Big East Commish "No comment on teams or invites"

[goldenstang]

Has anyone said whether or not we will play 8 or 9 conference games in the Big East. I would guess 8 because that would give Air Force and Navy more flexibility for scheduling OOC games.

[EastStang]

The Big East problem has been and will be that they do not understand that nobody gives a [Gary Patterson] rip about college basketball, until March... This thinking has gotten them to where they are now...

To say no one cares about college bball until March is foolish. The entire east coast would disagree with you. Most of the current Big East and ACC schools have more people show up to midnight madness practice than show up to our important conference football games.

Regardless of how you feel about baseball, for SMU to be taken seriously during the next round of alignment they're going to need both men's T&F and baseball. I'm not sure where they find the money since those are both largely two dead-weight programs (along with the Title IX women's teams).

Umm, soccer is a huge sport in the BE. Our team will actually have to up its game to be competitive.

[gostangs]

huge relative to what? i dont think college soccer is really huge anywhere

[ponyscott]

huge relative to what? i dont think college soccer is really huge anywhere

So you ask..........4,000 seats packed, etc.

Maryland SoccerPlex primed to host "ACC-Big East Challenge"
19 Aug, 2011

One of the biggest soccer facilities in the region is preparing to host four of the top men’s college soccer programs on the East Coast, as Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and St. John’s University (N.Y.) open their 2011 NCAA campaigns with a doubleheader at the Maryland SoccerPlex Stadium in Boyds, Md. next Friday.

The Virginia Cavaliers will open the evening with a border battle against WVU’s Mountaineers at 5 p.m., followed by a clash between the Maryland Terrapins and the St. John’s Red Storm at 8 p.m.

“We think it’s a great opportunity to showcase men’s college soccer in the Montgomery County area,” Keith Lenart, the SoccerPlex’s Director of Operations, told Potomac Soccer Wire this week. “Clearly University of Maryland being the most proximate school, we hope it brings out the crowds. Virginia, St. John’s and most recently West Virginia also have pretty rich traditions in men’s soccer.”

A capacity crowd is expected to fill the 4,000-capacity showcase stadium, especially in light of the August Cup youth tournament which will also take place in Boyds over the weekend. Staged by the Damascus Soccer Club and the Seneca Soccer Association, the tourney includes some 250 teams and will use every single field at the SoccerPlex as well as a satellite venue.

“It’s just a great opportunity for not only the D.C. metro area to come out and watch quality college soccer, but also for any of those participating in the August Cup,” noted Lenart. “So the tie-in with a Friday evening doubleheader to open the season for all four institutions, coupled with the youth soccer tournaments, seems like an ideal situation.”

Organizers are also counting on some of the schools’ many D.C.-area alumni to attend. Local-bred players will probably feature prominently in both games, and then there’s the general draw of quality soccer from two elite NCAA groupings.

“The Big East is always very good soccer and St. John’s has a [NCAA] championship under their belt. Those two conferences just have a rich tradition for men’s soccer,” said Lenart. “West Virginia has, I believe, four or five players from the Maryland-Virginia area as well, so it’s kind of a homecoming for some of those players and they may draw a significant crowd as well.”

[smupony94]

Kate Hairopoulos
Source: expect SMU AD Steve Orsini and President R. Gerald Turner to meet with Big East officials in New York later this week.

[ColoStang]

POW!!!!!!!!!

[smupony94]

Now is time for the purple hippo and flight tracker

[The PonyGrad]

Kate Hairopoulos
Source: expect SMU AD Steve Orsini and President R. Gerald Turner to meet with Big East officials in New York later this week.

good job not creating a new thread

[smupony94]

Kate Hairopoulos
Source: expect SMU AD Steve Orsini and President R. Gerald Turner to meet with Big East officials in New York later this week.

good job not creating a new thread

Sad, that I, the ultimate post whore, tires of the multiple threads including the ones I used to create

[ColoStang]

I was shocked there wasn't a new thread...had to go digging.

[skyscraper]

[Comet]

I'm tempted to make a new thread in the name of 94

[mrydel]

Has ponyfans.com given Turner and Orsini the authority to act on behalf of SMU?

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

huge relative to what? i dont think college soccer is really huge anywhere

Big East college soccer is on TV all of the time as well - as in right now on ESPNU...

[SMU 86]

Laken Litman
Marinatto on if possibility of football side of league disbanding: "We have not had any of those kinds of discussions. Never come up."

I fixed her spelling errors

Wow, have you ever done that for Kate? Are you starting to have thing for Laken now and ditching Kate?