Should the Big East expand?

[DanielW4444]

to 12 teams?

I was thinking East Carolina could join since they have been pretty solid( Western Kentucky could eventually take their place in C-USA).

This would be the time for App State to expand their stadium and move up.

That would give them 10 teams.

They could also bring back Temple(cellar team) and bring in Troy(since they have become a good team)

Break that down into a North and South and in a few years, it would be a solid conference.

What do you think?

[AUChamps]

to 12 teams?

I was thinking East Carolina could join since they have been pretty solid( Western Kentucky could eventually take their place in C-USA).

This would be the time for App State to expand their stadium and move up.

That would give them 10 teams.

They could also bring back Temple(cellar team) and bring in Troy(since they have become a good team)

Break that down into a North and South and in a few years, it would be a solid conference.

What do you think?
So what happens to the non Football schools in the Big East?

DePaul University has to go somewhere.
Ditto for Georgetown University.
Don't forget about Marquette University.
And how about University of Notre Dame in non-Football athletics?
Oh right, there's also Providence College, St. John's University, Seton Hall University, and Villanova University.

Can't send them all to the A-10, MAAC, MVC, OVC, or all those other odd Basketball-centric conferences.

[AUChamps]

Here, read this:

Realignment

In 2003 the Big East was put on watch as the ACC announced plans to expand from nine teams to twelve. Miami, Syracuse, and BC were rumored to be the three schools under consideration, and all three met with officials from the ACC regarding membership. At the same time, the Big East itself was contemplating its future.

It was later revealed that Miami had been dissatisfied with the Big East and its leadership since a formal letter of complaint was issued by Miami to Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese in 1999. Their issues went unresolved, leading to Miami's interest in the ACC — a league which had been pursuing the college football superpower since the mid-1990s, at the request of football-oriented Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech. Those schools were concerned with the balance of power in the ACC, which they viewed as tilted towards "Tobacco Road", the nickname given to the four North Carolina ACC schools and their nationally prominent basketball programs.

Led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, UConn and the "remaining" football schools (Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia) filed two lawsuits, one against the ACC, and the other against Miami and BC, accusing them of improper disclosure of confidential information and of conspiring to weaken the Big East. Syracuse was not named as a defendant in part because they never made public comments about the ongoing situation.

Talks with Syracuse indicated that it would likely leave the Big East. But doubts arose when Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim publicly expressed his disapproval of a conference change,[8] even as Syracuse and ACC officials proceeded with the formalities of official campus visits. Miami and Boston College were unwavering in their interest in the ACC, and Virginia Tech made it clear that they had long wanted to join the ACC. Finally, in a last-minute about-face, due in large measure to political pressure applied by Governor Mark Warner of Virginia, the ACC replaced Syracuse with Virginia Tech in its expansion vote. Things became even more surprising when, reached by phone at a conference in Switzerland, then-N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox cast a last-minute "no" vote against BC.[9] As a result, the ACC extended invitations only to Miami and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech immediately accepted the invitation and filed court papers to get themselves out of the awkward position of suing their new conference. Miami, stunned by the outcome of the vote, delayed their acceptance until the last possible day. Miami President Donna Shalala explained the delay stating "We had numbers on BC-Virginia Tech. We had done numbers on Miami alone. But we had not anticipated that Virginia Tech and Miami would be the only two invitees."[9] The remaining four plaintiffs removed BC from the list of defendants and asked both BC and Syracuse to join their suit. Both declined.

Leaked minutes of Big East meetings have shed light on the confusing process surrounding the defection of three of its members. At a summer meeting of the "football schools", following the announced departures of Miami and Virginia Tech, discussion among the Presidents and Athletic Directors of the remaining schools focused on a potential split into two conferences; an all-sports conference including football, and a second conference focused primarily on basketball. The idea of a 16-team superconference of both basketball and football schools was discussed, as was merging with Conference USA. Minutes of a July 9, 2003 meeting of presidents and athletic directors held before any detailed review of the conference's options show that Syracuse Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel and BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo went on record indicating they would resign their positions if the Big East expanded to 16 teams.

In response to a proposal for the establishment of a binding agreement among the six schools with a $5 million exit fee and 27-month notice requirement. Meanwhile, the Big East presidents agreed to meet with and possibly extend invitations to Penn State and Notre Dame, however neither school showed interest in joining the conference.[10] The minutes show the presidents unanimously voted to support an eventual conference invitation for the University of Louisville, and to begin due diligence on Louisville and other proposed new members. Several models for a new conference were discussed; and it was decided that the football schools would explore separating from the basketball-only schools to establish an 8-team all-sports conference. The presidents and athletic directors described the breakup of the football and basketball schools as "inevitable".

Additional meetings of the football conference members occurred between July and October of 2003. In the course of those meetings it was realized that the break-up scenario would not be feasible because the new football conference would lose its automatic NCAA basketball tournament berth and possibly its BCS bid, as well as the Big East name. Further, the football schools had not been together long enough to satisfy certain NCAA rules. At a Big East meeting in Newark on Oct. 1, after a discussion of Notre Dame's concerns for stability, BC president Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., addressed rumors surrounding BC's intentions toward the Big East. Fr. Leahy conceded that BC might indeed be leaving the conference and he would determine how genuine the ACC's reported interest in having any school as a 12th member.[11] He stated he could not agree to an exit penalty larger than the already agreed to $5,000,000. And he expressed concerns about academic and graduation rate issues at Louisville and Cincinnati that arose during due diligence. It was decided that the conference would add additional football and basketball schools and continue in its existing structure until such time as the football schools could establish their own conference. Unhappy with the vote on the future structure of the conference, the administration of BC continued discussions with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Speculation that Chancellor Fox, a Notre Dame trustee, cast her initial vote against BC so that the ACC might consider extending membership to Notre Dame was fueled by press accounts reporting that a bid to the Fighting Irish was imminent. But in mid-October 2003, the ACC voted unanimously to accept BC as its twelfth member. When BC agreed they were returned to the lawsuit still pending against Miami by several Big East schools. After expansion, Jake Crouthamel retired as athletic director at Syracuse.

In response to losing three football programs, the Big East extended invitations to five schools from Conference USA in order to replenish their football ranks and to create a 16-team basketball superconference. The schools that left Conference USA on July 1, 2005 for the Big East are:

* University of Cincinnati
* DePaul University (non-football school)
* University of Louisville
* Marquette University (non-football school)
* University of South Florida

The fallout from the Conference USA realignment instigated a chain reaction of conference realignments that affected the WAC, MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, and Atlantic Ten Conferences. At the same time, the UConn Huskies completed their leap to Division I-A football and became a full member of the conference in 2004, resulting in their first-ever bowl bid.

[DanielW4444]

They could form a new conference, there is so many of them they could exist on their own

[M2J]

I seriously think they should take Auburn.

[AUChamps]

Troy's making a good sell tonight for why they should be in a better conference then the Sunbelt.

[DWCordell1988]

I think it would be nice to see Troy join up in a bigger conference, even to be a lower-tier team, them boys can play some ball.

[aufan]

TROY....very good addition.....excellent for the school

[Crimson Tide]

The quality of a university's football program alone does not justify entry into a more prestigious conference.

[azamugg]

I seriously think they should take Auburn.


they might would win a championship then

[SeanVol]

So what happens to the non Football schools in the Big East?

DePaul University has to go somewhere.
Ditto for Georgetown University.
Don't forget about Marquette University.
And how about University of Notre Dame in non-Football athletics?
Oh right, there's also Providence College, St. John's University, Seton Hall University, and Villanova University.

Can't send them all to the A-10, MAAC, MVC, OVC, or all those other odd Basketball-centric conferences.


That will prove to be their pitfall if they do expand the football side of the conference.

[csf2007]

I think the Big East would look at bringing in a MAC and a C-USA school. Appalachian State may make the jump to D-I FBS in the next 10 years or so, I cannot see them jumping to a BCS conference right away.

I would think Buffalo (if their programs were not so bad) and East Carolina would be the best fits with Ohio and Miami being other MAC considerations.

[JerryBeeds]

Maybe they should just join forces with the ACC and have the tag-line of "Worst football ever".

[SeanVol]

Is Memphis joining the Big East?

[KRIEGER]

to 12 teams?

I was thinking East Carolina could join since they have been pretty solid( Western Kentucky could eventually take their place in C-USA).

This would be the time for App State to expand their stadium and move up.

That would give them 10 teams.

They could also bring back Temple(cellar team) and bring in Troy(since they have become a good team)

Break that down into a North and South and in a few years, it would be a solid conference.

What do you think?

No. I was actually thinking the complete opposite (which happens to me naturally, disregard my opinions). How about instead we take WVU and Rutgers out of the Big East, and throw them in the ACC. :D

Take Louisville, throw them in the SEC. :D

Just totally obliterate the possibility of an inferior Big East team ending up in a substantial bowl game. kthx.

[the Prodigy]

to 12 teams?

I was thinking East Carolina could join since they have been pretty solid( Western Kentucky could eventually take their place in C-USA).

This would be the time for App State to expand their stadium and move up.

That would give them 10 teams.

They could also bring back Temple(cellar team) and bring in Troy(since they have become a good team)

Break that down into a North and South and in a few years, it would be a solid conference.

What do you think?

Troy doesn't really have anything financially to offer, and they aren't really EAST enough. besides they get beat by Arkansas St. every season.

[KRIEGER]

I seriously think they should take Auburn.

HELL YEAH! I'd take that in a heartbeat! Easy NC appearance, here we come. :thumpsup: