The “rumor” (I consider it virtually a given) is getting stronger (via Yoni).

Look for Pitt’s big man, Chris Taft, to formally announce that he’s heading to the pros after the Final Four. Taft, out of Coney Island, could be a lottery pick, depending on his predraft workouts.

The only question, now, is if he even finishes the semester.

It’s been a while since I wrote about the future of the Big East. Now that we are starting into the lull period of football and basketball, finding material to talk about on PSB becomes a little more difficult. The good news, is that means more of what I write will be more analysis and less link and quotes. The bad news, it means putting up with my prose.

When the Big East was raided by the ACC, the logic was there. Money from football. The ACC wanted a bigger share of the BCS pie, the money from a conference championship, and money from the TV rights.

The Big East football contract for TV is going to be a major factor in splitting the conference. Without Miami, VT and even BC (market not marquee value for the last), the BE is facing not just lower amounts of money for the TV contract, but also less control over when the games will be played if the schools want to get on TV and get the money.

This cannot be understated. The BE football teams will be playing a lot of games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights in the next few years. While occasional games like that are good for highlighting the schools and the conference, it is hell on actual game attendance and enthusiasm. Football has to fill much bigger crowds than basketball. With fewer games, there is a reason for the evolution of tailgating and such. For football you draw fans from a much larger area who come with the plan of making it a full day event. You can’t do that with weekday games.

People like Lee or I who come in from the 100+ mile range are going to start missing more games. (Yes, I’m being a bit selfish, but that doesn’t change the point.) It means more empty seats — which is not what you want to see on the TV screen if you want to promote the team and program. It means more disgruntled fans and alumni who can’t make the games or don’t like the hassle. It means more unpredictability as the games are shifted late and after the schedule was announced and season tickets are sold. It also means pissing off local high schools with Friday night games to hurt their attendance and focus.

The Mountain West Conference had several years of that before they finally had enough.

Last year the Mountain West became the first I-A conference to leave ESPN. Mountain West TV (carrying league football and basketball games) kicks off in 2006 on new cable network CSTV.

College Sports Television is trying to stay a step ahead of the copy cats.

Having to play midweek games and perceived second-class status became too much for the conference’s presidential board. Commissioner Craig Thompson was charged with finding a new TV home. In what was a largely ignored, but significant, deal, he was able to sign a deal with fledgling CSTV in September.

“Us leaving ESPN was the chink in the armor,” Thompson said. “They lost a client for the first time ever, so to speak. Not that we meant that much to them.”

Time will tell whether the move to CSTV (College Sports Television) was progressive or ill-advised. ESPN is still the 800-pound gorilla but even it can’t account for the increasingly fragmented college sports market. Conference USA followed the Mountain West to CSTV, although some of its inventory will remain on ESPN.

Sure, the Mountain West got a 71 percent rights fees increase but it also lost “reach,” the pairs of eyeballs that could see its product. CSTV, which debuted in 2003, is on most major cable systems but lags far behind the Worldwide Leader in terms of viewers and clout.

“They realized they were not going to get the attention they deserved for the sports they deserved stuck as one tiny piece of ESPN’s (empire),” said CSTV cofounder Brian Bedol.
…
The league’s first televised game was Washington-BYU six years ago on a Thursday night. It was eventually asked to play more midweek games. League presidents finally had enough. The midweek games were starting either too early (5:30 p.m. in the Mountain and Pacific time zones) or too late (7:30 or 8).

“We were getting so far away from Saturday football,” Thompson said. “Each year incrementally … (they were) pushing us back to the edges. Our (presidents) said, ‘Monday night at 10 o’clock (Eastern Time)? I’m losing thousands of fans.'”

Playing on actual Saturday afternoons should allow the league to get stronger.

The Big East, with its markets in larger, more eastern areas would be an attractive pairing with CSTV as it tries to get into more markets. Or perhaps the BE might strike a deal with one of the Fox Sports new college networks. It would put more games back on Saturday, and it would get more attention and publicity on CSTV or elsewhare than it will from ESPN. Yes, ESPN is the kingmaker of TV college football, but the BE is going to be relegated increasingly to weekday games which isn’t good for the long-term health of the programs.

The problem is the basketball side of things. The basketball schools have no incentive to leave ESPN. They see none of the football money. What do they care if Pitt and UConn are playing a football game in October on a Wednesday? How does that hurt St. John’s? They get good money and exposure from the basketball portion of the deal. They have no reason to want the change. In fact, for them, it is a bad deal. The money may not be quite as high, and the national exposure definitely drops. They would fight against any move away from ESPN.

For the Big East football schools, though, they risk a little to gain a lot more. Especially if they work a deal with CSTV — which as seen in the NCAA basketball tournament — is already pooling resources and working relationships with CBS Sports (network TV access). Think about media market attraction for a new sports channel by swinging a deal for the college rights for football and basketball for Louisville, Cinci, Syracuse, UConn and Pitt. Even Rutgers gets into the NY/NJ market.

Twenty-five years ago, the Big East was forward thinking with regards to TV contracts and cable. They need to start thinking about taking some new risks.