Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[Seadragon76]

Big East basketball schools b!tching about adding Tulane not realizing that they were the deadweight on the Conference RPI. Priceless, Don't cry for them. And yeah, the destruction of the Conference does kind of drift back to the basketball school's efforts to underplay football when that was the money cart. It's their own fault the football schools that were good at basketball got pissed and left.

You know, how were most of the schools being, as you put it, 'dead weight on the Conference RPI'? The only one that hasn't been able to stand on it's own two feet recently has been DePaul.

If anything, those seven schools finally grew a collective pair and want to get out of town.

Now, I know this belongs in the realignment thread, but there are two scenarios out there for this.

Scenario A: The 'Group of Seven' (as it's known for now) form their own league and ask Butler, Xavier and St. Louis to join them in forming a 10 team basketball based league that would get most of the key TV markets out there.

Scenario B: The five eastern members of the 'Group of Seven' take the six northern most A-10 schools (UMass, Rhode Island, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Duquesne) and form their own league. Meanwhile, Marquette and DePaul invite Butler, Xavier, St. Louis and Creighton to form another new league. This group would then look into other possible members (The ones that come to mind are IUPUI, Oral Roberts, Oakland and the Wisconsin schools)

[rams80]

Big East basketball schools b!tching about adding Tulane not realizing that they were the deadweight on the Conference RPI. Priceless, Don't cry for them. And yeah, the destruction of the Conference does kind of drift back to the basketball school's efforts to underplay football when that was the money cart. It's their own fault the football schools that were good at basketball got pissed and left.

You know, how were most of the schools being, as you put it, 'dead weight on the Conference RPI'? The only one that hasn't been able to stand on it's own two feet recently has been DePaul.

If anything, those seven schools finally grew a collective pair and want to get out of town.

Seton Hall has been to the NCAA tournament 3 times since 1999, none since 2006

Providence has been dancing twice in that span, last in 2004

St. John's has been 3 times-their 2011 invite was their first since 2002

DePaul has 2 trips; none since joining in 2005,

Villanova had a good run in the mid-2000s but is cratering fast.

I stand by what I said. You want basketball deadweight? Look no further than the Big East's basketball-only contingent. And yeah, the Conference was run with the basketball schools getting a disproportionate (compared to what they brought to the table) share of the TV money and for the longest time refused any expansion of football despite the football schools desperation to get an 8 game Conference slate. That their cushy little haven burned down around them is their own fault.

[DarkJourney]

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

[bosrs1]

For the sake of schools like Boise State and San Diego State that still have time to go crawling back to the leagues they came from, here's hoping the "Group of 7" vote to disband the conference and put and end to the travesty that is the Big East.

[DarkJourney]

For the sake of schools like Boise State and San Diego State that still have time to go crawling back to the leagues they came from, here's hoping the "Group of 7" vote to disband the conference and put and end to the travesty that is the Big East.

Back to the Mountain West. A tidy 12-team MWC with 2 divisions.

Mountain

Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming

Coastal

Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

[bosrs1]

For the sake of schools like Boise State and San Diego State that still have time to go crawling back to the leagues they came from, here's hoping the "Group of 7" vote to disband the conference and put and end to the travesty that is the Big East.

Back to the Mountain West. A tidy 12-team MWC with 2 divisions.

Mountain

Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming

Coastal

Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Possibly 14 if BYU comes back as has been rumored. And on top of it the MWC reportedly is paying its schools between 2 and 3 million a year right now. The "new" Big East minus the 7 basketball schools would only be paying 1.29-1.8 million a year. Add in the loss of thee BIg East's automatic BCS berth under the new playoff system (where the MWC and Big East now have equal access to the playoff system) and there is no benefit for either BSU or SDSU moving over anymore.

[Raysfan12]

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

That is an insanely good conference right there.

For the sake of schools like Boise State and San Diego State that still have time to go crawling back to the leagues they came from, here's hoping the "Group of 7" vote to disband the conference and put and end to the travesty that is the Big East.

Back to the Mountain West. A tidy 12-team MWC with 2 divisions.

Mountain

Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming

Coastal

Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

That is how I predict the MWC would be.

[Billy B]

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

That is an insanely good conference right there.

I don't think we have the same idea of what an "insanely good conference" is.

[Raysfan12]

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

That is an insanely good conference right there.

I don't think we have the same idea of what an "insanely good conference" is.

Xavier, Creighton, Butler, and Georgetown in the same conference is really good. All the other teams are solid additions as well.

[bosrs1]

According to USA Today it's official. The 7 basketball schools are pulling out. They just have to decide if they're going to cripple the Big East or just end it. The former supposedly leaves cash on the table but is easier to do. The latter is more lucrative but harder to set up. Either way, they're gone. Hopefully this finally puts and end to what's left of this once proud conference and allows the poor saps who got sucked in to joining a way to gracefully exit.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/bigeast/2012/12/13/big-east-conference-basketball-split-catholic-member-schools/1767387/

[rams80]

According to USA Today it's official. The 7 basketball schools are pulling out. They just have to decide if they're going to cripple the Big East or just end it. The former supposedly leaves cash on the table but is easier to do. The latter is more lucrative but harder to set up. Either way, they're gone. Hopefully this finally puts and end to what's left of this once proud conference and allows the poor saps who got sucked in to joining a way to gracefully exit.

http://www.usatoday....chools/1767387/

Actually the latter should be more financially damaging because you lose the autobid and Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers are so going to either sue for their exit fees back or argue that they shouldn't pay them.

[illwauk]

According to USA Today it's official. The 7 basketball schools are pulling out. They just have to decide if they're going to cripple the Big East or just end it. The former supposedly leaves cash on the table but is easier to do. The latter is more lucrative but harder to set up. Either way, they're gone. Hopefully this finally puts and end to what's left of this once proud conference and allows the poor saps who got sucked in to joining a way to gracefully exit.

http://www.usatoday....chools/1767387/

Actually the latter should be more financially damaging because you lose the autobid and Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers are so going to either sue for their exit fees back or argue that they shouldn't pay them.

Not sure that's really an issue. Could you really see the champion of this conference not getting an at-large bid?

The ESPN article also mentioned that they're looking to start a national catholic conference with Butler, Dayton, Creighton, Gonzaga, Saint Louis, Xavier and possibly St. Mary's, but even with the former Big East 7, I don't see a scenario where they don't get at least one at-large invite.

[thespleenenator]

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

That is an insanely good conference right there.

I don't think we have the same idea of what an "insanely good conference" is.

I don't know about insanely good, but that would certainly be a 3-4 bid conference.

[rams80]

According to USA Today it's official. The 7 basketball schools are pulling out. They just have to decide if they're going to cripple the Big East or just end it. The former supposedly leaves cash on the table but is easier to do. The latter is more lucrative but harder to set up. Either way, they're gone. Hopefully this finally puts and end to what's left of this once proud conference and allows the poor saps who got sucked in to joining a way to gracefully exit.

http://www.usatoday....chools/1767387/

Actually the latter should be more financially damaging because you lose the autobid and Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers are so going to either sue for their exit fees back or argue that they shouldn't pay them.

Not sure that's really an issue. Could you really see the champion of this conference not getting an at-large bid?

The ESPN article also mentioned that they're looking to start a national catholic conference with Butler, Dayton, Creighton, Gonzaga, Saint Louis, Xavier and possibly St. Mary's, but even with the former Big East 7, I don't see a scenario where they don't get at least one at-large invite.

Oh yeah, but there's really no point to the Conference tournament then. Which means that 3/4s of your league might want to just forget playing next season.

EDIT: PSSST....ESPN....Butler's not Catholic!

[bosrs1]

According to USA Today it's official. The 7 basketball schools are pulling out. They just have to decide if they're going to cripple the Big East or just end it. The former supposedly leaves cash on the table but is easier to do. The latter is more lucrative but harder to set up. Either way, they're gone. Hopefully this finally puts and end to what's left of this once proud conference and allows the poor saps who got sucked in to joining a way to gracefully exit.

http://www.usatoday....chools/1767387/

Actually the latter should be more financially damaging because you lose the autobid and Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers are so going to either sue for their exit fees back or argue that they shouldn't pay them.

Not sure that's really an issue. Could you really see the champion of this conference not getting an at-large bid?

The ESPN article also mentioned that they're looking to start a national catholic conference with Butler, Dayton, Creighton, Gonzaga, Saint Louis, Xavier and possibly St. Mary's, but even with the former Big East 7, I don't see a scenario where they don't get at least one at-large invite.

Yeah it's looking like the remaining "Big East" teams would be granted a waiver and autobid if the 7 schools disbanded the Big East and took its current autobid with them. But that assumes the incoming basketball schools would still join the league with 7 of their peers now gone. Frankly I think this is it. This should be the final nail in the coffin of the Big East. I mean there really is no benefit for any of the incoming schools to continue with the process at this point as they don't stand to make any money in what's left of the Big East. And in many cases like BSU and SDSU they'll be leaving potentially up to a million or more dollars annually on the table by leaving their current conferences.

[DarkJourney]

I can't see Gonzaga & St. Mary's making those cross country treks in basketball and vice versa with the other schools coming west. Traveling in basketball is a totally different animal than football.

[bosrs1]

I can't see Gonzaga & St. Mary's making those cross country treks in basketball and vice versa with the other schools coming west. Traveling in basketball is a totally different animal than football.

Agreed. Not a chance. The 7 schools are good, but they're not a huge upgrade over what the WCC schools like St. Mary's and Gonzaga enjoy now. And they add way too much travel. As it is the WCC schools weren't thrilled with having to travel to Utah when BYU joined.

[Island_Style]

Gene Williams, the head of Warchant.com, has said that FSU and SEC are talking. He says it is a "is there any way to fit us in?" type deal. And if the SEC says no, Big12 time. It could happen. Saban wants FSU bad.

[RyanB06]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8745235/seven-schools-agree-leave-big-east-debating-process-source-says

The Big East as we know it is dead.

[Raysfan12]

http://espn.go.com/c...ess-source-says

The Big East as we know it is dead.

RIP Big East Conference. Thanks for all the great and not so great memories like the 7-OT game between UConn-Syracuse in the BE Tournament and Louisville-Rutgers match ups of 2006 and 2012.