UCF and Memphis "highly-likely" to Big East
I threw up in my mouth a little. We (SU) really need to get out of that league. We had a 100-year tradition of independence, I believe we should again and abandon this sinking ship.
UCF and Memphis "highly-likely" to Big East
BE Commissioner John Marinatto sent a dozen red and white roses to Big 12 Commission Beebe with a card that said "Unity"... bush league and embarrassing.
Proudly carrying the torch of mediocity.
Is this a precursor to the Big Ten snatching up a few Big East schools? Maybe they're preparing so that they don't turn into a defunct conference when they lose their best schools.
East Carolina will be next. Need one more (Temple again (!)) for the most ignored conference championship game in the "BCS".
The problem with Temple last time was that they were only in the Big East for football. The opposite of Notre Dame. I actually think that if they joined for all sports, they'd be a decent addition.
I think I'd go for UAB over East Carolina. It's a smaller school than ECU but much better-financed and actually pretty good academically.
I love that team, despite having absolutely no ties to the program or anything remotely Carolina related and having only ever watching one game of theirs.
Anyone else have one of those? A team they really like but for no good reason?
I have a few of those teams that I root for for absolutely no reason. I also, for some reason, like ECU. I also find myself pulling for Clemson, South Carolina, Florida State, and UCLA on occasion. No idea why, but it happens.
for entry into a BCS conference might play a role in this.
respectability, yessir. Fred Smith employs a proud tradition. Meanwhile I see my overnight package to Hartford just went up $1.27.
I will enjoy my snickering at ND for the moment, however.
Memphis apparently believes they can buy it in the bulk economy-sized packaging and have it shipped overnight by FedEx.
The Big East continues to make the case that they no longer deserve a BCS auto-bid. Seriously, the MWC, even sans Utah, is more deserving.
The Big East probably wouldn't be able to do much if Syracuse downgraded its involvement to Notre Dame level, but you wouldn't have ND's clout to get into bowls as an independent.
I bet the ACC would listen, though. Perhaps they have designs on being the first superconfernence, now that the Big Ten ended its galactic takeover at annexing a Plains State. Convince Pitt or UConn to come along, and all of a sudden you're a player in a conference that has a stranglehold on the entire East Coast media market, and pretty much the entire basketball universe (while also sounding the death knell for the Big East)
The Big 10 will be waiting for ND to come begging for an invite. We could either pick up Rutgers as well (frankthetank has sold me on the financial windfall Rutgers would bring) or take Mizzou in hopes of further destabilizing the Big 12-2.
Have fun with Rutgers. The Big East doesn't want them (and almost booted them) and the ACC doesn't want them. Someone looked at a map and said "hey, Rutgers is 40 miles from NYC!" and that was the extent of their thought process.
I trust Delany has thoroughly done his hw and knows who will benefit the conference the most. This is not me saying "Come one down Rutgers, I want you!", this is me saying that if we will gain money from having Rutgers join, then let them join. If the speculation about them isn't true, then forget it.
Who cares if Rutgers brings more money? Not like we are gonna see any of it. I would rather leave them and their 27 fans to play crappy football somewhere else.
This is an ignorant comment. I'm not saying you are ignorant, just your comment. First of all, why do you say we wouldn't see the money that Rutgers brought in? Did the Big Ten switch to a revenue sharing plan minus-Michigan that I don't know about? Does it say "any revenue generated East of Philly goes to all schools not UM?
And do yourself a favor and look up NCAA football attendance and see where Rutgers falls. Then ask yourself what that would look like if teams like OSU, Michigan and PSU came to New Brunswick every couple years, instead of Pitt, WVU and Cincinnati.
Rutgers is not a sexy addition, but they would very likely make us (and the rest of the Big Ten) a good chunk of money.
I meant personally we will not see the money. Sure U of M will make some, but they already make a bunch without Rutgers so it is not necessary.
I was just expressing that I do not find it important to just look at the money side of things for this conference evolution from a fan point of view.
And of course Rutgers has more than 27 fans. That was a joke and exaggeration playing to the truth that there isn't much of a Rutgers following on the east coast. My opinion (and that is all that it is) is that I do not really find Rutgers to be a very compelling addition.
Thinking outside the box (which we really need to do since the Big East is a sinking ship), there's an intriguing thought of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Connecticut going independent and forming an alliance with ND with:
- No expectations of minimum "conference" games to be played.
- Allow common scheduling which has been a challenge to independents (you don't need to play everyone).
- Form an alliance to enable bowl tie-ins (similar to what ND currently has with the Big East).
No expectations, common interests, and enable mutual success. I think ND would be all about it. It's like what they have in the Big East now
An idea on the financial front is to approach SNY and YES for an exclusive contract to broadcast Syracuse football. SNY has the "Big East Game of the Week" which is usually the matchup after ESPN and ABC are done picking. Why pay $30M to the Big East when you can pay less to guarantee broadcasting a team in-state (who you've been broadcasting a number of games every year), and you're guaranteeing you also get the good home games on the schedule that would have otherwise been on a national network.
How likely would this be and would it work? Who knows, but it's these types of ideas we need to be exploring, because if not, we're waiting for the Big Ten or ACC to call.
Why would ND want to be 'aligned' with Syracuse, Pitt, WV and Conn.? The only one of those teams that ND has any long term scheduling with is Pitt, everyone else has been/is merely a home and home. Which I am pretty sure is part of their agreement with the Big East.
Do you really think all those teams can survive as an independent?
Syracuse has a 10-game contract with Notre Dame, and recently completed a 3-game contract (where we went 2-1, ha!).
at the end or the beginning of the 10 game contract?
The SU win in South Bend two years ago was the last of the three-game contract. The ten-game contract starts in 2014.
man I hate weak schedules
Then start beating the weak teams that you play.
Syracuse 38, Notre Dame 12
Syracuse 24, Notre Dame 23
Sandwiched around one ND victory in South Bend.
lol if we're going to lose I would rather lose to Oklahoma
It would be hilarious if ND chose them over the Big 10.
(Which is where they would be if they chose an all-in invite to the Big East)
hilarious, yes, but it would hurt them. they're stregnth of schedule would never be good enough to get them into the MNC game.
For the Big East, that is. Memphis fits nicely with Cincinnati and Louisville, and UCF is a no-brainer for any conference that already has USF.
With regard to football, I sometimes think these big Florida commuter schools (UCF and USF) could put together some quality teams from the Adrian Wittys and Demar Dorseys of this world -- establishing a strong in-state rivalry will help this.
I don't even want USF, Louisville, and Cincinnati. They don't fit with the northeast schools. I favor independence with our northeast brethren.
USF already had put together some quality teams. They were #2 in the nation a few years ago, beat Florida State last year and have fielded several 8-9 win teams in a row. They have put out guys like Mike Jenkins and Jason Pierre-Paul who were both first round draft picks.
It's not about how good they are, it's about a conference that doesn't look like ConferenceUSA. Perception goes a long way, and we look bush league.
Yeah, because having two of the top ten in size universities in the nation in one of the best recruiting states in the nation is a bad thing. When it comes to football Syracuse is the embarrassment.
Michigan State and Ohio State might as well be Cambridge and Oxford compared to Louisville, USF, and Cincinnati.
If they're such great pick-ups, why has Cincy not even been brought up in any discussion on expansion, even with how good they've been recently? Or USF for the ACC or SEC? Or Louisville for anything?
The Big East has become ConferenceUSA.
I also find it amazing that so many Michigan fans have no perspective on the recent downturn in SU football with the recent downturn for Michigan, especially given that the coach that took us from a bowl team to the worst seasons in 110 years of Syracuse football is now the Michigan defensive coordinator. As an SU and UofM fan, it's been a rough two years, but let's have some perspective here.
People in glass houses and such.
Don't compare SU and UM. Over the last 8 years, you have been over .500 zero times, at .500 twice, and had 4 losses or fewer the other 6, including a one(1) win season and a two(2) win season, something M never did. Also, you were playing in the Big East, where M would have been over .500 last year, and possibly even the year before.
Syracuse has a better history than a lot of recent CFB fans give them credit for (I just watched that Ernie Davis movie yesterday), but since McNabb left at the turn of the centruy, nothing has been doing at SU.
Ah the fail of Greg Robinson...
You can't compare the level of Michigan and Syracuse but the point is, Michigan fans should have some perspective on an excellent program experiencing a downturn.
OK, but just because a guy is a bad HC, does not mean he's a bad DC. Look at Cam Cameron (Michigan Man, after all). He was a great OC in the NFL, then was a pretty poor head coach, then went back to being an OC and has done a very good job again. GERG hasn't really failed as a DC anywhere, just as the main man.
And Michigan is an excellent program experiencing a downturn. Syracuse is a good program experience a bad decade. Let's not confuse the two.
Failed for the Kansas City Chiefs, Texas' D declined, the Denver Broncos' D declined.
Look at the quotes from his players, they're not glowing from anywhere he coached.
And he was the D-coordinator at Syracuse. Worst defenses in SU history.
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/06/17/big-east-dismisses-ucf-memphis-expansion-report/
Take it for what it's worth
They hate USF and are rapidly becoming their "little brother." USF doesn't want to schedule them because they feel that a rivarly game with someone from a minor conference is a no-win situation. UCF, of course, sees USF as "cowards."
The football isn't nearly as good, but these teams hate each other as much as UM and OSU do, and the trash talking would do justice to a WWE promo. It would be very entertaining for them to play again and have it be a conference game. It still won't really mean anything on a national scope, but it would be a lot of fun down here.
I hope it happens.
As a lifelong fan of BIg East basketball (specifically Providence) I want to see the non-football Big East schools break away from this mess and form their own conference with basketball as the focus. Schools like Providence, Nova, St. Johns, G'Town, and Seton Hall. They could invite teams from the A-10 like Temple, St. Joes, and Richmond
They'd be the new A-10.
I look forward to the day when Villanova and Georgetown are no longer relevant.
I'd expect nothing less from a true Cuse fan!
The theory of CDOs was combine a bunch of junk together and get an AAA security. It didn't wortk. Memphis + Central Floriday + Big East does not make a AAA conference either.
i have not heard of this news till now but, i think it would be great for the basketball program, the football program isnt very good, but playing in the b ig east will help the basketball team get noticed more.