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by taking Louisville, Cincy, WVU, and TCU. If you can get all four schools to the same table so they are all on the same page, they are willing to do this. Taking Ville, Cincy, and WVU rips up the Big East and CUSA is in the position to take their spot at the table, making TCU willing to jump as well. Then BYU goes independent, MWC backfills with bad WAC teams (or just stands pat) and we are done.

It's a risky proposition, especially considering that Ville and Cincy won't be the most willing to admit their mistake in 2005 as well as WVU not being willing to be on level footing with Marshall, but if someone can get ESPN involved ($$$$), we could have something here.

I don't like 16-team conferences, but this would be the best possible situation for SMU and all schools in CUSA. If Commissioner Banowsky isn't extending invitations to these four schools as we speak, he's dumb. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Why would any of those schools come to CUSA? Why not just aim high and go for UT, OU, LSU, and Florida?

MustangStealth wrote:Why would any of those schools come to CUSA? Why not just aim high and go for UT, OU, LSU, and Florida?

Because if all three BE schools were moving somewhere, it would kill the BE. Louisville and Cincy have rivalries with Memphis from back in the old CUSA and Metro days. WVU wants to stay with those schools because there aren't any other viable football schools in the BE (don't give me recent success by USF or Rutgers).

Taking UT, OU, LSU, and UF wouldn't kill a conference so there would be no incentive for any of those to get out of the conference.

Like I said, it would need to take ESPN $$$$ to work, though.

Drinking early?

They would be stupid to come to CUSA. Nothing to gain. If the BE gets destroyed later, all those schools are capable of landing in CUSA level conferences or better later anyway.

couch 'em wrote:They would be stupid to come to CUSA. Nothing to gain. If the BE gets destroyed later, all those schools are capable of landing in CUSA level conferences or better later anyway.

I agree with couch'em

couch 'em wrote:They would be stupid to come to CUSA. Nothing to gain. If the BE gets destroyed later, all those schools are capable of landing in CUSA level conferences or better later anyway.

Like I said, it would need to take huge $$$$ from ESPN.

94, yes. Who isn't with all of the rumors?

FWIW, what I've heard is most likely is the MWC/CUSA partnership.

Why would they want to kill the BE though? Why would they give up an auto-bid to the BCS to potentially get an auto-bid to the BCS? That, and WVU has a big rivalry with Pitt. And for Louisville and Cincy, two big basketball schools, they are in the biggest bball conference in history.

MustangStealth wrote:Why would they want to kill the BE though? Why would they give up an auto-bid to the BCS to potentially get an auto-bid to the BCS? That, and WVU has a big rivalry with Pitt. And for Louisville and Cincy, two big basketball schools, they are in the biggest bball conference in history.

It's all up to ESPN to make the numbers work.

Wouldn't ESPN be more likely to "make the numbers work" by keeping the Big East and reinforcing it with Memphis, UCF, ECU, etc?

WSGJ wrote:Wouldn't ESPN be more likely to "make the numbers work" by keeping the Big East and reinforcing it with Memphis, UCF, ECU, etc?

Do those schools add value to the ESPN Big East television package? I don't believe they do. What detracts from the BE is the dead weight at the bottom of the conference. While CUSA has its own fair share of dead weight, adding markets in Dallas & Houston would (in my mind) outweigh whatever could be added to the BE by adding Memphis, Orlando, and Greenville.

Makes no sense. Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Rutgers, Syracuse, and USF left homeless? CT will be strong this year and Pitt has great history/expectations, not to mention Syracuse, who is no small potatoes themselves.

Some one said drink, k I'm going now!

espn wants the big east to work.

CalallenStang wrote:because there aren't any other viable football schools in the BE

Yeah Sure!

No. 15 Pittsburgh doesn't play in the Big East anymore!