USF/Big East Realignment Discussion Thread

[slick1ru2]

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=515398

That is some fun backroom gossip right there.  Of course none of the scenarios mention USF.  We do seem to be pretty pesky and isolated down in florida where conferences already have a strong presence... 

Well, the UCF guy blames USF for getting UL to help block UCF's invite to the Big East and causing the Pitt and Cuse exit. ROFLOL. Like UCF coming in was going to stop that from happening.

[Doc]

Gismo: Excellent idea, to invite all of BigXII EXCEPT Texas!  It may gain substantial traction even amongst reluctant BigXII schools, to give Bevo one final middle-finger parting shot.  I am fully hoping Texas leaves, taking their unequal revenue sharing with them.  If we do find ourselves in the Big Merge, I don't want to be forced into living under their thumb.

One obstacle to this reverse-invite would be the BBall schools.  While I have previously always defended the 16-member BE, with PITT/SU gone, and maybe UCONN/RU on the way out, there isn't any historical/rivalry reason to keep them around.  Going from BE to BXII avoids this issue with a clean break.

Something else that hasn't been mentioned: I thought there was a rule that in order to keep your conference privileges (including BCS) a certain number of schools (five?) had to have been playing together for a certain number of years.  I think the BE had a special exception last time around.  However, I'm not sure how this might affect things now if we are looking at ISU/BU/KU/KSU plus UC/UL/USF/other (TCU not a member), although if it comes to this group, all is already lost.

[slick1ru2]

This UCFer was saying on that board http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=515398&pid=6844406#pid6844406 :

This confirms many of the rumblings that have been leaked by UCF "insiders" over the past year or so. It was said that their were several "football first" minded programs within the Big East that felt that it was in the Big East's best interest to invite UCF to the conference (and maybe even before TCU entered the picture). However, USF and an ally (which was rumored to be Louisville) have been fighting vilagantly to make sure that that wouldn't happen. When UCF was brought up the first time, Genshaft found an easy out with TCU. I think that once they got TCU in the problem became that Pitt (and WVU?) still felt UCF (and probrably ECU) were the next best avaiable options for 10. However, once again Genshaft steped in and pushed Houston (Genshaft is good friends with Houston's president) and Nova as an alternative to UCF. Without a unified front on the FB side of the conference Pitt had no way of convincing the BB side to move forward. BTW, many of you may remember a very strong concerted effort by ESPN to push UCF as a Big East candate at around the time that the Big East's ESPN TV contract was on the table, I will let you guys fill in the blanks on that one. I think once you start to look at what Pitt was up against as they were trying to improve the conference, you realize that they were FORCED to turn to the only reasonable option they had left... leave. I don't blame them one bit.

    So.. you're saying USF is the sole cause of the Big East demise?

    01-wingedeagle

Not at all, but I (and many people far more connected than I), do believe that Genshaft's personal agenda got in the way of the best interest of the conference. This thing is much bigger than any one president, but I do think that USF made it much more difficult for Pitt, WVU, and Rutgers to try to improve the FB side of the conference. The larger problem was the split loyalties within the conference and lack of a unified vision.

It may be useless to us now, but it is nice to see some of what UCFers have been saying and getting ridiculed for (including that USF was leading the charge for Nova against the wishes of the other FB schools and had ulterior motives) echoed by this Pitt insider. I'm sure more will come to light in the weeks to come.

[Rocky Style]

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=515398

That is some fun backroom gossip right there.  Of course none of the scenarios mention USF.  We do seem to be pretty pesky and isolated down in florida where conferences already have a strong presence... 

Well, the UCF guy blames USF for getting UL to help block UCF's invite to the Big East and causing the Pitt and Cuse exit. ROFLOL. Like UCF coming in was going to stop that from happening.

Yeah I am not sure that UCF would have made the head coach-fleeing-every-single-year Big East more attractive than the ACC in the long run.  I didn't really buy that argument.

[jasonb56]

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=515398

If this is true, shame on us...

[Brad]

If whats true?  That we may have bllocked UCF?  Just like we may be blocked by UF and FSU?

[chrisdashley]

A source in the athletic dept at WVU is saying that the mountaineers to the SEC is a done deal... waiting for them to wrap up aTm first.

[slick1ru2]

Sounds like something O'Beery dreamed up while on a binge. Talk about paranoid conspiracy. UCF had and equal chance to get into the Big East back when USF was invited. Why didn't they back then? Not worthy. Rather see FIU come in. Better coach, better team. And I actually was considering going there before I went to USF.

[slick1ru2]

A source in the athletic dept at WVU is saying that the mountaineers to the SEC is a done deal... waiting for them to wrap up aTm first.

Everything on Twitter is saying the SEC told WVU "not yet", they are waiting on PAC 12's next move with Texas.

[Brad]

Last from USATODAY:

At Notre Dame, where Big East membership in basketball and lower-profile sports has helped the Irish remain independent in football, AD Jack Swarbrick told USA TODAY that remaining Big East and Big 12 schools could merge. "In some version," he said, "whether it's a formal conference merger or some derivation of that. We'll see. … I'd say there's another alternative, which is the Big 12 holds (together) and the Big East finds suitable replacements."