Sorry about the late start. The morning was lost due to a pediatric cardiologist appointment for my son. Born with a heart issue, so there are routine check-ups to make sure all is well. All is fine, but it just took a while to get everything done today.
It is less than a week until the Villanova Wildcats make their decision on football and the Big East. In a related note, the most evil Wildcat of them all — Scottie Reynolds — lost it in a NBDL game.
VUHoops has the must read article on the subject. Quick executive summary: Looks like they are going to make the move to 1-A football.
We’ve covered the subject before, but I’m sure that won’t stop anyone from strongly repeating their feelings on this. I’m fine with it.
As I’ve said before, as long as the football and basketball conferences are not splitting, there is not going to be any quick movement to 12 teams in football. There aren’t any great choices. There are choices that have potential, but that is not the same.
UCF looks to be gnashing their teeth for a while longer. Bemoaning their fate and all of that. Big deal. Like Houston, they aren’t going anywhere. When the time comes that the Big East splits, they will get the call-up.
I’m also okay with Villanova moving up, because it keeps what relatively meager revenues the Big East TV contracts bring from being split any further. Any tenth school would get a chunk of the football TV revenue, but this prevents yet another sliver off the basketball side.
Does this deliver the Philly market? No more than the A-10 has the Pittsburgh market with Duquesne. But UCF wouldn’t actually be delivering the Orlando market. Only a claim of it. That’s all that the Big East will have in Philly for now — a claim of the market.
The Big East will remain the smallest player in the BCS TV revenue race. This story on what is coming for the Pac-10/12 shows how the gap will only grow.
Commissioner Larry Scott is reportedly seeking a more lucrative contract than the $205 million annual deal the Southeastern Conference signed with CBS and ESPN three years ago. Anything close to that figure would provide a boost to the Pac-12’s financially-strapped athletic departments.
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ESPN and Turner Broadcasting are potential bidders. But industry sources believe the favorites are Comcast, fresh off its merger with NBC-Universal, and Fox Sports. The deal would take effect in 2012-13.
“This is the best possible time for the conference — they’ve caught lightning in a bottle,” said AJ Maestas of Navigate Marketing, an independent media rights advisor and Washington alum.
Part of any deal will apparently be a Pac-12 network to be formed. Just as important, with their own network they retain and control a greater number of their broadcasts — and the form in which they can be distributed. This means digital and mobile broadcast rights. Something the Big East ceded to ESPN in the last TV deal.
There will be no expansion subplot running through the college offseason this year. Instead, it will be about media deals, TV rights and the money. Well, it’s always about the money.
In this day and age … if you are a competitive 1A program, you are not very far from competing in D1. Both UConn and USF became competitive rather quickly (but you never know.)
I would still prefer UCF to be the 10th team .. what’s difference betweeen 17 or 18 BB teams?
HAIL TO PITT!
I agree wbb UCF would be a great fit.
I said this before and I still believe it – there is more downside in the Big East expanding with the wrong school and having it fail than in doing nothing. I hope I am wrong, but I just don’t see this working out well.
It might take a while (and 75-100MM dollars) to get a FBS football stadium built on the main-line for Nova to play in. So even if they were to commit to the Big East, it would be years before they could ever really join, right?
In terms of when they would start playing, it looks like the plan is to have them start in the 19k seat stadium in Chester in 3 years.
Now, with Villanova, it will most certainly go to 2 and 2.
Dan, with TCU in the league Pitt will only have 3 open dates. Since we often have Notre Dame and Youngstown St. et al on the schedule, there is only one real slot open for a good non-conf game. Most likely it would be a MAC team 🙂
I just thought this at this very moment, ok, we do get TCU every year, so that’s good.
So, with my scenario of them doing a good job with the 5 OOC games, for the most part, usually 3 good teams, and two lumps, we get TCU and Notre Dame on the good side, Villanova football a lump, for awhile anyhow. So, it will be down to the two games you spoke of.
Probably will have to do with how many home games we have each particular year, two lumps one year, a good and a bad the next I guess. I know how important money is, but, I hope this doesn’t send us down the road of (besides ND), the other two OOC games being consistently lumps!!!
ill save the 5 paragraph long posts on why this is a disaster on every level… including pitt will have to financially support these deadbeat losers for as long as they “play” football
hopefully we man up and remind the big east where the money comes from… and its not philadelphia FCS tv viewers
what a disgrace
It’s not the end of the world. Nova isn’t going to be any weaker than Temple was, and we played them for years.
As far as Nova is concerned, were is it that they would play? Would they play in Lincoln Financial Field or the Soccer Stadium in Chester or would they have to build a new big stadium on the main line?
I know they have been a pretty successful D-1AA **oh sorry FCS program** (I think they ended top 5 this past year and won the title 2 years ago), but can we actually expect them to compete within the next 5 years?