Things dont look good but lets hold out a little hope. The A10 did all it could to build the strength to withstand this by getting VCU and Butler. Lets hope it works.

duq81 wrote:

Here's a possibility that's a long shot, but probably more likely than any of the BE7 joining the A10. The BE7 are going to invite 5 teams. Xavier, St. Louis, Dayton, either Butler or Creighton, and one eastern school, likely VCU or Richmond, with Duquesne a long shot. The 4 midwestern schools added to Marquette, and DePaul, make for a nice division, as do the other 6. What to do for the schools left behind? Approach UConn, and UC, and propose to sponsor an 8 school football league. UConn, UC, Temple, Memphis, E Carolina, USF, UCF, and UMass. If other schools want to join for football only, add them if they make sense. This would be a 16 team league for all other sports. Why would UConn and UC want to join this instead of being off on their own? Simple, while they might not be thrilled about playing the Dukes and Bonas of the world, those schools are no worse than playing Tulane and SMU, and are much closer, and are located in the same markets that the BE schools have long played in. UConn and UC should be driving this bus, and the other schools will likely follow their lead. Bernie should at the very least, have this scenario in mind. Would it be a great league, no, but it would probably be a bit better than the current A10, so what's not to love. This league could actually have the potential to surpass the Catholic league. Being in a league where the conference tournament is still held in NYC might be very attractive to UConn.

The problem with that is UConn and UC will never agree to that.   They are both waiting for the next shoe to drop in the ACC with defections of teams moving to either the B12, B1G or SEC and they will be back filled into that conference.   Conference USA already has the structure in place to absorb all the teams you mentioned even as a temporary rest stop.

I think the answer is as simple as those seven plus Temple merging with the A-10 and breaking the new conference into geographic divisions that make sense, with a rotating schedule. You can't play that many teams every year, so maybe one year East plays all teams in its division twice and all the teams in the Midwest Division once. The next year East draws South, or North. I think it would work.

ElDuque wrote:

I think the answer is as simple as those seven plus Temple merging with the A-10 and breaking the new conference into geographic divisions that make sense, with a rotating schedule. You can't play that many teams every year, so maybe one year East plays all teams in its division twice and all the teams in the Midwest Division once. The next year East draws South, or North. I think it would work.

The Marquette Athletic Director already said that is not going to happen.   Read his comments about the A10 here.   He doesn't have a lot of respect for the A10 as a whole.   There is never ever going to be a 21 team league. 

http://espnwisconsin.com/common/more.php?m=49&action=blog&r=51&post_id=16611

I dont know what the potential issue is for us?  We are in the A10, which is reaching its biggest strongest lineup of teams.  Who gives a poo about what 7 schools from the Big Easy do.  That conference has been imploding since Miami and VaT left.  Let them create a conference with 8 teams whos best days are from the early 80s and screw themselves.  A10 is fine.

duqkurt wrote:

townsonkid wrote:

I dont know what the potential issue is for us?  We are in the A10, which is reaching its biggest strongest lineup of teams.  Who gives a poo about what 7 schools from the Big Easy do.  That conference has been imploding since Miami and VaT left.  Let them create a conference with 8 teams whos best days are from the early 80s and screw themselves.  A10 is fine.

You don't think Xavier, Dayton, VCU, Butler, and (fill in the blank with the A10 school of your choice) would bolt the A10 in a second if asked to join with the Big East Catholics in a new conference?   If Duquesne were extended an invitation and they didn't take it.... that would be crazy.

This! Xavier and company would love to be rid of the bottom half of the A10. That is why they will jump at the chance to bolt. As for UConn and Cincy never agreeing to my proposal, UConn is not going to want to join CUSA under any circumstances. Sure they want to join the ACC, but for now, that's not happening. My solution may be temporary, but anything they do will be temporary. They will be in a crappy football league until the ACC comes calling. Don't you think that they would prefer to be playing their games in the northeast, as opposed to traveling to Texas to play teams that are no better than us, LaSalle, and Fordham? Plus being able to have their postseason tourney in NYC? You agree to let them leave with no penalty if the ACC comes calling. They might relish the chance to do damage to the new Catholic league.

Not a single mention by national media types of Duquesne being involved.

I could make a case for Duquesne over Dayton though,

CLK wrote:

I see ESPN hands behind the scenes pulling the strings and controlling the direction.

Honestly, that is our only hope I think for inclusion.   The Big East has a brand name in Pittsburgh that people identify with.  If they are pulling the strings and TV markets dominate the discussion that is our only shot.  Academics or being Catholic have nothing to do with this - sadly enough. 

@McMurphyESPN has been tweeting about this all morning.  He expects a raid of the A10 schools by the Big East.  He doesn't see the BE joining the A10 at all.   

If they only take 3 the conference could recover.  If they take 5 or 6, and we are not one of them, well........hello MAAC!!! 

It is not like this has not been coming down the pike for a long time, we just have never been able to be relevant enough to join the conversation legitimately.   It makes me a little ill.

I wonder if the Catholic 7 have not already contacted Dayton, St. Louis, Xavier, Butler, and VCU about a deal.  They had to have sometime concrete before making the teleconference with the Big East Commissioner.

Cas, everyone thinks I'm crazy for thinking we could do a merger with the football playing schools, but this is a situation that calls for thinking outside the box. In retrospect, McGlade is looking like a genius for moving the tourney to NYC. That is our trump card for reeling in UConn and company. We can't be concerned that it might be a short term thing. Even the short term benefits would be amazing, and could allow for some of our programs to get up off of the deck. As I said earlier, Siena and George Mason will be there in 5 years if we need them. Strike a blow now. The arrogant BE7 would be stunned speechless if Bernie could pull this off.

THINK BIG!!!

The SI article I linked has enlighten me on why our chances are about the same as a snowball in Florida.  From the article:

The way the NCAA pays teams for reaching the NCAA tournament is extremely complicated. Teams aren't given a single, fat check for reaching and advancing in the NCAAs. Instead they are given units for making the NCAA tournament and more for advancing. The value of each unit is approximately $245,000, which is paid to the league over six years.

Units are a huge financial piece in the value of a basketball league. In the Big East's 2011-12 fiscal year, it received $27.3 million in NCAA tournament units (113 earned over previous six years at $242,000). In 2012-13, the league will receive even more -- $28.7 million thanks to 117 units over six years.

"The interesting point is that people focus on the TV dollars," said a Big East official. "Currently our unit dollars as a revenue stream exceed our TV revenue for basketball schools. We generate more dollars from NCAA participation."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/news/20121213/big-east-basketball/#ixzz2ExJVzE7Y

There are a lot more people at X, Dayton, St. Louis, Butler, VCU that are VERY involved in the school's basketball program. They give money, go to every game, watch every game on tv, they send their kids to that school and those kids attend every game. Duquesne doesn't have that right now and needs 10 years and 4 to 5 NCAA bids to get anywhere near that.

Duquesne has very little school pride in athletics. All the alumni go around wearing their 800 dollar class rings but dont go to a single sporting event Duquesne hosts except the city game.

I unfortunately think we deserve anything we get.

I don't think their legacies will be affected by this at all because so few alumni and current students care about athletics at all.

Last edited by DukesDan (12/13/2012 1:09 pm)