Bye, bye Big East?

Donate To GopherHole

Yep, they're gone: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/coll...asketball_only_schools_c2PMii2vTg8twF80US3G6H

The Big East Conference, the only to send three teams to a Final Four, will announce Thursday that its non-FBS programs are splitting from their brethren, sources told The Post.

The presidents of the seven schools that don’t play big time football - DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova - are holding a teleconference with Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco Thursday and expected to issue a statement this afternoon saying that are parting ways.
Click to expand...
 


So for those keeping track, here's where Big East basketball stands with the latest defections:

Cincinnati
UConn
USF
UCF
Houston
SMU
Temple
Tulane
Memphis
 

Not difficult to see why Cincy & UConn are virtually begging to get out of the conference.

I suspect the next domino is Boise State and San Diego State will decide to stay in the Mountain West. Maybe BYU will come back, too? The Mountain West is going to be one of the big winners amidst all this conference reshuffling.
 



I imagine a dream scenario for the "Catholic 7" is to grab Xavier, Butler, maybe VCU from the A10, and maybe Creighton, and start negotiating a TV deal. Zags would also be an interesting add but I don't think they make geographic sense.
 

Gopher07 said:
So for those keeping track, here's where Big East basketball stands with the latest defections:

Cincinnati
UConn
USF
UCF
Houston
SMU
Temple
Tulane
Memphis
Click to expand...

What a mess. Let the 7 basketball schools keep the name Big East, since they're what the Big East once was. Rename this group Great American conference or whatever it was called that had Louisville and Memphis, etc. in the 90's.
 

Makes one wonder if sport specific conferences will be the next wave. Other than the Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC and possibly the Big 12, maybe it is the wave of the future. Does it make sense, not sure.
 



Gopher07 said:
So for those keeping track, here's where Big East basketball stands with the latest defections:

Cincinnati
UConn
USF
UCF
Houston
SMU
Temple
Tulane
Memphis
Click to expand...

This is just the CUSA re-branded.

Go Gophers!!
 

howeda7 said:
Let the 7 basketball schools keep the name Big East, since they're what the Big East once was.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. If there's a split, and the "Big East" name attempts to live on, they should could get to keep the name. I don't think USF, UCF, Houston, SMU, and freakin' Tulane are what the late Dave Gavitt had in mind when he created the Big East.

God bless the days of Hoya Paranoia, Louie's sweater, Pearl Washington, and Rollie's mussed hair.
 


This would seem to make a lot of sense:
Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Marquette, St. John's, DePaul, Seton Hall joined by Xavier, St. Louis, St. Joe's and Dayton if they just want to keep it Catholic universities without football teams.

That brings the total conference number to 11; seems wise to add three more teams, Butler, Richmond and VCU.

Two seven team divisions?
East: Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, St. Joe's, VCU
West: Marquette, DePaul, Butler, St. Louis, Xavier, Dayton, Richmond

Okay, the split of VCU and Richmond doesn't make any sense, but otherwise this is a hell of a basketball conference; the Atlantic 10 would be gutted (which is sad, always my favorite mid-major conference along with the MVC), but it's enough of a marriage between traditional Big East and A-10 to keep solid rivalries intact and makes geographical sense. Additionally, there's some great history here and programs that are very relevant currently.
 



SelectionSunday said:
God bless the days of Hoya Paranoia, Louie's sweater, Pearl Washington, and Rollie's mussed hair.
Click to expand...

I'll echo you and scools. This is a really sad day for college basketball, but one that seemed inevitable. The emergence of the Big East with the upstart cable network ESPN was a perfect marriage and spearheaded the golden age of basketball (with quite a bit of help from the Big Ten and ACC). The mid-80's was such a fine time for college basketball with the Big East smack-dab in the middle; I'll expand upon your list SS, and mention Chris Mullin's t-shirt under his jersey, Jerome Lane's broken backboards, Boston College's waterbug stud guards (Michael Adams, Dana Barros) and Seton Hall's unlikely, classic national championship game with Michigan. RIP Big East.
 


@JonRothstein: 3 years ago Big East was best bball league in the nation. Now it's all a memory. Sad day for the college hoops junkie.

Go Gophers!!
 

coolhandgopher said:
I'll echo you and scools. This is a really sad day for college basketball, but one that seemed inevitable. The emergence of the Big East with the upstart cable network ESPN was a perfect marriage and spearheaded the golden age of basketball (with quite a bit of help from the Big Ten and ACC). The mid-80's was such a fine time for college basketball with the Big East smack-dab in the middle; I'll expand upon your list SS, and mention Chris Mullin's t-shirt under his jersey, Jerome Lane's broken backboards, Boston College's waterbug stud guards (Michael Adams, Dana Barros) and Seton Hall's unlikely, classic national championship game with Michigan. RIP Big East.
Click to expand...

It really was. Bringing back some good memories.
 

coolhandgopher said:
This would seem to make a lot of sense:
Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Marquette, St. John's, DePaul, Seton Hall joined by Xavier, St. Louis, St. Joe's and Dayton if they just want to keep it Catholic universities without football teams.
That brings the total conference number to 11; seems wise to add three more teams, Butler, Richmond and VCU.

Two seven team divisions?
East: Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, St. Joe's, VCU
West: Marquette, DePaul, Butler, St. Louis, Xavier, Dayton, Richmond

Okay, the split of VCU and Richmond doesn't make any sense, but otherwise this is a hell of a basketball conference; the Atlantic 10 would be gutted (which is sad, always my favorite mid-major conference along with the MVC), but it's enough of a marriage between traditional Big East and A-10 to keep solid rivalries intact and makes geographical sense. Additionally, there's some great history here and programs that are very relevant currently.
Click to expand...

I was just listening to this on SVP & Rusillo on my lunch break about the catholic non-football members doing something like that. Could be interesting.
 

Not blaming you, but I don't like that these schools are called basketball-only schools. That is inaccurate. They simply just don't carry football.
 

Ope3 said:
The Catholic 7 should make a push for Xavier to join them.
Click to expand...

If they are serious about a catholic conference they should push for Dayton, Gonzaga and St Louis also, everyone travels across country for games anyway.
 




Looks like it's official. Sad day for college basketball. The Big East is dead.
 



Gopher07 said:
I imagine a dream scenario for the "Catholic 7" is to grab Xavier, Butler, maybe VCU from the A10, and maybe Creighton, and start negotiating a TV deal. Zags would also be an interesting add but I don't think they make geographic sense.
Click to expand...

Good sources in different schools tell me there is some sentiment toward a "Catholic" only conference, emphasizing Jesuit schools and this has been tossed around since the conference reallignment quake began a few years ago. Their goals are combining common cultures in sports and academics. They would not be averse to adding schools with common cultures that are not Catholic, either. At this point, TV markets are a high priority. No matter the perspctive, this makes perfect sense for the schools. They do have common cultures (like the old Big Ten), and they are being forced into moves by football decisions, which are not big in their programs.

I have have empathy for fans and nopstalgia of the Big East, but these schools are doing what is in their best interests and frankly what may be in the best interests of basketball fans. Basketball will be number one in this new conference and that can only help those schools and those of us who like to see good college hoops. The tragedy of all the conference shift is that football dictates it all and hoops is the poor cousin. The poor cousin is now becoming an entrepeneur. Good for them.

By the way, who will ever forget God Shamgod at Providence? One of the boldest name changes I have ever seen.
 

New Conference Name

Per Pat Forde twitter, the new conference should be dubbed:

The Big Priest

I think if they want to be cute like B1G they should go with the Big PR-East
 

A future Big East bracket

The city of New York and Madison Square Garden would be "buzzin' with anticipation" for this potential Big East Tournament bracket of the near future.

Wednesday (1st round)
#8 Houston vs. #9 Tulane

Thursday (Quarterfinals)
#1 Cincinnati vs. Houston/Tulane winner
#4 Temple vs. #5 USF
#2 Memphis vs. #7 UCF
#3 UConn vs. #6 SMU

I'm sure the networks will be lining up to get the TV rights.
 

SS, I would wait with baited hook out ice fishing to be able to catch that.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom