The end of the Big East Basketball Conference

[USFan]

To expect 8 every year is not realistic.

How many BE teams were going before the expansion?

Once again, my arguement has nothing to do with size and numbers. The makeup of this conference is insanely hard.

talk to the SEC about hardness when it comes to football, Big East is the SEC (football) of college basketball

We have a winner

[Joe]

Never said they'd want out. I fully believe that the conference will eventually be separated (as Smazza stated).

In 2000 there was a very big push for the "Catholic Conference" featuring ND, Nova, Georgetown, Marquette, Depaul, Xavier, Dayton, Providence, Seton Hall, and St. Johns.

It was not a coincidence that the BE selected Catholic Schools to fill out the new BE, rather than take a UMass or Charlotte. I believe that this could get the ball rolling on the BE entity controlling two conferences...

[USFDan]

There are 16 teams in the Big East of which 8 do not have football.  Those 8 depend on basketball money to survive.  Getting 7 or 8 teams in the NCAAs is worth money that these schools need.  Only getting 6 of 16 to the dance is not good.  The money from getting to the dance is split 16 ways not 12 like the ACC who got 7 of 12 to the dance.  No way the Big East stays with 16 teams if every year they only get 6 teams in the dance.  Hopefully we get back to getting 8 next year.

[Jamie]

USFDan makes a good point. How many teams would get into the NCAAs from that non-football BE conference? Maybe three? That's a lot of money those schools would be leaving on the table in the form of tournament shares.

Also, in referencing teams that should have gotten in, no one pointed out that a couple of lower-conference teams that were getting in anyway (Nevada, Xavier, etc.) lost in their conference tournaments, which made it harder for a bubble team to get in. Imagine if NC State or Arkansas had won today.

[JoeBulls]

How many teams did the Big East have before all those defections to the ACC?

[Joe]

It's the TV revenue that they would be giving up, but taking ND with them would help. Tournament shares really isn't all that great, especially in a league the size of the BE. Finally, those that don't make the tourny in the BE really don't get much.

I just don't see the 16 team Big East working out because there is too much star power there. Really what good is the money for a basketball crazy school like St Johns or Depaul when making the tourny would be a struggle every year.

[South_Florida_Flip]

Big East TV deal will keep the conference as is. The $$$$ that are going to be going to each school will more than make up for 1 team not making the NCAA Tournament.

[JoeBulls]

Don't schools like St. Johns etc get a cut of the TV deal that ESPN signed with the Big East for that traditional "Big Monday" matchup.

I also have to believe that the leauge gets a nice piece of pie for the rights to broadcast the Big East Tournament.

I don't see how adding Marquette and Louisville had diminished the league.

Who did they lose ?  Va Tech.  They were awful during thier days in the Big East.

BC was solid -- but Louisville and Marquette are probably better additions.

Its teams like USF, Seton Hall and Depaul that are hurting the leauge b-ball wise.

[JoeBulls]

And -- i am not convinced that being in the Big East doesn't help your chances of getting in the tourny.  How many other conference can you go 8-8 and most of the time be a bubble team to get into the NCAA.

Cuse didn't make it because they played like crap early on in the season and didn't have very many solid road wins.

They had an RPI of something like 60.

[JoeBulls]

They lost to Witchata State, Oklahoma State, Drexel.

That is what really killed them.

The team that got really screwed was Drexel.