TCU and Houston rejected by B12, should we invite them to the Big East?

[Guest nybullsfan]

We should add TCU, Houston, and Memphis.

not unless they bring in millions to each school

Funny you should ask. I've been playing around with some potential population numbers (in millions) for the Big East Cable Network. Somewhere between 100m and 150m potential viewers (out of about 300m in the entire country). What did the B10 start with? Something like 50m?

About 30 million potential viewers for the proposed Football teams

9   TCU       Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Waco, N TX

8   Houston   Houston, San Antonio, E TX

5   ECU       East-Central NC

3   Memphis   Memphis, Nashville, W TN

3   UCF       East-Central FL

2   Tulane    New Orleans

About 50 million for the current Football teams

25   RU, UCONN     NYC, NJ, CT Area

6   Syracuse       Upstate New York

6   Pitt           Pittsburgh, W PA, E OH

5   USF            West-Central FL

3   WVU            WV, W PA

3   Cincy          Cincy, Dayton, N KY, Indianapolis

2   Louisville     Louisville, W KY

Maybe another 30 or so (+ND) for the current Basketball teams

25?  Notre Dame     USA

10   DePaul         Chicago

9   Georgetown     DC, Baltimore

7   Villanova      Philadelphia

2   Marquette      Milwaukee

2   Providence     Providence

0   SHU, SJU       Counted above for RU, UCONN

[macphisto]

No offense guys, but if anyone out there really thinks that TCU delivers Dallas, Houston delivers Houston, and Rutgers delivers Philly for BE TV, then I'd appreciate them sharing whatever it is they're smoking.  Although TCU and Houston are located in the Dallas and Houston MSAs, those areas are still heavily populated by Texas and Texas A&M fan bases.  Philly is heavily populated by Penn State fans.

Yes, people in those markets would watch games those teams played.  However, the percentage of the market that would do so is not that material.

Yes, they are populated by other fans.  

But the foot is still in the door, is it not?  Is it better to have a presence in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston or have NO ONE in those big places ever thinking about you?

And for someone who suggested going after Georgia Tech, I'd be all over that over BC as well.  That would bring in a large fan base that is located in Atlanta, one of the fastest growing areas in the country.  It also would bring us another southern team.

[Guest nybullsfan]

I would LOVE to get Georgia Tech, but is there ANY realistic chance they'll accept? (Yah, I know, we can always ask - all they can do is say no, LOL). In any event, I'm not holding any breaths.

TCU and Houston, OTOH, would jump at the invite, I'm sure.

It'd be good for recruiting, road trips, market share, selling tickets, they're both big-city schools with quality athletics and reasonable academics. What's not to like?

The only downside is that they're not in FL/GA/AL. But then, who is? Would you rather have Troy? GA Southern? FIU?

[Bull-by-Marriage]

I thought that if the BE were to expand, it would not be just to expand, and to make the Conference better. First of all, I don't think that the BE should expand so far West. Yes, UL and UC are fairly West, but the BE had to expand to keep its AQ status.  As for making the BE better:

      2000   2001 2   3    4    5    6    7    8    9

TCU       21/18    NA    23/22 25/24  NA 22/21 NA   NA   NA    NA

Houston NA    NA      NA   NA   NA   NA   NA   NA   NA   NA

[Guest nybullsfan]

what stats are these?

[Bull-by-Marriage]

what stats are these?

rankings since 2000. IMO it's the best measuring stick for FBS teams. Not saying ucf is better or worse, just commenting on how so many on here, (and I agree with them) that the BE doesn't need to expand, just to expand. Regarding TV markets, if a team isn't any good, then people generally don't watch them, especially if they have the option of watching teams like UT.

[Guest nybullsfan]

Might be a good measuring stick for BCS teams, but looking at the top-25 rankings of "mid-major" teams is somewhat disingenuous, since "by definition" they're inferior due to the fact of their inferior conference.

"Because you're not already a member, by definition you're not good enough to become a member"

The same holds true for UCF as well as TCU. Put them in any BCS conference and watch them blossom. We did.

BTW, what are USF's end-of-season rankings since 2000?  By these rankings, TCU is better than us. Should we step down so they can take our place?? >

[The Dude]

I don't see how it would work combining the B12 with the BE.  You have so many complications it ridiculous.  Scheduling would be difficult.  Not to mention the travel.  Geographically there is no correlation between the two conferences.  There has to be something that a UCF, a TCU or a Houston brings to the table associated to their competence in playing football.  Advertising is about demographics, and sure it's up to the advertiser to know theirs, but how do you sell ad space to view games NOBODY wants to watch.  USF-Houston based on the argument would pull well on a cable affiliate but I don't see how it works on broadcast networks such as NBC, CBS, or ABC.  That's likely why the great name schools land broadcast network contracts like on ABC and the rest of us fend for our weaker match ups like USF-FAU, on cable.

[Bull94]

Might be a good measuring stick for BCS teams, but looking at the top-25 rankings of "mid-major" teams is somewhat disingenuous, since "by definition" they're inferior due to the fact of their inferior conference.

"Because you're not already a member, by definition you're not good enough to become a member"

The same holds true for UCF as well as TCU. Put them in any BCS conference and watch them blossom. We did.

BTW, what are USF's end-of-season rankings since 2000?  By these rankings, TCU is better than us. Should we step down so they can take our place?? >

I don't understand the argument that a non-BCS team joining a BCS conference will automatically increase their recruiting rankings.

Utah is ranked 32 by rivals. BYU is 40. Houston is 45 and TCU is 46.

If BCS conference teams are expected to out recruit non-BCS teams then how come all of these programs rank ahead of Arkansas, Purdue and many other BCS teams? Who will they jump if/when they join a BCS conference?

Hell UCF would be ranked #4 in the BE this year ahead of 2 time defending champ Cincy, USF, Rutgers, Syracuse and UConn.

Will they start to out recruit WVU and Pitt if they join the BE?

[Bull94]

I don't see how it would work combining the B12 with the BE.  You have so many complications it ridiculous.  Scheduling would be difficult.  Not to mention the travel.  Geographically there is no correlation between the two conferences.  There has to be something that a UCF, a TCU or a Houston brings to the table associated to their competence in playing football.  Advertising is about demographics, and sure it's up to the advertiser to know theirs, but how do you sell ad space to view games NOBODY wants to watch.  USF-Houston based on the argument would pull well on a cable affiliate but I don't see how it works on broadcast networks such as NBC, CBS, or ABC.  That's likely why the great name schools land broadcast network contracts like on ABC and the rest of us fend for our weaker match ups like USF-FAU, on cable.

I thought the ACC and BE should have formed a 20 team football only alliance. They could have controlled the whole eastern seaboard. They could have started a joint network.

Conferences aren't looking for ad dollars. They are looking for basic cable subscribers for their networks. The big 10 gets local conference cable subscribers to pay .80c per month for their network whether or not they watch it. I get the big 10 network in Tampa. I probably pay like .05c/month for it. I've never tuned in. Take ten's of millions of households at .05c per month and it starts to add up.