2015: Who is the 14th member?

[zarnozdabull]

Hawaii is reasonable

[Mama_Bull]

Hawaii is reasonable

Great, another time zone to add to the mix. With that we definitely would have the largest geographical footprint. I'm assuming they would only be a football member. LOL

[Paisa el Toro]

Or how the ACC said they wanted Pitt and Cuse because it closed the gap between Marlyand and Boston College.

Really? I thought it was because they have great basketball programs, and the ACC wanted to stick it to the Big East one more time with ESPN pulling the strings in the background.

[gainesvillebull]

Hopefully by then we'll be in the SEC.

+1

[Bronco69]

Why is everyone looking to the west? If I had my way, Boise and SDSU would be dropped, we try to convince Navy to go for full membership, and look for a full member east of the Mississippi. Notre Dame, Villanova, ECU, Army.

I just think it would add stability to the conference if it was consolidated to east of the Mississippi River (Texas being the exception), and that all the football members were ful members.

Just my 2 cents

First, BOISE is the only marquee football team in the Big East.

Second, having the conference in four different time zones is very attractive to TV.

So, to drop Boise and time zones, would very much hurt the negotiating position of the Big East in the next TV

contract.

I would use the term "marquee" very loosely with Boise State. They've done very well, and have won several big games. I still question their ability to get up every week for conference games. USF has been able to get up for big games, but has yet to prove it can withstand the grind of a full season. I think Louisville and USF both can become marquee teams in the Big East without the western teams.

As much as the tv contracts are fueling realignment, I don't see just Boise and SDSU bringing much tv revenue from the west coast. Personally, I see them as novelty acts for fans in the east.

Plus, I think the distance from the rest of the conference makes them outsiders and not really part of the conference. Look at WVU in the Big XII. Or how the ACC said they wanted Pitt and Cuse because it closed the gap between Marlyand and Boston College. Like I said, I would like to see the conference focus not on expansion, but focus on the current locations and work on strengthening those schools together.

I would agree that to a point BSU is still in the "novelty" stage of football strength. There will be no respect on a significant level until BSU does have similar success against superior competition on a week by week basis. The unfortunate thing is the bashing the Big East takes on a consistent basis that no matter what a team does here, it will have the same "stigma" that has been dogging us for a decade. I am not saying that this is an accurate perception of the BE programs, but it is the impression that most average college football fans have.

The reason why losing Syracuse, Pitt, and WV hurts the perception so much is because these are names that people recognize. It has NOTHING to do with their performances over the past 10 years or more, but "image" is everything.

As for possible future expansion, BYU should be the target and almost no matter what it takes to get them into the fold should be done. The Big 12 is pretty clear they have no interest in meeting BYU's demands (Sunday play is HUGE) incuding television rights. The PAC-12 has BYU so far off the radar culturally that there is not a chance they'd give them a serious look. AFA's coach had some really interesting comments at the MWC media days this week, expressing his reluctance to move to the BE or any other conference. He clearly has some juice in the discussions.

That being said, Fresno would be a good addition because it would give the BE a second Cali school. If these invites were for all sports, academics, and the normal things University Presidents spout off as important, CSU would be a no brainer. But, being just football, only Fresno has the chache to bring to the table. Everyone else out west that would consider moving is in the bottow 20% of college football.

[ncentonze]

UNLV i would take...every other year a trip to see my Bulls in Vegas...hell yeah.

But honestly I hope by some miracle we end up in a better/more stable conference by then and then I really don't care who comes/goes from the BEast anymore.

[Capone24]

I think it's handsdown UNLV, unless BYU changes their mind which I doubt b/c we would have to conceed to their wants. It is based primarily on three factors, one being they are a HUGE TV audience with no one to compete against in terms of professional teams. The second being they have the potential to be as big as any west coast school with their location, previous basketball achievements and follow the same pattern as current BE schools with being a large Metro school and I think their academics are somewhat sound?

This third and biggest factor would be that in LV the thing that makes most college football games enjoyable to watch even if you don't know the teams is if you are betting on them! For the longest time LV has wanted a pro team in any sport but the gambling has kept them out, with this loophole we would potentially be offering up all of the East Coast schools where the gambling money is! I'm not saying its in our academic interest to make this change but it will bring about ten times more attention to all of our games on TV, which will be a bargaining chip for us when it comes in terms of a new TV contract. In my opinion if other institutions can screw us over for the mighty dollar than why can't we do what's in our best interest and only care about the financial situation a school can bring.

[charsibb]

I think it's handsdown UNLV, unless BYU changes their mind which I doubt b/c we would have to conceed to their wants. It is based primarily on three factors, one being they are a HUGE TV audience with no one to compete against in terms of professional teams. The second being they have the potential to be as big as any west coast school with their location, previous basketball achievements and follow the same pattern as current BE schools with being a large Metro school and I think their academics are somewhat sound?

This third and biggest factor would be that in LV the thing that makes most college football games enjoyable to watch even if you don't know the teams is if you are betting on them! For the longest time LV has wanted a pro team in any sport but the gambling has kept them out, with this loophole we would potentially be offering up all of the East Coast schools where the gambling money is! I'm not saying its in our academic interest to make this change but it will bring about ten times more attention to all of our games on TV, which will be a bargaining chip for us when it comes in terms of a new TV contract. In my opinion if other institutions can screw us over for the mighty dollar than why can't we do what's in our best interest and only care about the financial situation a school can bring.

Says the man with the gangster name, LOL

Seriously though, UNLV makes sense.

[Skingraft]

I hope we're not here, but I would like to see Airforce, BYU, or Colorado St.

[smazza]

dont see why anyone would want to join big east now from far west