I just hope USF is also getting ready

[Drewski]

How does Judy's position on the board of the NCAA help us in this situation, if at all? Not sure if this has already been discussed, but I'm curious. 

[Held_AccountaBull]

USF leadership better not be sitting on their asses or we're toast.

[crambone]

If Pitt and Syracuse leave, the Big East will die.  USF needs to be proactive and NOW.

[bull2saintleo]

Wow, I can't believe how many expansion threads that there are on here right now. Maybe 15-20?

I concur.  Kinda wish we had a subforum for expansion talk, or just one thread so I didn't have to check all over.

[brazenbull]

Wow, we're screwed. Thanks Pitt, you dorks.

[Bull-Hornz]

I am starting to understand why Cuse and Pitt are leaving, which is the commissioner. With Texas A&M going to the SEC why is the Big East not forcing the issue with the prospects?

After reading this http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/201109171927 I think I know why.

Everything is reactionary with this commissioner, which is the gripe both Pitt and WVU have expressed wanting a 12 FB conference (sorry lost the link).

I am concerned for USF...

[Triple B]

Wow, I can't believe how many expansion threads that there are on here right now. Maybe 15-20?

I concur.  Kinda wish we had a subforum for expansion talk, or just one thread so I didn't have to check all over.

Been trying to direct all conference expansion topics to The Big East Sports Board but as heated as this is getting, a sub-board may not be a bad idea.

[Mama_Bull]

As I stated when I started this thread a few days ago, I thought it deserved to be on this board, so we could discuss what USF could do, rather than the Big East in general.

IMO, Genshaft needs to line up the governor on her side to impress upon FSU and Miami, that if there is going to be expansion in the ACC, then USF needs to be one of those schools. That's what the Virginia governor did in order to get the ACC to deny Syracuse and take Virgina Tech.

I'm sure many people believed that tactic wouldn't work with Virginia, but it did.

Genshaft can also call an emergency meting of the NCAA Board of Directors to discuss the ramifications of a major expansion in college football and how that would impact its members.

I think Genshaft has some cards to play, and she should issue a statement to the media expressing her displeasure on this seemingly out of control process.

[Gismo]

I worry about our leverage with other conferences.  Individually, I think USF has zero leverage.  If I take my green goggles off I can count on one hand the BCS team I think are less attractive than USF.

In my opinion, Marinatto better have a rabbit to pull out of a hat with this TV deal he bragged about, because USF IS NOT getting into the ACC unless the ACC is obliterated by the Big10 and SEC.

The other thing that needs to be written about is the interference ESPN is reportedly running.  I have said before they are no friend to the BE and USF. . . . and I fear they are calling the shots. . . . . which is bad since they think enough of USF and the BE to put them on wednesday night football (but never Pitt or Cuse in my memory. . hmmm).  A few months ago ESPN gave the BE a take it or leave it renegatiation deal and Marinatto passed (Marinatto stupidly opened his mouth about the BE's upcoming leverage).  Now ESPN (which has a deal with the ACC) is possibly "advising" conferences on their acquisition strategies.

In my opinion, USF is along for the ride with no shots to call.  They better get ready to SUE THE PANTS OFF OF:  Cuse, Pitt, ACC and ESPN.

Ironically, everybody here in NC hated the first round of ACC expansion (save for VT) and thinks the conference lost its identity with UM and especially BC. . . . . . . . now they are talking to Pitt and Cuse. . . . . . that'll go over like a fart in church.

I really hope that USF doesn't do this. USF's public perception would be damaged imo. We would look foolish.

If you look what Baylor has done in the BigXII to try and stop Texas A&M, well everyone in Texas (and most of the SEC) hates Baylor right now and some folks are going as far as withholding their business from Baylor alum. Baylor has been getting really bad press here in Texas for their legal threats and I don't want to see the same thing happen to USF.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do really wonder why Pitt and Cuse decided they want out of the Big East though. I think there must be some more stuff going on that just hasn't been made public yet that has spooked them. Maybe the WVU to SEC talks?

This is looking pretty bad for USF right now. I think the other FL schools (FSU, UM, UF) all want to see USF out of an AQ conference for recruiting and I wouldn't be surprised if they agree between themselves to black ball us from expansion if they can. If Pitt and Cuse leave, I think it makes WVU a high chance of bolting as well. This really kills the Big East as a desirable conference for some of those left over BigXII teams but I think all of current AQ teams left out of this round of expansion (Assuming not everyone expands to 16 teams) will end up all merging together in a weaker AQ league maybe under the Big East name.

No body is going to look out for us unless doing so leaves some benefit and the ACC or SEC don't benefit as much as other conferences from USF because they already have a FL presence. If the Big East falls apart, there isn't any other conference that makes sense for scheduling, but from a TV market perspective we're pretty valuable I think. Maybe the ACC or SEC would want us for more recruiting trips to FL?

Something else I just noticed is that if you look at the other large states (California, Texas) they each have 4 AQ teams. Texas has Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, and Texas A&M (and maybe a 5th in TCU). California has UCLA, Stanford, USC, and California. And Florida currently also has 4, USF, FSU, Florida, and UM.This just came to me wondering if there must be some limit to the number of AQ teams each state can support and because CA and TX each have 4, FL should be able to support 4 as well. We must consider though that Baylor is terrible and will probably lose their AQ status in expansions and we don't know what will happen to TCU. In addition to this, all the AQ teams from both TX and CA are all in the same conference as the other AQ teams in their state (with the exception of TCU), making FL the only state where the AQ teams are split between 3 conferences. This suggests that the ACC and SEC could each support another FL team (but would they want to?). It's possible that the ACC or SEC might want USF to have a stronger FL footprint for more recruiting trips and maybe to get the central FL TV markets. It's possible that only the other FL schools would not want us. Additionally, this leaves me to believe that a state cannot really support more than 4 AQ teams and that UCF will never find its way into an AQ conference.

Of course, this is all theory crafting.

[Who'sYourData?]

Clearly a Big East/Big 12 merger of some sorts has to be in the works.  The only thing I can fervently hope is that somehow the Big East schools carve out a conference that ends up getting it's schools a better TV contract than Pitt and Syracuse end up with.