There was an interesting piece in the New York Times this past week on the money Big East teams spend on their basketball programs. Here’s how the whole thing looks.

1. Marquette —— $10,306,548
2. Louisville ——— $8,625,245
3. Syracuse ———- $7,784,244
4. Georgetown —— $7,405,214
5. Connecticut —— $6,796,942
6. West Virginia —- $5,963,760
7. Villanova ——— $5,959,931
8. Pittsburgh —— $5,337,512
9. Seton Hall ——— $5,200,805
10. St. John’s ———- $4,729,555
11. Providence ——- $4,637,423
12. Notre Dame —— $4,380,691
13. Cincinnati ——– $4,011,357
14. Rutgers ———– $3,793,356
15. DePaul ———— $3,257,409
16. South Florida —- $2,927,362

Now when you separate out the football schools:

1. Louisville $8,625,245
2. Syracuse 7,784,244
3. Connecticut 6,796,942
4. West Virginia 5,963,760
5. Pittsburgh 5,337,512
6. Notre Dame 4,380,691
7. Cincinnati 4,011,357
8. Rutgers 3,793,356
9. South Florida 2,927,362

Pitt is dead center in both. But what strikes me is that Pitt is at the point where there is  a significant drop-off.

Obviously there is also a significant difference in success when you spend money and don’t. Not just for this year or last, but over the past decade. When Pitt made the commitment to invest in the basketball programs results came.

Obviously hiring the right coach in terms of recruiting and player development makes more of a difference than shiny new buildings.  The new facilities are vital for selling recruits on the seriousness of the program, but you need the coaches that can develop and sell things.

It sucks, to some degree to simplify winning to money, but everyone has learned over the years. The only way you win consistently is by consistently spending the money (or if you prefer, reinvesting) on the programs.

That money of course, is what drives the acceptance by every fan of Big East football programs that if another conference comes calling, of course they will jump. Whether it fits right or not.

Well, I guess it beats dissecting Pitt’s loss this afternoon in basketball. Sort of.

This has apparently reached “buzz worthy” status. That Pitt is heading to the Big Numerically Challenged Conference in the Midwest. It sure seems to have jumped beyond mere message board discussion. Lots of rumors. To the point where newspapers, while not directly reporting it in print, are into discussing the possible ramifications, and blogging it.

Speculation is heating up all over the Internet that Pitt has accepted an offer to join the Big Ten Conference.

Here is what popped up on Bleacherreport.com, normally a pretty reliable outlet, just a few hours ago:

——————————–

“According to several reports, including personal statements by student athletes on Twitter, Pittsburgh athletic department officials held closed door meetings with all of the University’s student athletes last week about the potential move.

Pitt message boards lit up with the news and the validity of the rumor, and though not verified by the University or the Big East or Big Ten, the rumor was somewhat reinforced when those Pitt athletes who posted about the meeting on their Twitter accounts were forced to remove the posts.”

Ahhhhhh. At the risk of sounding elitist… Oh, what the hell, Bleacherreport.com? That’s the source available?

I don’t know, that, well. Yeesh.

Eleven Warriors (tOSU blog) has doubts, and The Rivalry neatly encapsulates my thoughts on Big 11’s moves to progress.

Well first, there’s the extreme unlikelihood that the Big Ten Council of Presidents would act so quickly, little more than a month into an evaluation process tabbed to take a year to a year and a half.  Still, it is possible that COP had Pittsburgh — and its complimentary academic pedigree — in mind from the start.  With its top tier national rank (56th) and Association of American Universities affiliation, Pitt is a fair congener on paper.  Additionally, some commentators have suggested that a quick-strike could be designed to meet scheduling deadlines to get a Big Ten Championship Game in place by 2012.

Still, for a conference that has only added three members in the past century, an impulse buy is more than out of character.  Plus, it’s not clear how the addition of Pitt by itself furthers conference exposure.  (Penn State already brings Pittsburgh — the 23rd largest television audience in the United States — to the table).

The nail in the coffin of this rumor for me, is that the Big East appears totally in the dark.  The Big Ten made it more than clear when it announced plans to explore expansion that it would contact a prospective target’s conference before approaching an individual school.  Evan if the Big East is playing it cool, it seems far fetched that the Big Ten would have had the time to work through what OSU President Gordon Gee calls a “quiet kabuki dance” with a number of suitors at the gate.

A friend of mine totally gung-ho over the possibility disagrees and posits this:

I’ve always thought that the 12-18 month timeframe for a study was just a smoke screen to begin with, to give the impression that this was not as desperate of a grab as what the ACC did. My thinking is that the Big Ten likely had preliminary discussions already begun with the target school before they went public with expansion. Anything else would have been risking national humiliation.

I’m skeptical of this since the Big 11 made a show of how they would do things above the board and did not want to be perceived as staging a stealth raid like the ACC. Maybe that’s silly, but the Big 11 loves being seen as a blue-blood-like conference. Dignified and steeped in tradition.

I won’t prentend I haven’t heard some rumors, and gotten e-mails asking what I know.

Frankly, I really don’t know anything. I don’t claim sources, and I doubt the people I do know would know — or tell me.

The alleged announce date is supposed to be Friday — after NLI day for college football. I guess we’ll all learn something or nothing then.

I really, really, really don’t look forward to 18+ months of mindless speculation over Big 11 expansion. The amusing thing is that it doesn’t seem my fellow bloggers from Rutgers or Syracuse are that enthusiastic about the matter either.

I’m a cynic and money always trumps all. And no doubt the money of being part of the Big 11 would be too great for any to turn down.

That said, I like the Big East. Yes, it is not a powerhouse football conference, but it is a better fit for Pitt. That said, if the Big East wants to survive it has to act. Sean at Troy Nunes is right, the Big East has to “Grow a F***ing Pair.” They have to stop acting like a b-ball conference and the whole Providence thing is over.

My feelings on this are much the same as when it went down in 2003. If the Big East is to make it and Pitt be a part of it, then the Big East needs to stop the hybrid crap and commit to being a real frickin’ conference. That means jettisoning the b-ball only schools and get to the magic number of 12 teams that compete in the major sports.

Honestly, I was saving this post until the spring when speculation is easier and there are less interesting things — like a bowl game and basketball games. Then the Big 11 decided it needed more attention.

So here it is.

First, there is no magic bullet.  Admit that there is no frickin’ way the Big East is going to be able to raid other BCS conferences for teams. It is about money and the other BCS conferences make and have more than the Big East. Leaving the ACC by BC and/or Maryland is not going to happen. Grumbling alumni in Boston won’t have BC jumping yet again. Just as Penn State isn’t leaving the Big 11. It’s all about the money.

Second, ignore the independents. Please. Notre Dame is not going to make the full commitment. They just aren’t. Pride and money.

Army and Navy are respectable names, but they are not BCS conference teams. Besides their own desire to play a schedule of their choosing — they don’t compete in other major sports. They don’t have (and nor should they be committing) the resources to a full athletic department budget of a major conference program. So, despite the historic cache and respect for being service academies, they aren’t going to be a part of this.

Third, admit that like after the ACC raid, it will have to be retooling with teams with potential and willingness to make the commitment. They will not make the conference better right away.

Fourth, there has to be some geographic logic and natural rivalries. That means Southern Miss and Tulsa are not in the mix.

Philly. Villanova has to make the leap to D-1A. They need to follow the UConn model. They have been successfull at 1AA, function in a major media market and are smack in the Big East footprint — natural rivalries with Pitt in state and Rutgers right next door. If they aren’t willing, then maybe default to Temple as long as the school is willing to continue to make a full commitment.

Central Florida. Okay, this is a no-brainer. USF may not like the idea of helping them, but they are needed. They have made the commitment to an on-campus stadium. They are in a still growing market (Orlando). They offer USF the natural rival, geographic proximity, and further solidifies the Big East in Florida.

East Carolina. Another, mostly no-brainer. They have a very good fanbase and will be immediately competitive in football. Basketball still needs a lot of work, but they have shown a willingness to make a financial commitment to upgrade on all fronts.

Okay, these are predictable. Right? These have been the ones generally mentioned when it comes to Big East expansion. That means the fourth team is going to be Memphis.

Wrong.

Forget the overall shadiness of Memphis’ athletic programs. Forget that outside of basketball  (and their dance team) that they bring little to a conference. Their geographic isolation from all other programs in the Big East (Louisville is closest and they are nearly 400 miles away) without offering the fertile recruiting of Florida is a real problem. As is further spreading the conference west. They are a choice of last resort.

Now for the 4th team.

Charlotte. You read right. The school formerly called UNC-Charlotte. The University of Charlotte 49ers are bringing back football by 2013. Their ill-fated foray into the A-10 — that has seen the loss of rivalries (geographically isolated with Richmond their closest conference foe) and hurt their basketball program — has them working to expand their athletic department. They provide a natural instate rivalry with ECU and exist in  another growing market along the East Coast.

It’s not ideal. And it sure makes clear why, if the Big 11 reaches its inevitable conclusion of expansion and offers Pitt, Syracuse or Rutgers, they will take it.

I have no choice but to mention this, despite the fact that anything that will happen is at least a year or two away. They will only be forming a study group to gather the info and make a recommendation in a year to 18 months. I’d rather wait until at least May — when speculative topics are much better at filling dead space.

Still, here are the basics from my viewpoint.

The Big 11 is doing this because it has to. All for money. It wants more money for a championship game. It wants to be able to push more adoption of the Big 11 network. It has seen the SEC blow them out of the water with money and the more fertile recruiting — which means more money in the bowls and BCS.

It has to worry about the ACC ever getting its football house in order and actually becoming another major factor to the East. Especially as the ACC is only checked on the B-ball side by the Big East. Again, eating into money.

Big 11 expansion is realistically and effectively limited to 5 schools: Missouri, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pitt. Not just for geography, but because the Big 11 prides itself on all members being part of the Association of American Universities — all the aforementioned schools are members. Schools like Cinci, Louisville, WVU and UConn are not part of that group. (Oddly enough the University at Buffalo is a member.)

Notre Dame isn’t joining. Everyone knows that.

Missouri would be very unlikely. After the ACC raid on the Big East, every conference upped the costs and timeframe to disentangle membership. The Big 12 is particularly harsh  (but I can’t find the exact cost and time it would take). So Mizzou would face short term financially crippling costs to make the jump.

That leaves Pitt, Syracuse and Rutgers.

If you follow the idea that you want to keep geography more condensed, then Pitt makes the most sense since it is already within the geographic footprint. If you follow the money and media market then it is clear that Syracuse or Rutgers would be the picks.

Whoever gets offered realistically should and must jump. If they don’t, they know one of the others will. That is, unless they can create some sort of ironclad — and cost prohibitive penalty — that binds the three together.

What Joe Paterno has to say about this, is as meaningless as anything else he has said on it for the last 6 years. He’s the geriatric, iconic coach of one football program. He’s not an AD. He’s not a school president. He’s marketing and a colorful quote for the Big 11 and little else in this matter.

New gear has arrived.

The press release (at least at the moment) has no pictures of the new football uniforms or any of the new unis for any sports.

“We are excited about our new partnership with NIKE,” Pederson said. “Most importantly, our student-athletes are thrilled to be wearing the NIKE brand. We are anxious to have our fans see the new lines of NIKE Pitt products as well.”

“The University of Pittsburgh is an outstanding institution with a rich sports heritage,” NIKE director of college sports marketing Kit Morris said. “NIKE is excited to become the official supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment for the Panthers, and we especially look forward to outfitting all of Pitt’s student-athletes and coaches from its 19 sports programs.”

Given the Pitt store’s propensity to sell old gear forever (really? still selling an “iron bar” Pitt logo hat?) rather than eventually just ship it to a 3d world country to avoid confusion, count on being able to get older Adidas stuff for several more years.

Nike is doing the throwback gear. Just it now has a swoosh right in the front of the shirt rather than on the sleeve as Adidas did. That Nike subtlety.

I realize the latest Big East Commissioner from the Providence College cabal has stressed the need to improve the Big East’s bowl tie-ins as a top priority. And I don’t disagree since that is the most immediate contract. At the same time, he dismisses the need for a 9th team in football.

Well, the football stuff and the bloated side of basketball is in need of being addressed because of the impact on the TV money.

This shows the current set-up for TV deals in the conferences.

It is no surprise that the Big East has the worst contract of any of the BCS conferences with a 6-year/$200 million arrangement with ESPN/ABC for football and basketball. The Big East wasn’t in a position of strength having just lost three football teams and being on double-secret BCS probation.

Still, it is hideous even compared to the inept work of the Pac-10:

• ABC/ESPN: Five years, $125 million for football

• Fox Sports Net: Five years, $97 million for football

• ABC/ESPN: Six years, $52.5 million for basketball

(All run through 2011-12.)

However the Big East allocates the money to football schools versus basketball only schools, it is not good for the football schools overall. Guessing that $100 mill gets a roughly 8-way split ($12.5 mill) and the other half gets a 16-way ($6.25 mill), that’s a paltry $18.75 million over the course of the 6-year deal (or $3.125 mill/year).

Even the Pac-10 clears over $5 mill per team per year with their contracts, and they are considered to have the dumbest negotiators in big-time college sports.

This only underscores one of the problems with the Big East’s basketball side. It is just too big. Too many slices of the pie. Couple that with the too small football side that can’t get even close to the same drawing power of the other major conferences, and this will be a looming catastrophe for the football programs competitively. And eventually for the basketball side as well.

BONUS UPDATE: Brian Bennett on his Big East football blog for ESPN has some more disturbing numbers on where Big East teams lie on the overall list of what D-1 programs take in for overall revenue:

Now think about this: The top Big East teams made less than half of the revenue that Texas and Ohio State generated. Ten of the 12 SEC schools, 10 of the 11 Big Ten schools, six of the 10 Pac-10 schools and half the Big 12 ranked ahead of the top Big East revenue maker.

This list isn’t all about football, of course, and some schools sponsor several sports that bring in money. But we all know that football is the rainmaker, and those that have the most cash usually find the most success. The gap between the SEC and the Big East (and possibly everybody else) only figures to widen given the SEC’s new lucrative TV deal.

39. UConn: $54.7 million

40.: WVU: $54.3 million

44. Louisville: $52.2 million

45. Rutgers: $50.2 million

54. Syracuse: $44.7 million

61. Pittsburgh: $39.7 million

66. South Florida: $34.7 million

67. Cincinnati: $33.9 million

Yeep. Here’s the full chart.

Lots of chatter about it. More than a couple people e-mailed me to say it was happening. The one thing that hasn’t occurred — no press releases or actual press conference unveiling the change in apparel and shoe deals from Adidas to Nike. So, I don’t know anymore than the rest of you.

I have to admit that I don’t have any strong feelings one way or the other about this. When Pitt switched to Adidas from Nike for all gear (at the time Adidas was already the basketball supplier and other sports and Nike was only the football supplier), that there was some acrimony as Pitt had to file suit to get out of the deal.

The deal with Adidas was more lucrative, and Adidas was the company that produced the very pleasant throwback gear. (Hmm. Might have to buy some more, just in case Nike doesn’t continue that line.) Plus, it meant avoiding the dreaded “System of Fit.”

Of course, money talks, and this time it seems Nike has decided that it is willing to pay to get Coach Jamie Dixon (no offense to Coach Dave Wannstedt, but for sneakers the B-ball coach has the value) and Pitt’s apparel. I’m a little surprised that Adidas let Pitt go, considering their investment and actually marketing the team a bit this past March.

Honestly, I’m not sure what difference it makes for the fans. It may be gear in styles we like more. I really don’t see it getting more market penetration. That sort of thing is dependant on the success of the football and basketball programs, than Nike or Adidas. Both have a strong interest in making sure they make money off the deal, so I did not see Adidas as holding Pitt sales back in that regard.

There’s a fine line between celebrating an achievement and going a bit over the top. Hard to believe that Pitt may have managed to go a bit over the edge this quickly

#1 in the polls

A commemorative t-shirt? For the polls? Really?

I know it’s the first time. I know I said it’s a big achievement and one Pitt fans should be proud, happy about and even celebrate. I’m just not there for a t-shirt.

I really don’t know what to say about that, other than: blatant cash-in/grab.

Crazy, crazy second half to the week.

There has been a lot of discussion and talking about people who can’t make it down to the Sun Bowl, but want to support the team. One big way that has emerged would be buying and donating tickets to local charities or organizations. Of course, that can be a lot of work to locate the right charity in El Paso, contact them and get them the tickets.

The good news is that the Pitt Athletic Department makes that rather easy to do. If you order tickets through Pitt’s website — and thus helping Pitt fill their obligations to purchase tickets — there is an option to choose to donate your tickets as you go through the process. If you call to order tickets, you have to specifically tell the agent that you want to donate the tickets.

What happens to the tickets? The Pitt Athletic Department returns them to the Sun Bowl organizers who distribute them accordingly. Why this way? Well, according to Christopher Ferris, the Associate AD for Marketing, this is required by NCAA rules. It makes some sense. That way the tickets don’t end up under the control of a particular program that might distribute them to say a recruit and his family/posse. Or resold. Just generally avoid even the appearance of or opportunity for corruption.

I want to thank Maz and Carmen for starting this conversation at the beginning of the week. The volume of the discussion shows that there was a lot of interest in helping Pitt meet their ticket obligations.

Coach Jamie Dixon is in New Jersey today for St. Benedict’s Dan Hurley’s coaching clinic. Dixon is one of the headline/name speakers at the clinic. I’m sure he’ll get congratulations from some of the other coaches for the raise — though, when you’re hanging out with Bill Self and Rick Barnes you are still on the low end of the pay scale.

Legends Classic Championship Round Tickets go on sale this morning. The games at the Prudential Center in Newark on November 28 and 29 will include Pitt, Mississippi St., Washington St., and Texas Tech. Dick Weiss included Sam Young and DeJuan Blair on his list of players that the Wooden Award Committee should stick on the watchlist.

Levance Field’s ankle is now officially a source of anxiety. I’m not putting it at major anxiety, but it is a concern. The latest setback is an infection that has put the kibosh on rehab and conditioning while it heals.

It isn’t expected that he will miss the season or anything, but it will slow him down when practice starts in October. The only upside is that it will give the other guards opportunities to compete to run the offense initially.

On the subject of Dixon’s extension, the terms weren’t disclosed but it is expected that he will be making around $1.5 million per year. Dixon has a great comfort level with the PItt powers.

Pederson offered Dixon more money and three more years on his existing contract, and Dixon had only one question: how long the administration of Pederson, Vice Chancellor Jerry Cochran and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg would remain intact.

“My only concern, and I raised this to Steve, was this contract runs for eight years,” Dixon said. “I wanted to know how long they will be here, what the direction of the university is and where they will be.

“They couldn’t give me guarantees, but that’s a big part of our success. Jerry, Steve and the chancellor are a big part of it. They’ve done an unbelievable job running this place.”

AD Pederson says it’s not just an extension by a few years.

“Essentially, we reworked the whole deal,” Pederson said. “We didn’t just add three years. The terms changed for the whole seven-year period.”

Pederson declined to reveal financial terms of the contract, which paid Dixon a salary of $1.3 million last season, but he said it includes a raise that places Dixon among the upper-echelon of Big East Conference coaches.

“There’s really is something special about Jamie,” Pederson said. “The reasons he loves it here and the reasons he’s so loyal are real sincere reasons. From my standpoint, this wasn’t a contract extension done for recruiting reasons or public-relations reasons. It was done because we want him to be the coach here a long time, and he wants to be the coach here a long time.”

Well, maybe upper-middle of the BE coaches. We are talking pay for coaches like Calhoun, Pitino, Boeheim, Huggins and Wright. To say nothing of the fact that Brey got a raise from ND. Marquette actually helped lower the upper-end with Crean moving to Indiana.

With Dixon’s 132 wins, he’s a virtual lock to pass Paul Evans’ 147 wins to move to 3d on Pitt’s all-time coaching wins list. Behind only Robert Timmons (174 wins) and H.C. (Doc) Carlson (367).

Joe Starkey feels his cynicism over coaching declarations of loyalty beaten back in the case of Coach Dixon.

Call me a sucker, but I think so, too. I think Dixon really is going to be here for the next seven years — and quite possibly longer.

Several reasons for that.

For one, Dixon seems deeply connected to Pitt’s administration — he’s much tighter with Pederson than he was with former athletic director Jeff Long, for example — and truly seems to appreciate the city and that Pitt took a chance on him.

I believe Dixon when he says he wants to become synonymous with this program the way Mike Krzyzewski is with Duke.

Coach “J,” anyone?

“I don’t want to be the guy looking for the next job,” said Dixon, who owns the best winning percentage (.680) in Big East history. “I don’t want to be the guy who gets fired, (either).”

I’m still a cynic. Don’t get me wrong. I love that Dixon is Pitt’s coach. He wins, there is absolutely no whiff of impropriety. He has been the best fit for Pitt.  While Dixon is highly successful, his success has been less overtly spectacular. This has aided the school in keeping him.

Administrators and ADs at other programs are aware of him and keep putting him on the short list. His maintenance and slow growth of Pitt’s program, though, has kept him from becoming a splashy name. He doesn’t excite the big money boosters at other programs. That means less pressure on the AD to pursue and money thrown at Dixon. A lot less than a coach at a mid-major or another school who engineers a quick turnaround or makes a big splash by getting to the Sweet 16 very abruptly.

Given the history of Pitt in keeping coaches and paying the money, I think this has been a big help in keeping Dixon and building his trust and desire to stay at Pitt over time. There was only after his 3d year, the serious threat to him leaving.

Now having said that, never assume “forever.” There are a couple places on the West Coast that could come calling in the next 3-5 years that can’t be taken lightly. Oregon may have extended Ernie Kent, but if he flounders they will cut him loose. They have lots of money going into new facilities and they have Phil Knight of Nike ready to give them more for anything they need. I also don’t think I will breathe easier until Lute Olson retires and is actually replaced at Arizona. That is an attractive job and they will have the money to throw as well.

With basketball practice starting in less than 3 weeks, Josh (Merlin) Verlin over at the Oakland Zoo is getting geared up. He’s happy about the Dixon extension and notes that Pitt’s Media Day will be on October 16, the day before the first official day teams can practice.

Finally, for the hoops deprived, the tip-off for college basketball junkies will be on Tuesday November 18.

A marathon of 14 college basketball games on Nov. 18 — spread over 23 consecutive hours — will help kick off the 2008-09 college basketball season on ESPN.

The games open at midnight ET with national championship game runner-up Memphis hosting Massachusetts, where Tigers head coach John Calipari once coached. It wraps up with the two winningest programs in college hoops history — Kentucky and North Carolina — meeting in Chapel Hill at 9 p.m. ET.

Wheee.