big east votes to expand

[Harry0569]

so Boise gets screwed again, eh..?

[EastStang]

First, Nova might decline because of the cost to them to move up. They'd have to double football scholarships. Renovate their stadium to seat 35,000. They are pretty happy in the CAA for football, and happy in the BE for basketball. But if they do move up, then TCU would be on an island in Texas and it would have to find an all sports slot somewhere. UCF makes more sense geographically. As far as moving back to the WAC, oops I mean the MWC. No, no, no. CUSA gives us a central/east time zone benefit. Close proximity to teams in conference. The WAC/MWC gives us bad travel, terrible time zones, and teams that draw flies in Dallas. Let them take La. Tech and call it a day.

[Nacho]

nova not going to the be will be like tulane dropping out of the sec. will haunt them forever.
it would give them a national presence. they are only known in basketball circles now no matter how their bball team does.

[Corp]

CUSA gives us a central/east time zone benefit. Close proximity to teams in conference.

CUSA and SMU...truly a match for the ages.

[PonyKai]

Close proximity to teams in conference. The WAC/MWC gives us bad travel, terrible time zones, and teams that draw flies in Dallas. Let them take La. Tech and call it a day.

We also have close proximity to teams in the Southland Conference. That doesn't mean we should be rushing to schedule them. How many fans does Rice, Tulane, UAB, UCF, ECU ever bring to Dallas? UAB brought like, what, 42 1/2 fans this year?

[Charleston Pony]

let's face it...SMU is not knocking on any BCS conference doors...of if we are, they aren't going to answer. CUSA is a pretty good place for us at this stage and we need to make the most of it. Bowl games, building rivalries, etc... I just hope Houston and UTEP stick with us. MWC w/o the Utah schools and TCU is no step up. Their destiny may be a merger with the WAC. TCU has best positioned themselves for Big XII future. Can you imagine TCU and Boise being invited to the Big XII and what that would do?

[PonyKai]

Refresher, I'm only suggesting we entertain a hypothetical invite IF CUSA loses Houston/UCF...one of its flagship programs.

[PoconoPony]

so, if Nova is one, how in the world does this make any sense? Adding a 10th for football creates odd scheduling and potentially a 17th bball member?

Nova is already in the Big East for all sports. They would be merely notching up the football program to FSD.

[Charleston Pony]

so, if Nova is one, how in the world does this make any sense? Adding a 10th for football creates odd scheduling and potentially a 17th bball member?

Nova is already in the Big East for all sports. They would be merely notching up the football program to FSD.

I know that; adding Nova for football keeps the Big East at 16 for hoops and brings them to 9 for football. Why not stop there is my point.

[PoconoPony]

But if you schedule ND for four semi-conference games, won't that hurt their strength of schedule?

Remember that ND is already in the Big East for all sports except football where they remain an independent. Similarly, Army and Navy are independents in football, but Patriot League for all other sports. This gives them their NBC TV revenues not to share and allows them to play a national schedule of their choosing. The best of all possible worlds.

[PoconoPony]

so, if Nova is one, how in the world does this make any sense? Adding a 10th for football creates odd scheduling and potentially a 17th bball member?

Nova is already in the Big East for all sports. They would be merely notching up the football program to FSD.

I know that; adding Nova for football keeps the Big East at 16 for hoops and brings them to 9 for football. Why not stop there is my point.

9 is an awkward number. This forces 8 conference games and 3 non-conference games and no potential for a play off game for big revenue. Ideally, a league needs an even number and preferably 12 to give schools a good conference schedule and still facilitate a reasonable non-conference schedule plus the big playoff game payday. My personal opinion is that we are headed in the direction that every NCAA sport will have its own sport specific conference and that the old traditional conferences will fade away. We already see this in a number of the minor sports wherein many of the schools in a traditional conference will not participate in many sports leaving the participating schools to form a league with teams from other conferences. For example, not all C-USA schools participate in soccer and the SEC having only 2 soccer schools resulting in South Carolina and Kentucky joining C-USA for that sport.

[Charleston Pony]

actually, 9 is a better number for the Big East than the current 8 or going to 10...because you have a 4/4 balance of home and road games. The only reason to play with 10 is if you DONT want the flexibility that comes with 4 rather than 3 non-conference games.

Oh...and the lack of soccer is all about Title IX because you can field a women's team and not a men's team to help balance your numbers

[EastStang]

Close proximity to teams in conference. The WAC/MWC gives us bad travel, terrible time zones, and teams that draw flies in Dallas. Let them take La. Tech and call it a day.

We also have close proximity to teams in the Southland Conference. That doesn't mean we should be rushing to schedule them. How many fans does Rice, Tulane, UAB, UCF, ECU ever bring to Dallas? UAB brought like, what, 42 1/2 fans this year?

So you want to rejoin the WAC heavy? The MWC without TCU, Utah or BYU looks suspiciously like a conference we left. Fresno, Nevada, Boise? UNM, SDS, UNLV, Wyoming are really great. I think I just wet myself over the prospect of renewing rivalries with them. CUSA ain't great but its better than the toaster leavings of the MWC and it doesn't cost all our teams five arms the three legs to travel to required conference away games. Tulane, Rice, Tulsa, UH, USM, Memphis are all bus distance. Yes, Marshall, ECU, UAB and UCF are a hike. But Orlando and Birmingham are not budget busters. Greenville is an hour from Raleigh/Durham which is about as easy to get to as Reno from DFW. Marshall is about 2 hours from Cincinnati. Again, a lot cheaper to get to than Laramie or Boise.

[PonyKai]

Close proximity to teams in conference. The WAC/MWC gives us bad travel, terrible time zones, and teams that draw flies in Dallas. Let them take La. Tech and call it a day.

We also have close proximity to teams in the Southland Conference. That doesn't mean we should be rushing to schedule them. How many fans does Rice, Tulane, UAB, UCF, ECU ever bring to Dallas? UAB brought like, what, 42 1/2 fans this year?

So you want to rejoin the WAC heavy? The MWC without TCU, Utah or BYU looks suspiciously like a conference we left. Fresno, Nevada, Boise? UNM, SDS, UNLV, Wyoming are really great. I think I just wet myself over the prospect of renewing rivalries with them. CUSA ain't great but its better than the toaster leavings of the MWC and it doesn't cost all our teams five arms the three legs to travel to required conference away games. Tulane, Rice, Tulsa, UH, USM, Memphis are all bus distance. Yes, Marshall, ECU, UAB and UCF are a hike. But Orlando and Birmingham are not budget busters. Greenville is an hour from Raleigh/Durham which is about as easy to get to as Reno from DFW. Marshall is about 2 hours from Cincinnati. Again, a lot cheaper to get to than Laramie or Boise.

I'm for getting us to our end goal as quickly as possible. If that means a short term jump to another conference, even one that has noticeable deficiencies, then so be it. If it's CUSA, great. If it's the MWC, fine. I want the best stepping stone possible. Right now, even with Houston and UCF, CUSA is ranked as the NINTH best conference. IF we were to LOSE one of the flagship programs such as UCF or Houston, one of the only two to semi-regularly threaten the Top 25 rankings, our already nationally irrelevant conference takes a big hit. CUSA will then essentially be SMU v. ECU for the right to play a mid-tier SEC team in a pre-January bowl game. That scenario could make our advancement in the world of college football more difficult. Despite the much-discussed and recognizable deficiencies of the MWC for SMU, if this happens, it's definitely worth a hard look.

[Charleston Pony]

I can completely understand the Big East inviting Nova to step up to FBS and become a "full" member but as for adding a 10th football member, I just don't see the advantage unless...you could get TCU to join as a football only member. Get your product on TV regularly in Texas and open a new and very fertile recruiting ground. Much like they hoped to do with S.Florida (replacing Miami) and trying to maintain a foothold in FL.

Those who follow recruiting could probably research this. How may FL kids playing int he Big East today compared to the Miami years? I hear talk of UCF as a football only invite (UCF would probably have to look at the Atlantic Sun for their other sports). Clearly the Big East recognizes the advantages of being able to recruit FL and TX if they want to compete for national championships in football.