curious quote to me in Dennis Dodd's CBS article was this ...
“That's exactly one of the questions we'll be asking ourselves,” Bowlsby said Wednesday. “Look at Maryland and Rutgers. They don't bring programs that are of the ilk of the others in the Big Ten. The philosophy clearly is: ‘As members of the Big Ten we can grow them.' “
... Does this mean they're going to examine how feasible some combo of BYU/Cincy/UConn would be? Or could this be a shot to Florida State, warning that USF could be on the table if it's content with the ACC?
Clears Cleaver said:Its a matter of who moves first, the B1G or the Big12. Everyone is waiting for the MD exit fee to be resolved. The MD AD sued the ACC today. the ACC is not paying MD its portion of the TV rights from this year. fun times. As soon as they settle (and Swofford has to play hardball in hopes of saving his conference - having the $50M upheld is the only small chance he ahs of keeping the ACC together), FSU and UNC will decide where to go (FSU to the big12 and UNC to either the B1G or the SEC) and start the chain reaction. I'm guessing every school in the conference is begging to get a seat at the big boy table.
Of course, ND will "monitor the situation," then eventually leave the ACC behind. the thing is, ESPN owns all the rights to the ACC and only partial rights to the other conferences. The ACC falling apart hurts them, thus you know Fox will pony up to help the big12. The SEC network is coming soon, too, which will also hurt ESPN.
edit: also, as far as Uconn to the C7 in hoops/olympics, the C7 would love to have them even if they knew they'd leave at the first sniff of an invite from one of the football conferences. why? Uconn immediately becomes the biggest brand program in the conference and gets them more $$ in their TV deal. but its likely not going to happen, even if Uconn never gets invited to play with the big kids.
There's been rumors for a while that they want UVA and GaTech. Or UNC.The Big 10 not done yet according to Brett McMurphy Another tweet said they are looking in the east further south.
Brett McMurphy
@McMurphyESPN
After Md./RU joined B1G, Ohio St. Prez Gordon Gee said Dec. 5 B1G expansion talks "ongoing" @brdispatch reports
https://mobile.twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/294851847976542208
No, this continues to be about TV markets. Attempting to turn this into a "Yeah, but School XXX is better in sports than School YYY!!!" debate is a non-starter. It doesn't matter. As long as the institutions in question all meet certain minimum competence criteria, the market size will win the day -- assuming the targeted schools agree to jump ship.bsj said:This continues to be about perception. Cincinnati is better than GT and Uconn id not that far behind Unc.
8slim said:This latest talk of a Big XII/ACC/PAC-12 "alliance" just shows how stupidly short-sighted conference expansion has been. The conspiracy theorists would have you believe there is some master plan being implemented that ends up with a tidy 4X16 super-power conference model. The reality is that these dopey ADs and college presidents are just careening from one "plan" to another. I mean all 3 of these conferences just signed long-term media deals within the past 18 months. Now they're going to blow those up for this alliance? Because the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland? Larry Scott is the only guy with a lick of sense. He wants a 70-ish team college league that negotiates its deals as one entity (ala the NFL, NBA and MLB ) and aligns by logical geography. Of course that would yield tons more money and the establishment of the rivalries that fuel fan interest. Of course that means there is zero chance it will happen. Idiots, all of them.
BigMike said:The Scott plan does seem great and awful at the same time. Sure for a school like BC it would be great to share the TV money evenly, while at the same time it would be pretty lousy for the home/road schedule.
On the other hand a school like Texas, Bama, Ohio State who brings a ton more viewers to the TV sets gets a lot less money, which I am sure would piss them off. Also they may not like who they end up with Geographically as they lose some rivals. Also of course the divisions are going to be horribly unbalanced when it comes to quality of play, and thus quality of champion
http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=8894680The Big Ten might put more emphasis on geography when shuffling divisions after eastern schools Maryland and Rutgers join the Midwest-centric league by 2014.
Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner said officials within the league have had several discussions over the phone about potential divisional alignments.
"I have a feeling it will be more geography-based," Joyner said. "There seems to be a lot of sentiment for that."It would be especially helpful, Joyner said, to ease travel issues and funding for travel, especially for Olympic sports.
That's a pretty weak western divisionInfield Infidel said:Apparently Gene Smith favors being in the same conference as Michigan, and Brandon "would certainly not be opposed to being in the same division as OSU if it was in the best interest of our conference."
If that's the case, it cuts pretty easily, right?
East- Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana/Purdue
West- Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana/Purdue
I know programs go through ebbs and flows, but almost have to split up the 6 best programs in the conference, right (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin).Infield Infidel said:Apparently Gene Smith favors being in the same conference as Michigan, and Brandon "would certainly not be opposed to being in the same division as OSU if it was in the best interest of our conference."
If that's the case, it cuts pretty easily, right?
East- Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana/Purdue
West- Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana/Purdue
In spring 2012, Huntingdon and Covenant—the two remaining coed GSAC schools—announced that they'd also be making the move to the USA South. In the fall, Spelman College made national headlines by deciding to cut its athletics department altogether and route the money into campus-wide exercise programs. The GSAC was back down to five women's programs, and once again on the NCAA clock. So, two weeks ago, the conference added three more "championship" schools: Mills College, Finlandia University, and University of Maine at Presque Isle.
These programs are really, really out of the way. Mills College is in the San Francisco Bay Area. Finlandia is on a small peninsula that juts north out of Michigan's Upper Peninusla, which is already as far north as you can get in that state. University of Maine at Presque Isle is in the French-Canadian northlands of the state, due east of Quebec City. Female athletes at these three schools will now get a real chance to compete for an NCAA championship; all they have to do in exchange is make a once-a-year, thousands-of-miles pilgrimage to the "Great South" for their sports' annual conference tournament, at their schools' expense. Instead of limiting automatic qualifiers, the guidelines just encouraged conferences to stretch across the continent.
I think you're overlooking Iowa which is at least on the same level as Michigan State if not a small cut abovegmogmo said:I know programs go through ebbs and flows, but almost have to split up the 6 best programs in the conference, right (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin).
All valid points, guess I'm thinking Wiscy is also likely to take a step back and Michigan and Ohio State likely to dominate the conference for short-medium term future as well.Infield Infidel said:I think you're overlooking Iowa which is at least on the same level as Michigan State if not a small cut above
And we don't yet know how good PSU will be post Paterno and post sanctions
Notre Dame would run to the Catholic 7 in a heart beat if that happened. Hell they are still on the fence now and ACC is getting nervous.axx said:I wonder if they think by raiding the ACC Notre Dame will finally join.
TomRicardo said:Notre Dame would run to the Catholic 7 in a heart beat if that happened. Hell they are still on the fence now and ACC is getting nervous.
mabrowndog said:Interesting read about the Great South Athletic Conference and how the realignment craze has had impacts even down to the Division III level. In this case, the geographic alignment reaches the point of hyperbolic ridicule.
To set the stage, in 2011 its 9 members were all in the heart of the southeast covering just 4 states: AL, GA, NC & TN.
in the end I don't think it matters, in the big picture. they need to make it easier for fans to travel to road games and if they're going to spread to the east coast they need to have the teams in the each region together.gmogmo said:All valid points, guess I'm thinking Wiscy is also likely to take a step back and Michigan and Ohio State likely to dominate the conference for short-medium term future as well.