Big East Meetings

[Goose85]

Great article by the Orlando Sentinel on the Big East meetings.

Seems all in attendance were impressed / excited about the presentations made by NBC and CBS.

One of the more interesting things that was outlined by both NBC and CBS was "... the Big East will represent nearly 32 million television households -- twice as many as other conference in the country."

I'm sure the Big East expansion with Houston / Dallas / Orlando / Memphis was not done in a vacuum.

With the football only schools "... the league will have teams in 13 of the top 50 media markets spanning four time zones in 2013."

If these networks are looking to bid, with the Big East somewhat the last in line for a contract, I'm thinking that the Big East may very well get a deal close to as good as the ACC. If that happens, and down the road Florida State goes Big 12 (which was given the last rights less than a year ago) why would any of our teams go to the ACC?

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...gs-new-tv-deal

[ge1974]

Coaches want an 18 team tournament so no team is left out. Two play in-games.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/o...152626395.html

Of course, the way conference expansion talk is heating up who knows how many Big East teams they'll be in 2014. Everyone talks of the Big East being the loser with conference expansion but if I were connected to the ACC in some way, I'd be real, real worried today. More talk regarding Florida State to the Big 12 (with possibly Clemson, as IWB first reported awhile back) and also talk of Virginia Tech and NC State joining the SEC as that conference wants to get to 16 teams and have their own television network.

If the ACC loses four teams what happens to the league and Syracuse and PITT? Do they still go? Does the ACC raid the Big East again? I read today that USF may be looking for a new league. This merry-go-round isn't going to stop anytime soon and the Big Ten may be worried and start considering adding more teams to get to sixteen (Ga Tech, Maryland?, Duke?, UNC?, Virginia?). What would happen to BC, Miami, Wake Forest? When Jim Delany started this entire mess, could even HE have possibly envsioned such an earthquake in college sports?

Read this for more:
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/5...notre-dame-acc

[Goose85]

Hopefully the Big East will get an ACC like tv deal that will make the current members happy - willing to stay, or at least not wanting to move to the ACC.

If Florida State and Clemson leave the ACC, why is the ACC a better conference than the Big East? I think the Big East would then become a better conference, already is in basketball.

TV deal is the key to keeping things going as they are in the Big East. Who knows, if money becomes close to equal, Florida State continues to rumble about leaving, would Syracuse still want to go (as GE1974 said)?

[TheSultan]

Interesting article by Dan Wetzel, which says what I have been saying for years about Tranghese and the Big East leadership. Simply that they have been behind the thought curve in college athletics for a long time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--...f.html#more-id

I also think the ACC made a mistake with their latest expansion. They watered down their product even more, and when you are a high-revenue football school like Florida State, they don't want to share the pot with the likes of Syracuse and Pitt. VA Tech and Miami at least gave them football cred and eyeballs. Syracuse and Pitt don't accomplish either of that.

[Goose85]

I also think the ACC made a mistake with their latest expansion. They watered down their product even more, and when you are a high-revenue football school like Florida State, they don't want to share the pot with the likes of Syracuse and Pitt. VA Tech and Miami at least gave them football cred and eyeballs. Syracuse and Pitt don't accomplish either of that.

Good point Sultan - expanding needs to make financial sense.

Syracuse and Pitt very well may have cost the other ACC schools money in the tv deal they just signed, which may be a reason Fla State is considering a move.

Could the ACC have gotten pretty close to the same money without Syracuse and Pitt? My guess is yes which could have resulted in a few mil more per school. I think that is why the Big 12 schools are not all on board with expansion. New members better bring in more per year than the current membership is receiving, or else it is a poor decision.

[CaribouJim]

Luke Winn weighs in on the realignment - ouch - BE takes a huge hit - not surprising but not fun to look at:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...p&sct=hp_wr_a1

[CaribouJim]

Another SI columnist on the BE - depressing:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...l?sct=obinsite

While blame has been tossed liberally at recently ousted commissioner John Marinatto, it isn't anyone's fault that the Big East roster is so tenuous at the moment. The market decides which schools -- and therefore which conferences -- have value, and the market has decided that the Big East's collection of schools is not worth as much as several other groups of schools. Last week's announcement of an SEC/Big 12 partnership for a postseason football game, coupled with grousing a week earlier about the amount the ACC secured in its new media rights deal, only crystallized the new order. When the BCS was created prior to the 1998 season, there were six major conferences. Now, there are four: the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. The ACC is No. 5, and the Big East is No. 6. If the Big 12 chooses to expand and a school climbs uphill from the ACC, the resulting shuffle will harm the Big East. With the exception of non-football member Notre Dame, everyone in the Big East is at the mercy of some other league. That makes it quite difficult to plan for the future.

[TheSultan]

The fact is that none of the football playing members of the Big East want to be in the conference versus any of the "big four" and the ACC. When schools are members of the BE, but looking out for their own best interests elsewhere, you simply cannot expect stability.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Here is the BE's chance to turn the tables... Get a deal equal or slightly better than the ACC and you assure that nobody from your conference will jump to the ACC. Then when the inevitable happens and FSU and/or any of the other ACC schools jump and their deal goes down (I assume there is some clause in their contract that if schools leave the ACC won't receive full value of the deal) none of the BE schools will want to jump... Suddenly the ACC becomes the weak link and not the BE. Once all those schools left over are searching for a home we can be more selective if we add at all...

Sound to simple? I know I'm dreaming... But if the BE plays the game right they might have a chance, all depends on that TV deal though.

[TheSultan]

The Big East is not going to get a better deal than the ACC's $17+ million per school. It won't even exceed the $10 million range per football school. The product just isn't that valuable. Yeah, they have teams in nice markets...Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, etc...but the BE has teams that aren't the top draws in each of those markets.