Football, basketball imbalance a future Big East issue. NJ Star Ledger

[TyBull]

Interesting article in todays NJ star ledger.

Football, basketball imbalance a future Big East issue

by Tom Luicci/Star-Ledger Staff

Sunday March 16, 2008, 3:00 AM

Three years after seeing three schools defect to the ACC, Big East officials will tell you their league hasn't simply survived and recovered from that near-death experience. In their view, it has gotten stronger.

Football is coming off a third straight BCS bowl victory, basketball is hoping to snag seven bids to the NCAA Tournament and send a team to the Final Four for the second straight year, and ESPN was impressed enough to sign new deals with both sports that run until 2013.

"The last two years have been as successful as any two-year period in Big East history when you take everything into account," said Big East associate commissioner Nick Carparelli, who oversees football for the league.

But the on-field success still hasn't helped the Big East shake one nagging off-field question: Can the league continue to flourish in its unorthodox setup as almost two separate conferences?

In football, the Big East is the BCS' smallest conference with just eight teams. In basketball, it's the nation's largest league with 16.

No other major conference in the country has that kind of separation.

"My sense is, with the new contracts in place, is that it's going very well the way it

is," said St. John's athletic director Chris Monasch. "The vision is very much long-term now."

To hear the football coaches, they'd like a ninth team to balance out scheduling (four home league games, four away and four non-conference opponents). The league's basketball coaches have grudgingly come to accept their unwieldy size as part of the price for the conference's survival.

"Is there an answer?" said Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun. "Right now I haven't heard one. So we have to accept things the way they are."

That would be fine if the college landscape didn't pose an ongoing threat to the Big East because of the vulnerability of an eight-team football league. The memory of the ACC luring Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College is fresh enough that Big East officials have to be aware of what's out there.

The Big Ten, steadfastly opposed to a conference playoff at the moment, has 11 schools. That's one shy of the requirement for a league championship game.

But the league recently launched its own network and a change in leadership some day could mean a change in thinking about a league championship game.

One of the most logical expansion candidates would be Rutgers because of the market it opens up for the Big Ten -- something no other Big East school can offer.

And what if the SEC decides one day to expand to reduce the crossover games in football, maybe setting up two seven or eight-team divisions? West Virginia and Louisville would certainly be good fits.

"I always worry about that," said Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. "Our people are aware of everything that is being written and said out there."

Chuck Gerber, ESPN's executive vice president for college sports, said his network pushed for the new TV deal (details were not released beyond the length of the contract) because "we believe in the presidents of the Big East and what they're trying to do."

"It's arguably the best basketball conference in the country top to bottom," he said. "We also believe in the football side even after the restructuring. We wanted to show the Big East we have confidence in them."

Though the league was founded on basketball in 1979 (the football league wasn't established until 1991), it is now football-driven. Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy said everyone in the league understands the economics of why it's that way.

"The basketball schools understand how important football is and how important it is to the future," he said.

Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson said the cooperation between the football and basketball-only schools has been a key to the Big East regaining its national prominence.

"In this league or any league, what you need is to be strong together, to find a commonality that makes you strong," he said. "I think this league has tremendous commonality in the way it approaches its business."

Tranghese said the cooperation throughout the league "is unprecedented in my 29 years here."

"I spoke to our executive committee last week on the state of the league," he said. "I have six presidents -- three on the football side, three on the basketball side -- and they're ecstatic with what's happening."

But three years ago, the cooperation was made legally binding, just in case, after Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida were added for football and DePaul and Marquette for basketball only after the ACC's raid. All 16 schools agreed to a five-year contract to remain together. That deal runs for two more years and Big East officials say they see no need to formally extend it.

"Everyone seems pleased with the direction of the league," said Mulcahy. "I think the biggest indication of the future was the new TV contracts."

Carparelli said the football side's "ultimate level of security" is the automatic BCS berth that it was able to retain.

"We need to keep a constant study and take a constant measure of the landscape," said Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano. "Anything can happen, as we found out. You always have to be aware of the surrounding environment and be ready to act."

Conference configurations

Big East officials and administrators say all is well with their conference, which has the distinction of being the biggest in the country in football (16) but the smallest in basketball (8). But in the world of college conferences, you can never be sure who will be where. Here are four future scenarios for the Big East:

1. Navy joins for football

This make sense on all sides. Adding Navy adds the D.C. market plus it creates a nine-team football conference, giving each school four home and four road games. Having four guaranteed home games helps scheduling of non-conference games (each school could add three home, one away). Navy's other teams would stay where they are now, in the Patriot League.ÂÂÂ

2. Rutgers leaves for the Big Ten

It doesn't make sense now. But in five years, when the program -- and the stadium -- have grown, Rutgers (with the NYC television market and NJ recruits) becomes the perfect fit for the Big Ten, which can now split into two divisions. The Big East, if it wanted to stay at 16, might look to add Memphis from Conference USA. The Tigers are a respectable football program and would make Big East basketball even better.

Big TenÂÂÂ

Division A

Indiana

Iowa

Ohio State

Penn State

Purdue

Rutgers

Division BI

llinois

Michigan

Michigan St.

Minnesota

Northwestern

Wisconsin

3. West Virginia and Louisville go to SEC

The SEC, tired of having so many crossover games in football, may look to go to two seven- or eight-team divisions. West Virginia and Louisville, strong in football and basketball, both make sense (as does Memphis) in such a scenario. The Big East now has to make a choice. If it wants to stay at 16, adding two from a group of Memphis, Central Florida and even Temple makes sense.

4. The conference splits in two

Mass defections in football end the conference. The remaining football schools go after Memphis, Central Florida and Temple to fill out their league and hope to retain their BCS bid (a tough sell). The basketball schools, all Catholic, start to look like the original Big East. They look to add two more (Cincinnati-based Xavier and Pittsburgh-based Duquesne) to connect the conference geographically and pick up two more regional TV markets.ÂÂÂ

ÂÂÂ

Football

ÂÂÂ

Central Florida

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Memphis

Pittsburgh

South Florida

Syracuse

Temple

ÂÂÂ

Basketball

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

Villanova

DePaul

Duquesne

Marquette

Notre Dame

Xavier

Big East history

Year;Teams

1979-80;7

Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Syracuse are charter members

1980-81;8

Villanova is added

1982-83;9

Pittsburgh is added

1991-92;10

Miami is added in all sports; Temple and Virginia Tech join for football.

1995-96;13

Notre Dame, Rutgers, West Virginia are added

2000-01;14

Virginia Tech is added in all sports

2005-06

Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech leave; Temple is dropped for football; Cincy, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, South Florida are added

[I_Bleed_Green&Gold]

USF wasn't added to the BEAST cuz of our BB program.  We were added for FB and improving in BB would just be the icing on the cake.  Their are MANY teams that would've done better than us in BB but they wouldn't have gotten to #2 in FB either.  FB is KING!

[GarySJ]

Yawn... another day, another clueless sportswriter with nothing better to do than realign the conferences to match the voices in his head.

[Carolina_Bull]

Schiano will bolt for Penn State in the next year and RU will be as worthy of joining the Big Ten as Central Michigan.

If they expand, I predict the Big Ten takes Missouri and the Big 12 replaces with TCU.

[Jihme]

we would lose our bid pronto by losing WVU and UL and adding those crap teams.

[smazza]

Interesting article in todays NJ star ledger.

Football, basketball imbalance a future Big East issue

by Tom Luicci/Star-Ledger Staff

Sunday March 16, 2008, 3:00 AM

Three years after seeing three schools defect to the ACC, Big East officials will tell you their league hasn't simply survived and recovered from that near-death experience. In their view, it has gotten stronger.

Football is coming off a third straight BCS bowl victory, basketball is hoping to snag seven bids to the NCAA Tournament and send a team to the Final Four for the second straight year, and ESPN was impressed enough to sign new deals with both sports that run until 2013.

"The last two years have been as successful as any two-year period in Big East history when you take everything into account," said Big East associate commissioner Nick Carparelli, who oversees football for the league.

But the on-field success still hasn't helped the Big East shake one nagging off-field question: Can the league continue to flourish in its unorthodox setup as almost two separate conferences?

In football, the Big East is the BCS' smallest conference with just eight teams. In basketball, it's the nation's largest league with 16.

No other major conference in the country has that kind of separation.

"My sense is, with the new contracts in place, is that it's going very well the way it

is," said St. John's athletic director Chris Monasch. "The vision is very much long-term now."

To hear the football coaches, they'd like a ninth team to balance out scheduling (four home league games, four away and four non-conference opponents). The league's basketball coaches have grudgingly come to accept their unwieldy size as part of the price for the conference's survival.

"Is there an answer?" said Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun. "Right now I haven't heard one. So we have to accept things the way they are."

That would be fine if the college landscape didn't pose an ongoing threat to the Big East because of the vulnerability of an eight-team football league. The memory of the ACC luring Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College is fresh enough that Big East officials have to be aware of what's out there.

The Big Ten, steadfastly opposed to a conference playoff at the moment, has 11 schools. That's one shy of the requirement for a league championship game.

But the league recently launched its own network and a change in leadership some day could mean a change in thinking about a league championship game.

One of the most logical expansion candidates would be Rutgers because of the market it opens up for the Big Ten -- something no other Big East school can offer.

And what if the SEC decides one day to expand to reduce the crossover games in football, maybe setting up two seven or eight-team divisions? West Virginia and Louisville would certainly be good fits.

"I always worry about that," said Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. "Our people are aware of everything that is being written and said out there."

Chuck Gerber, ESPN's executive vice president for college sports, said his network pushed for the new TV deal (details were not released beyond the length of the contract) because "we believe in the presidents of the Big East and what they're trying to do."

"It's arguably the best basketball conference in the country top to bottom," he said. "We also believe in the football side even after the restructuring. We wanted to show the Big East we have confidence in them."

Though the league was founded on basketball in 1979 (the football league wasn't established until 1991), it is now football-driven. Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy said everyone in the league understands the economics of why it's that way.

"The basketball schools understand how important football is and how important it is to the future," he said.

Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson said the cooperation between the football and basketball-only schools has been a key to the Big East regaining its national prominence.

"In this league or any league, what you need is to be strong together, to find a commonality that makes you strong," he said. "I think this league has tremendous commonality in the way it approaches its business."

Tranghese said the cooperation throughout the league "is unprecedented in my 29 years here."

"I spoke to our executive committee last week on the state of the league," he said. "I have six presidents -- three on the football side, three on the basketball side -- and they're ecstatic with what's happening."

But three years ago, the cooperation was made legally binding, just in case, after Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida were added for football and DePaul and Marquette for basketball only after the ACC's raid. All 16 schools agreed to a five-year contract to remain together. That deal runs for two more years and Big East officials say they see no need to formally extend it.

"Everyone seems pleased with the direction of the league," said Mulcahy. "I think the biggest indication of the future was the new TV contracts."

Carparelli said the football side's "ultimate level of security" is the automatic BCS berth that it was able to retain.

"We need to keep a constant study and take a constant measure of the landscape," said Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano. "Anything can happen, as we found out. You always have to be aware of the surrounding environment and be ready to act."

Conference configurations

Big East officials and administrators say all is well with their conference, which has the distinction of being the biggest in the country in football (16) but the smallest in basketball (8). But in the world of college conferences, you can never be sure who will be where. Here are four future scenarios for the Big East:

1. Navy joins for football

This make sense on all sides. Adding Navy adds the D.C. market plus it creates a nine-team football conference, giving each school four home and four road games. Having four guaranteed home games helps scheduling of non-conference games (each school could add three home, one away). Navy's other teams would stay where they are now, in the Patriot League.ÂÂÂ

2. Rutgers leaves for the Big Ten

It doesn't make sense now. But in five years, when the program -- and the stadium -- have grown, Rutgers (with the NYC television market and NJ recruits) becomes the perfect fit for the Big Ten, which can now split into two divisions. The Big East, if it wanted to stay at 16, might look to add Memphis from Conference USA. The Tigers are a respectable football program and would make Big East basketball even better.

Big TenÂÂÂ

Division A

Indiana

Iowa

Ohio State

Penn State

Purdue

Rutgers

Division BI

llinois

Michigan

Michigan St.

Minnesota

Northwestern

Wisconsin

3. West Virginia and Louisville go to SEC

The SEC, tired of having so many crossover games in football, may look to go to two seven- or eight-team divisions. West Virginia and Louisville, strong in football and basketball, both make sense (as does Memphis) in such a scenario. The Big East now has to make a choice. If it wants to stay at 16, adding two from a group of Memphis, Central Florida and even Temple makes sense.

4. The conference splits in two

Mass defections in football end the conference. The remaining football schools go after Memphis, Central Florida and Temple to fill out their league and hope to retain their BCS bid (a tough sell). The basketball schools, all Catholic, start to look like the original Big East. They look to add two more (Cincinnati-based Xavier and Pittsburgh-based Duquesne) to connect the conference geographically and pick up two more regional TV markets.ÂÂÂ

ÂÂÂ

Football

ÂÂÂ

Central Florida

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Memphis

Pittsburgh

South Florida

Syracuse

Temple

ÂÂÂ

Basketball

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

Villanova

DePaul

Duquesne

Marquette

Notre Dame

Xavier

Big East history

Year;Teams

1979-80;7

Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Syracuse are charter members

1980-81;8

Villanova is added

1982-83;9

Pittsburgh is added

1991-92;10

Miami is added in all sports; Temple and Virginia Tech join for football.

1995-96;13

Notre Dame, Rutgers, West Virginia are added

2000-01;14

Virginia Tech is added in all sports

2005-06

Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech leave; Temple is dropped for football; Cincy, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, South Florida are added

smazza says no  and that catholic schools and nd need to be given the boot