Doc

I agree that they are consolidating power and money into three games instead of five, and four schools (most likely 100% from the BigBoy conferences) rather than 10 schools (where 10-20% might be outsiders). Still, an undefeated outsider (ACC/BigEast) could get to the Top 4. Maybe easier than the current need to get to the Top 2 (I don't drool anymore over a Sugar Bowl appearance, and so the BCS "consolation prize" has been losing its luster). These bowls may still exist, although the payout will likely be less. If it's a championship playoff you want, the new system isn't really much different for USF's title hopes as long as we remain in a viable conference (ACC/BigEast merger)

I don't see the four big-boy conferences making an exclusive playoff system where only their members are eligible (anti-trust stuff would resurface). The Pac12 can't get to 16 without raiding the BigXII and this doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon, so the 16x4 thing is off the table for now. Sure, I can see the BigXII taking up FSU/Clemson to get to 12, and maybe ND/BYU as well (they seem to be OK with letting schools keep separate sweet TV deals), while the SEC can get to 16 with VT/NCState and the B10 can get to 16 if they should take Duke/UNC/UMD/UVA as previously suggested. This would essentially remove the BBall/Academic "snobs" from the ACC and a merger with the old-guard BigEast FBall (plus Temple) would form a decent conference with plenty of BRAND names to help it survive in ALL sports. To be perfectly honest, the prior FBall setup was pretty much a sham, and the attraction of winning the BigEast just to play in a glorified bowl game few would watch (yeah, that includes the Orange and Sugar, anything that isn't for a national championship) was getting old. As it was, and as it will be, USF will have very little chance of playing for a national championship in football. I would be happy as long as we belong to a conference that remains visible (in ALL sports), and this means aligning ourselves with brand name schools, not just southern-based, mediocre football, no-name programs that most of our fans still wouldn't travel to see. Should we be so fortunate to join up with Miami/GT/WF/BC, and rejoin Pitt/Cuse, we would ensure visibility, viability, recruiting, and competitiveness in all of college athletics.

My understanding about a possible UVA/VT split is that both would have to remain in "viable" conferences, not necessarily the same one. VT to SEC and UVA to B10 would solve that.

I see this as being very plausable at some point down the road. Although, if you're less thrilled with the 16-team format (as I am), you can drop SMU/UH/UCF/Mem, and split North/South by moving UC/UL to the southern division.

I'm not so sure we would've kept WVU and TCU (their going to the BigXII is what in turn probably allowed them to reportedly bust up the ACC). Pitt might even be making the BigXII move with WVU as a unit. However, with Syracuse in the BigEast, and the shear numerical disadvantage the ACC would be staring at, I could definately see us plucking off the most desirables left behind (this would've kept the BBall alliance together, though, and so we might have been looking at a mega-BBall 20-team extravaganza like was proposed with KU/KSU/Mizzou joining with a BigXII meltdown 1-2 summers ago.

The BBall schools will not be jettisoned. If a "merger" happens, it will be as a negotiated split with the BBall schools keeping the name, and the FBall schools folding in with the ACC leftovers. Both conferences survive. HOWEVER, if this goes down after BSU/SMU/UH/UCF/UM/Navy/SDSU are all established, it wouldn't be such a clean move.

If not for the Pitt/Syracuse treachery, the BigEast would have had the power to poach ACC teams should schools start bolting for other conferences, and not the other way around. With all our new additions, it would be a little tricky if we just said, "sorry folks, just kidding, go back to your cDOA, we'll let Pitt/Cuse back, and a bunch of others in as well." Maybe this is what's behind Marinatto's resignation -- by adding all these new teams quickly, the BigEast may have inadvertantly placed itself in a weaker position (especially if you're a BBall school). Should the ACC collapse, THEY will obviously backfill with BigEast FBall schools. If this happens sooner, UConn/RU/UC/UL/USF have the upper hand as the establishment. If this takes a year, then Temple will at least have their foot in the door as well. If this drags on longer, then I fear you can just throw us in a pool with all the other new admits, and it would be easier to leave us out ("they'll be OK, they'll still have their rival in UCF").

FazaUSF: That is my concern with the NewBigEast. Its shear size (even if you ignore the non-FBall side) will make it difficult to make a "clean" merger with ACC leftovers. That would have been a different story last summer, but now, the BigEast has been forced to expand and our fate is more closely linked with those of the southern additions (UCF, UH, SMU, and maybe Memphis) than the better brands in Louisville, Cincinnati, UConn, and even Rutgers. While I can't see UCF jumping us, Temple might.

I am not a conspiracy theorist who believes that the PITT/SU raid was conducted solely by ESPN to weaken the BigEast in negotiations. The ACC did what it did for their own survival. Remember, that move came 48 hours before the Oklahoma schools were to announce a decision regarding the Pac12 and it looked like they, Texas, and TTU were heading west. Mizzou had not yet abandoned ship and were being considered by the SEC along with the strongest of the ACC football schools. The BigEast looked to gain from the BigXII collapse while the ACC was ripe for the picking. Then, just like that, Pitt gone, Syracuse gone, buy-out raised in ACC, and their future secured -- or so it seemed. Now it appears that their show of strength and solidarity wasn't all it was cracked up to be. And all of this because of BigXII expansion??? Just imagine what it'll look like when the SEC or B10 decide to add new members and can pretty much take who they want (except for Texas, ND, or other SEC/B10 schools). Those conferences aren't going to settle for just any warm body, and the ACC has the bulk of the desirable names left (not necessarily the best teams, but that's not what it's ever been about). I still see an eventual ACC/OldBigEast leftover "merger" under the ACC banner (BBall schools split and keep the BigEast name), and right now our "current" members have the edge. No way I see them taking UCF, especially over UL or even UC, regardless of geography. Keep in mind that the ACC leftovers would be predominantly BBall-first schools, and so UL/UC/UConn would all still be excellent fits if available. My worry is that if this drags on for a while (a few years), and the NewBigEast starts to blend together, we'll lose any advantage as a member of the "more-established" old-guard, and be more likely to be cast off with UCF/SMU/UH.

BBall arenas are much better when they aren't designed for dual use with hockey games. The seats are much closer to the action, particularly along the endlines. Also, much steeper allowing for a much cosier atmosphere, with the fans right up on the players (and coaches, and refs). Thumbs up to the Sun Dome. Thumbs down to Madison Square Garden, old Freedom Hall, DePaul's Rosemont/AllState, etc, with the hockey dimensions and those rickety temporary folding seats behind the endlines with such a gradual slope that row 4 is so far from the action that you might as well be watching on TV. SLU had the right idea when they left that Kiel/Savvis/ScottTrade dual-purpose mess and opened their on-campus Chaifetz Center with similar dimensions to the Sun Dome.

The brackets are up and it looks like we get the winner of St Joe's versus Coppin State. It says the location is TBD which worries me. Most of the teams with byes are listed as the second-round host; only two schools aren't and of course we are one of them. This makes me think we would/could open on the road. . . the screwing of USF athletics has no bounds. In any case, good luck to our girls. St. Joe's BARELY escaped with a win against the Lady Billikens here in Saint Louis. And SLU only won four conference games in the regular season. Should we face St. Joes, I would expect to be heavily favored. Don't know much about Coppin State's team.

The reason USF was left out is clear. We lost to DePaul (whose coach Doug Bruno still holds much power in these tight races) and despite the nonsense these committees spew about not counting up bids from each conference, they were not about to give the Big East nine bids. Stupid arithmetic. A ninth team would have forced two Big East schools into the same "half-region" and the committee doesn't like that. As soon as I saw DePaul got in, I knew it was over. Lafayette didn't steal our bid. DePaul did, with two wins in a row over Notre Dame at the end of the year. If they lose either game, we take their place as a 10-seed. I don't buy that stuff about the team collapsing. The schedule-makers didn't do us any favors with road games at WVU, Marquette, and DePaul in that late stretch. We were significant underdogs in each of those games, as well as the two against UConn. Of course, if we had won ONE of these or beaten Pitt we wouldn't be having this discussion. As for the wNIT, I think we get the automatic bid as the highest-seeded Big East team not going to the Big Dance. We were #8 and #1-7 and #10 got in. Still waiting for them to update the bracket (funny, they already list Lafayette without the "if not to NCAA" disclaimer). . .

Currently, we sit in ninth place with one game remaining.  Here is what I think can still happen: 8-seed: USF win over Seton Hall AND Pittsburgh win at 3-12 Georgetown. 10-seed: USF loss to Seton Hall AND DePaul win vs 10-5 Notre Dame. 9-seed: Anything else (USF win/PITT loss; USF loss/DEP loss). Now for our first-round opponent: As an 8-seed, it would go 8-USF, 9-SHU, 10-DEP.  We'd play Seton Hall again. As a 9-seed, it would go 7-SHU, 8-PITT, 9-USF, 10-DEP.  We'd play PITT. As a 10-seed, it would go 5-ND, 6-UL/WVU loser, 7-SHU, 8-PITT, 9-DEP, 10-USF.  We'd get Seton Hall. For the second round, UConn is locked into #1 (playing 8-9 winner) and Rutgers is locked into #2 (playing 7-10 winner).  I agree that it will likely take a win over SHU, a first-round tourney win (SHU or PITT), and a second-round win over UConn or RU to get us safely off the bubble.  No question that it's going to be a tough road.

I got my info from the same website. Under the section regarding multiple-team tie-breakers, it says you compare head-to-head records and give the advantage to the best winning percentage EVEN IF unequal games were played. If my scenario ( had played out and the conference gave the bid to someone else, I think USF would have a legitimate complaint. The hypothetical records don't come into play until the first round of going through the standings (Nova's win over then-2nd-place GU wouldn't be the difference since USF at 0-0 could hypothetically go 2-0 or 1-1 given two shots, but Nova would eventually win further down in the standings and is why they would beat us in a straight-up two-way tie).

My understanding is that in a three-way tie, you would take best-record amongst the tied teams, regardless of number of games played in the group. If it were USF-RU-NOVA, I think it would have gone: USF (1-0), RU (1-1), NOVA (0-1). And when one team moves on, you still rank teams in order of the original "mini-conference" record. It's certainly possible that I misunderstood the procedures. . . In any case, UConn won and Rutgers lost, so it officially comes to an end, no matter how you slice it. Very disappointing.

Not so sure if a win versus Seton Hall (who just took down Marquette and won seven of last eight conference games) and a first-round win in Hartford does it for the Big Dance. Even IF we go 9-7, we're looking at an 8-9 seed in the conference tourney, and maybe draw (oh, no) Pittsburgh in the first round with UConn on the horizon. The Marquette game is huge, and there is a good chance I'll be making the 6-hour drive to Milwaukee this weekend.

As if it couldn't get any bleaker, the Providence victory over WVU tonight all but shut the door on our flickering hope of making it to the conference tournament. Of course, USF must win all three remaining games (unlikely enough in itself) and have one of the following: a) UConn loses all four games -- @ RU, UL, Nova, @ GU If UConn wins at least one more game, we need Villanova to LOSE all three, and Rutgers to WIN all three. Finish with a three-way tie (USF, NOVA, RU), and we're good. Throw in either UConn or St. John's for a four-way tie at 6-10, and we're still good. Throw in both for a five-way tie, and we're out. A UConn win at Rutgers Wednesday would eliminate both scenarios and it would be mercifully over, at least unofficially by my count.

Technically this is not true.  No likelihood of going... but USF wins 3, U Conn loses 3 and USF is going to MSG... Bulls can also still catch Providence or even Villanova in a three-way tie with Rutgers. Probably best shot is to catch Providence. If the Friars drop both home games this week (WVU, Syracuse) and USF gets redemption at the "scene of the crime" last year in East Rutherford, things COULD get very interesting on Feb 28 with PC coming to town.

Not mathematically out yet, but our chances are pathetically slim at present. In addition to Cincy, Rutgers, and Seton Hall, we can still catch: Providence - if they lose out Connecticut - if they lose out Villanova - if they lose out, and Rutgers wins out to force a three-way tie Of course, the Providence scenario doesn't factor in a three-way tie with UConn or someone else, which could hurt us, but I've wasted enough time with the above to worry about these other combinations. To stay alive until next weekend, we need PC to lose to Marquette OR UConn to lose to Rutgers (the 'Nova game doesn't immediately matter because a Rutgers win keeps us alive anyway).

Not going to cancel any travel plans, it will just be a lot lonlier in New York. Even seven wins isn't a sure thing anymore. Well, that's what happens when you have to rely on others for help. Hmm, I seem to remember Marquette needing our help just about one year ago. . . something like Crean getting on the loud speaker and saying "now let's all go home and be South Florida fans." Georgetown loses and Marquette gets the bye (but then loses to Georgetown anyway). Yeah, thanks for returning the favor. If Mac stays it will be because of the finances, not the improved record. As it has been said before, anything less than MSG would be a disappointment AND a failure.

Congratulations! Officially clinched spot in Hartford. Now, for that first-round bye, it looks like it will take at least eleven wins (three of last four) to make this happen. Two very tough road games, UConn at home, and a much improved Seton Hall team in the finale. Good luck!

Not a mathematical "must-win" game. But lose to Syracuse, and the DePaul game likely becomes a mathematical elimination game for us.

Just got back from the Louisville game. . . if we chalk up that dismal performance to "playing on the road" then we are in big trouble. Freedom Hall was as dead as I've ever seen it, have seen more enthusiastic crowds at their women's games, and we were still lucky to lose by ONLY 20. I think it's not so much about IF we win six games, but rather WHO we beat if we get to six. Winning only the three remaining home games probably won't do it anymore. I agree with the prior posts stating that DePaul, @ DePaul, and @ Seton Hall are the most important if we have to pick out three games. But needing two road wins for a team that is 0-14 in Big East road games makes me very nervous. . . However, even if we lose at Seton Hall, all is not lost. I still don't see the Pirates getting to six wins. That means home wins over DePaul and either PC or SU might keep the door open for MSG in the finale in Chicago (last year, DePaul blew their chances at MSG on the final game), requiring only one road win instead of two. One more thing -- check out Syracuse's remaining schedule: SJU, @USF, UCONN, @PC, GU, @NOVA. Even with a win over SJU, the rest of their games could all be losses and giving us the head-to-head advantage. This MAYBE allows for a sweep of our home slate to pass SHU and Syracuse, even with road losses to the Pirates and Blue Demons. Either way, my bags will be packed for Hartford and NYC. I just hope to have a team to cheer for in both venues.

Congratulations! On pace for a first round bye in the conference tourney. The largest home crowd was over 3000 for the UConn game about 5 years ago (non-conference game), mostly with Huskies fans. I'll be in Chicago for the DePaul game this week and a win there should put us over for the Top 25 (road win at a tough venue historically will turn more heads than wins over St. John's and Syracuseever could). Of course, they'll then have to beat Pittsburgh later in the week to keep those potential votes. . . and that could mean trouble. . .

Hey! Those photos are from my old seat. Is the "1" plaque still "missing" from the chair in the bottom row?