Why can’t you invite UCF as a football only member? Leave it up to them to decide what is best for their athletic programs. The stability of an all sports conference? Or the added revenue of BCS football? I know CUSA would tell them to hit the bricks, but the Sun Belt may happily take them in for their other sports. What else really matters at UCF except maybe baseball? They’ll have a better chance of making the NCAA tourney out of the Sun Belt than they would out of the Big East for hoops. I’m fairly certain they would find a way to make it work for them.

The Big East has done the football only thing before — Temple. Along with WVU, VT and Miami. It’s a bad plan. Always. Treats those teams like 2d class citizens and again shows how little Big East powers care about football if they won’t treat schools as full partners.

I don’t particularly want Memphis in the Big East. UCF made sense for several years. That said if you are these teams, you have to go all the way.

nooooooooooooooooo

What could Memphis possibly add to the conference? A weak football program, a mediocre basketball team and a Tier 4 academic rating. Please say it isn’t so.

Fear,

I agree, Memphis is a terrible fit but expansion is about $$$$ and the Fed Ex guy has lot’s of it and is willing to part with it!

I can’t see it happening but you never know!

Please, the last thing we need is UCF and Memphis. We need programs that can elevate the BE.

The BE needs to do something proactive or it will likely die as a football conference. The Mountain West is making moves that will position them to steal the BE’s BCS bid. Losing Utah to the PAC 12 only delays that a little, because the MWC has better opportunities to add football schools that are on the rise than the BE has.

To save football, the BE needs to:
1. Add 4 schools with viable football programs to hold a conference championship. They can add UCF and maybe even Memphi$ as two of those, but they also need to go hard after BC, Miami, Clemson or Maryland as #3.
2. For FB school #4, they need to tell Notre Dame to either join as a FULL member or hit the road.
3. Split out the baskeball-only schools into a separate division with 7 members (and perhaps add an 8th to round out the numbers for scheduling ease). The BB-only division would have only 4 spots available for a 12 team BE basketball tourney. The BB/FB division would have 8 spots.

All of this would take “testicular fortitude” on the part of BE leadership to quote Desmond Howard on “College Football Live” yesterday.

Of course that doesn’t exist, so it will never happen. Therefore, I hope Nordenberg and Pederson have made dinner plans with both Delany and Swofford.

TampaT,

The MWC can’t STEAL the Big East’s BCS bid. If the MWC elevates itself it merely gains a bid, it doesn’t take one away from another conference. Also, in the BCS’s criteria the Big East is not the lowest ranked conference anyway.

Maryland and Clemson would never go for a move to the Big East, whats in it for them? Maryland loves the Duke bb rivalry and they actually seem like a good ACC fit. Clemson is never going to leave one of the best conferences in the country to go slumming in the BE.

I would of course love to see BC and Miami but dont see that happening either.

The best thing that could happen is Pitt is asked to join the ACC.

UCF is the only one of the often mentioned additions I can see as somewhat worthwhile, but at the end of the day, the only good way to expand is with strategic choices of comparable schools or simply not at all. The only viable options involve the ACC. Maybe UCF with them, but certainly not them alone and definitely not any of the other teams mentioned outside of the ACC

I’m not advocating either UCF or Memphis for the Big East, BUT, let’s get the facts correctly. UCF is now the largest college in the sunshine state(student population) with an exceptional football venue. Memphis is certainly now and has been since Calipuri was there anything but mediocre in the roundball sport. So, methinks the Big East could do a lot worse. In the meantime, dear fans, the rumors put paychecks on the tables of the media. George from Columbus.

Clearly, to balance football and basektball schools, we would have to invite two additional b-ball only schools. How about Butler and Xavier? Or maybe St. Louis, get that coveted tv market?
Sadly, I’m only half joking…

BnG,

According to current thinking, you are correct.

However, the contract that includes the BE only runs through 2013. There is no guarantee that the BCS will add a 7th automatic bid in 2012 or 2013, and even if they do they could always vote to drop it back to 6 bids starting in 2014. Why? Because they want to give an independent Notre Dame every chance possible to get into a BCS game for the MONEY they bring.

And those conference ranking formulas can always be adjusted again. The BE ranks well because the formula is weighted. If every other major conference has 12 teams and only the BE has 8, do you think they’ll continue to apply the weighting? I don’t.

Plus, I’m sick of hearing how weak the BE is as a football conference down here in SEC/ACC and Big Ten transplant territory.

Back during basketball season, I was at a airport waiting at the gate in the seating area. The UCF basketball team was there as well. I talked to a assistant coach and he told me then that UCF was going to be in the BE.

Why isn’t ECU part of this dicsussion? I know they aren’t a basketball power, but neither is DePaul…kick out DePaul and add ECU, expanding us into ACC country…

PS: I also say screw Notre Dame…kick them out of the Big East now, don’t even offer them a spot in the conference. We know they will say no, so f’em, if they don’t want us we shouldn’t do anything to help them. Sometimes principal should come before $$….

link to ncaafootball.fanhouse.com

I’m sorry, how do either of these teams make the Big East a stronger football conference? C-USA would be a stronger football conference without Memphis while Central Florida does nothing for me just like every other team outside of the BCS. There is no reason to expand until we know that we will lose members. I would much rather give Notre Dame the ultimatum than do this. This just seems like a great way to lose a BCS bid down the road.

@ Tony,

While there aren’t any good options out there the BE really does need to add a 9th team for football just because all the current members are having a hell of a time finding 5 OOC opponents.

UCF isn’t a name but its certainly worth it if it eliminates the risk of having a season with two 1-AAs on the schedule.

Unfortunately, the BE is in no position to give ND an ultimatum. The shared BCS bid with ND is the reason that the Big East is still alive. The Big East forcing out ND will hurt Pitt more than anyone, if ND decides to not continue the rivalry. Pitt will have a much harder time replacing ND on it’s schedule than ND will have.

I’d really like to see something happen with the service academies, and Pitt has always had a good relationship with Navy.

Ok, I’m resolved to the fact. Does anyone know if Navy, and or, for that matter Army have any interest in being football members only?? I mean we allready have scrambled eggs, why not an omelette??? Get to 12 teams with UCF and Memphis I guess, have a championship game at Yankee Stadium?? Christmas time in NYC??? I know I’m reaching, but, I also know, Navy’s football program would whip UCF, Memphis, Temple, or E.Carolina.

I know Navy has a bowl tie-in, they could keep that unless they won the conference. We have strange agreements everywhere, why not one more. Army-Navy game?? At least some sort of cache.

I also don’t want to see this split us from the non-football schools. I guess an 18 team bball conference is conceivable but I don’t think action is required to prevent watered-down non-con schedules. I think Navy as a football-only would be a perfect fit.

I like the Army and Navy idea…always have. Both bring a national TV audience…The Army v. Navy game is a first rate TV game…It just falls under the heading of right things to do…There are no BCS expansion options for BE football, that fate was sealed in 2003. The last shovel of dirt was put on the grave when the ACC signed that new TV deal…The Big East either gets raided in a few years and goes away, or we exist as what is perceived to be the worst BCS conference…So what! The key is we are a BCS conference, we should at least have enough conference members to put 10 or 12 games a week in the market place…Hell, add Army, Navy, Memphis and UCF in all sports. Yep, a 20 team BB conference. We play 30+ BB games a year, we don’t need to schedule St. Francis. I’d rather play Navy and Army.

I really don’t forsee much to be done to save BE football within the next few years. You either have to bring in schools that dont fit academically and/or geographically or merge with another conference.

I think even BE BB is in serious trouble if the football is not stablilized. However, until it is, the decision-makers are not going to do anything potentially adverse to BE BB.

Face it, BE is a BB conference now. Time to start treating it as such. Add 5 football schools who cares? The BE bread is buttered in hoops….

I have been blowing off steam for the last week over the expansion circus, however, I am very upset with UCF and Memphis///here’s why:
If The Big East stoops to the low depths of the gutter (I hear our belt buckles scraping the pavement)to add two inferior academic schools just to say that we are growing our football conference I would for the first time in my life be ashamed to be associated with Pitt. I have an Ivy League masters degree because Pitt gave a very poor kid from Noo Yawk a chance to receive a college education. Make no mistake about it I have always had a very special place in my heart for Pitt. The bottom line is that at some point you have decide what type of company you want to keep. If we allow the likes of Memphis and UCF to share the stage with our athletic and academic programs we are only kidding ourselves about the
value of our association with the Big East.
Pitt’s leadership from the top of The Cathedral of Learning has been outstanding in the Nordenberg era……SAY NO TO MEMPHIS AND UCF!!

I think it’s time to give ND the ultimatum. Since the BigEast lost their best bowl game after the BCS bid, that being the Gator Bowl. There is no reason to keep ND in for all other sports, their bball program is average and their leverage in obtaining better bowl games is obviously slipping since we lost the Gator Bowl and now the Champs Sports Bowl is the #1 bowl now after the BCS bid. Getting ND in the BigEast for football is the ONLY way to insure the survival of the BigEast. And that could lead to, and probably would, to surely BC and perhaps Miami coming back, which would get the league to 11 teams and then you can add UCF or Memphis or Navy or ECU or Temple to get to 12 and Conference Championship game. The upside of getting ND in for football, greatly outweighs losing them for all other sports. Since we all know football is the driving force and king money maker. Give them a sweetheart deal like the Big 12 gave Texas, just get them in.

Guys, you didn’t click on

link to ncaafootball.fanhouse.com

@DanR
We don’t have a shared BCS bid with ND. When ND was in 2 BCS games back to back when they had Brady Quinn as QB, the BigEast had their BCS bid with WVU being in the Sugar Bowl one year and the following year Louisvile being in the Orange Bowl. What we have with ND is they agree to play in the other than BCS BigEast bowl games. But as I noted above, ND’s leverage is lightening, as the BigEast lost the Gator Bowl and now we have the 2nd rate(or maybe 3rd rate) Champs Sports Bowl as the top bowl other than BCS

Steve, got it, more confusion, huh?? My early Christmas was ruined when the Big 10 and ACC and the whole expansion thing kinda went nighty nite for awhile. If they are truly done, I believe what a poster said above, “How long will we have a BCS bid with 8 teams?” I know the Big 12 is at 10, others at 12, they will have to be complaining to the BCS that you have to drop the “weighted” formula, just not fair. I would be doing the same. With looking at it, with no bias, really, Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU kind of stick out of the Big East like a sore thumb, all having history with their football, Pitt and WVU doing well, Syracuse trailing along, but, a lot of history, and all with excellent B-Ball. But, how much longer will the BCS say, “we have to include them because of Pitt, WVU, and Syracuse?”
I don’t like the thoughts of CFU or Memphis, but, I don’t know if we can stay put. I will give this to the Pitt admin, and the Big East admin, it is a very difficult situation.

UCF is not a flunkie school. It’s becoming very difficult to enter at least for students in Florida.
This program would improve the Big East IMO

I still think the BE should out-expend the other conference and chat with the ACC about merging into a mega-conference the the whole East. Imagine 20 FB teams in 2 divisions of 10 teams and 28 BB teams in 2 – 3 divisions. Think of this “Big Atlantic” conference negotiating with the media to blanket the sports world. Certainly the Big 11+1, the PAC 12 to be, and the Big 12 down to 10 can’t compete with the overall quantity and quality that would be covered under one media contract. Bulky…….. yes…….. but that never stopped a conference when it’s looking for TV revenue…………

I don’t think the ACC would agree to that

Lets clear the air here a little–

1. Unless the BE splits FB & BB there is no point to adding more than 1 team.

2. Adding 1 full member playing both FB & BB would work very nicely assuming you aren’t after 12 teams and a playoff game in FB because it allows for a balanced schedule in both FB and BB. With 9 FB schools you get 4 home and 4 away games. With 17 hoops teams you get to play every other team one time per season (8 home and 8 away games). Therfore no more unbalanced schedules in either FB or BB. It’s the perfect solution short of going to 12 FB teams for a playoff and splitting the confernce in some way. By the way the #17 finisher in hoops either doesn’t get to the tournament in MSG or has a play in game with #16 to see who advances.

Yeah I like that idea. Who do you think we should add with that? I would probably pick Memphis because of their basketball program.

Temple right up there too. They play in an NFL stadium, they’re improving and they have a great basketball program too.

pitt1972: That is the tidiest solution and the least disruptive to the non-FB schools, including almighty Notre Dame. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the BE go that way and add only one all-sports school.

However, 9 teams still leaves the BE as the weak sister of the BCS, because you can bet the Big 12 will find a way to get back to 12 schools. That means BE football schools will always be targets for any conference East of the Mississippi that’s looking to expand to 14 or 16 teams. The only real solution IMHO is to somehow get to 12 FB schools. But again, that will take some guts on the part of BE leadership.

Just get us out of this crap conference already!

The big east can only get worse by expansion. Adding 4 crappy teams does not help or protect your conference. Expanding the big east may strip it’s bcs bid. Come on big ten…please?

From a friend this morning…and this one makes sense in many ways…In the shower this morning I came up with the perfect expansion idea for Pitt. The big 12 should get Pitt, WVU, Cinci and TheVille. This would then pretty much wipe out the big east. That forces Notre Dames hand. They then join the Big 12 as well(Making Jerry Jones happy). Then the big 12 picks off one more team. I would think either an Arkansas or maybe South Florida/Memphis. They could go from almost being wiped out to the biggest conferences in like a week. It is only like a two hour flight from Pitt to Texas so travel really isn’t that bad. Plus it would be ideal for Notre Dame because this conference allows for them to keep their NBC contract as well. The Big 12 inherits new TV markets and gets the Big East’s top 3 football teams (Pitt,WVU and Cinci) which also happen to be rivals and three of the top basketball programs in the country (Pitt,WVU and The Ville). They can have the Red River shootout in the South and the Backyard Brawl in the north on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Thoughts? Feel free to post this on Pitt Blather if you like the idea.

i do not ever think pitt, wvu or cincy will go to rh big 12 or 10 or whatever the new name will be for the Texas conference. I for one would not be going to any away games, those games would be too far to drive unless i go to the 2 other be teams, but that would be boring every yr. I always make 1 away game per yr and sometimes 2. Pitts chances at a bcs game would be very difficult. Pitt in the BE has a chance to go to the BCS every yr. Who cares what ESPN thinks of the conf, as long as we keep winning..
Hail to Pitt

Travel issues aside (I actually look for any excuse I can find to travel to Austin), I don’t think Pitt would ever go for a Big 12 combination as long as the profit sharing formula is so tilted towards Texas. I think their solution to keep their league together leaves it in a very unstable position for the long haul. In my opinion, the Big 12 has merely put a band-aid on a gaping wound.

Pantherman: Is your friend’s shower located in Texas? 🙂 That really makes no sense for the Big 12. One of the main reasons their top schools stayed together instead of bolting for the PAC 12 is that players’ families can DRIVE to most of the games. Adding the teams your friend suggests kills that, so I don’t see it ever happening. The Big 12 will probably stay in the Southwest to get their 2. There are plenty of big schools down that way in non-BCS conferences that would love to be part of the Big 12.

10 teams are better than 8, but I dont know if im excited or “who really cares.” In a way I was hoping last week that we did get raided. But I still think it my happen in the future.

The BE doesn’t have the money, or stature to offer another school from a BCS conference. It needs to get schools that will grow from being in a BCS conference. It worked great for USF and Cincy, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for UCF.

Just dump DePaul, that’ll clear out one spot, and let the bidding begin for the second to get booted. The Chicago Experiment has failed miserably along with that program, so if we can cut bait and add an all-sport school I’m for it.

UCF could be a sleeping giant once they jump to a BCS school and pull BCS level recruits, the same way USF blew up once they joined. dont forget orlando is a big tv market, and another trip to florida is good for recruiting.

but i’m biased since my masters is from UCF

“In a way I was hoping last week that we did get raided.”

Lou (and other posters who wish for Pitt to leave the BE):

The primary sport teams that this board follows are football and basketball. Let’s first take basketball. If we move out of the BE, we lose playing WVU (at least one game), Syracuse, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown and (for we guys that live in NJ), Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. Johns. With whom would you like to replace these opponents? (Name a conference and teams)

Football? If Pitt leaves the BE, there is no guarantee that WVU stays on the schedule. We have been playing Syracuse for eons. I like to main some tradition. I go to the Pitt-Rutgers game in Jersey every other year. I go to Homecoming regardless of the opponent. There is major interest in any game with any strong conference team (e.g. Cincy last year). If Pitt has a poor team/record, Pitt fans lose interest regardless if we are in the BE or B-10.

Maybe I am different than you, but in my decision process in determining whether I will watch a game, I never asked myself “How much money will Pitt make on this game from shared TV revenues?”

Comments?

I honestly don’t give a crap about any other team in the Big East. Why should I? I’m a Pitt fan, not a Big East fan

Why wouldn’t we just boot out Marquette and DePaul? They bring almost nothing to the table. And please don’t tell me they bring the Chicago and Milwaukee tv markets. Basketball doesn’t bring regional tv markets. Football does. And Chicago’s hoops fans are watching the Bulls, Illinois, and even Northwestern, as much as DePaul. I don’t even think DePaul’s games are on locally…and they sure aren’t on regionally or nationally.

By trimming the fat to 14, you open up two slots. Those slots get offered to Maryland and Boston College, of course. Neither is likely to accept. The fallback is to go get Memphis and Temple. Both are above average hoops programs, and each has reasons to succeed in football (Memphis = dollars in the athletic dept coffers, Temple = NFL stadium, NFL city, good recruiting area regionally, good coach). This puts us at 10 football teams. You give Villanova the support it needs to move that program up to FBS. They have a good program, and should be able to do this. That gives you 11 members. You are then in a position to say to Notre Dame: we can be a 12 team league in football with a championship game. That game will take place on primetime in New York at their new stadium.

They still reject probably, but its the best shot we’d have. Fallback to ND accepting, you jettison Providence too, and get ECU or UCF. You have to get to 12 football schools without going above 16 hoops schools. It is doable. It is not necessarily easy.

[…] the Big East Commish meets this grisly end, remains to be seen. The rumored expansion to take in UCF and maybe Memphis was not exactly met with […]