I think there's the possibility of the Big East returning to
by tf86 (2024-03-27 08:49:18)

In reply to: I wouldn’t count on Syracuse giving up on football.  posted by usaf_irish


Hybrid status, depending on exactly who the leftovers are. If there are gaps remaining, fill in those by inviting South Florida, maybe Buffalo and Temple (yeah, I know Villanova might try to block them, but maybe they can be convinced if the new conference makes more money for everyone.)


You would need at least 8 FB members
by Tex Francisco  (2024-03-27 10:01:38)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

UConn, Duke, Wake, BC, Syracuse would all make sense. Georgia Tech would probably end up in the Big 12, but if not, they'd make sense too. The final 3-4 teams could come from the group of SMU, Rice, Army, Navy, UMass.


I'd throw a few more names in there
by tf86  (2024-03-28 12:51:20)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

South Florida (this one seems like a slam dunk to me if they're not offered by the Big XII)
Buffalo
Temple (you would need to get Villanova onboard with this one, but I think football would earn more money for everyone)
Dayton (only if they upgraded football to FBS-level, I wouldn't take them along with this group as a non-FBS program)


But now you're getting back to the same problem
by El Kabong  (2024-03-27 10:41:54)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

If you take those and throw in hoops-onlys, you end up with a huge conference where you can't play round-robin and you're traveling all over the place.


The landscape has changed dramatically in 11 years
by tf86  (2024-03-28 13:01:03)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

When the old hybrid Big East existed, 12 teams was the norm for most conferences, whereas the Big East held 16 members in total. Now, we're embarking on an era with two superconferences (Big Ten and SEC) of 20+ members apiece, a third conference (Big XII) with similar numbers, and two of the Power 5 conferences (Pac-12 and, in this exercise, the ACC) defunct. Further, unlike back then, there likely won't be a demand for the football members of the Big East.

By contrast, you have Yormark with a fetish for basketball, and if he gets the votes, you could see him poach Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova from the Big East. That would severely weaken the Big East imho. And because of football, the media payout for the Big XII dwarves the media payout for the Big East. Big East members get @ $4.5 million/year; Big XII members are getting upwards of $30 million/year. That's not to say that non-football schools would ever get full shares from the Big XII, but they could get partial shares that would result in significant pay increases over what they're getting now. As we all know, money talks.


That works for football...
by El Kabong  (2024-03-28 13:39:27)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...where you're playing one game a week at maximum. A basketball team having to go from Florida to Massachusetts and back again during the week is much more difficult.

You can do 12 teams with two divisions, giving you 18 total games -- round-robin in your division and one game against the six in the other division. That's fine and workable. But for a sport like basketball, anything beyond that gets goofy.

What people here want is a return to the 70's/80's when we were playing DePaul and Marquette and UCLA twice a year. That was an awesome time and I'd like to see it come back. Unfortunately, those days are gone.


Other conferences have far worse travel
by tf86  (2024-03-29 12:28:19)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

The Big Ten and Big XII, for example. Even the SEC stretches from South Carolina in the East to Texas in the west.

I wish it wasn't like this, but I fear that this particular genie isn't going back in the bottle.


And once football goes off on its own...
by El Kabong  (2024-03-29 13:19:23)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...you're going to see those conferences sub-divide into groups that make a hell of a lot more sense for the non-football sports.


Bingo.
by usaf_irish  (2024-03-27 11:30:40)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Somehow we always end up back at the same place all because nobody wants to recognize the fact that if the ACC blows up, we’re headed to the Big Ten.