Gonzaga says they are interested:

[Mucrisco]

I love it Crisco but what would Memphis and Temple do with their fball teams? Move them into CUSA?

I would think so. Or put them in the MAC. If given the choice between playing all their sports in CUSA, as opposed to only football, I would think they would choose the latter.

[wiscwarrior]

The best thing about this is that for once, the conference reshuffling talk is being driven by basketball and not football. For the past decade, it's been all about football, all about those schools making money grabs, all about the excitement and see changes being made by the B1G, SEC, and other football conferences. For once, finally, we have a modicum of control. The conversation is about us, and it's positive.

I think the key to this is getting a solid 10-12 team basketball base. I think the C7 coupled with Butler, Xavier, and VCU is the starting point. It gives us a solid voting bloc as long as we never go above 16 schools. From there, we can allow the current football playing schools in if they want. I think UConn, Cincy, Temple, and Memphis all get offers. At that point, we consider at most 2 other offers. St. Louis, Gonzaga, BYU, Dayton, Creighton, UMass, whomever fits what we want to do best. If at some point the football schools bail, so be it. We still have a solid basketball base and voting power. We can replace them with whomever we want from the top mid-major conferences.

This makes sense to me. Stay connected with Uconn, Cincy Temple and Memphis as long as possible, but build the conference around great basketball. This is a good basketball conference and can survive future football defections should they occur. Any of the football schools leaving will not destabilize the conference in the future and we're still the Big East.

[DCwarrior]

This would be my ideal group. Seven Catholics. Memphis, Temple, Butler, Xavier, Dayton(sorry Iceman. Use VCU or Richmond if you want.). I think UConn and Cincy are gone. If only one is gone, slash Dayton. Then take Zags, and three of Creighton, UNLV, San Diego St, BYU, St Mary's or New Mexico. Four, four team divisions. Play home and ho e with your division. Then single game vs rest.

Butler
Marquette
DePaul
Memphis

Xavier
Dayton
Temple
Nova

Providence
St John's
Seton Hall
Gtown

Zags
West Coast
West Coast
West Coast

I'd substitute St. Louis for Dayton to get a much bigger TV market, but the rest looks good (I think G'Town and Nova would be in the same division though). As for the West Coast (assuming this is for BB only and not all sports), I'd include San Diego St., Creighton and BYU. However, I think when the Pac 12 expands to 16, they're going to grab both San Diego St. and BYU along with UNLV and Fresno St.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

For one thing, not every one is going to make the tourney. So there has to be some disparity in teams...? Who are the bottom feeders going to be....? If a conference can be worked out that includes SLU and Dayton and makes fiscal sense, so be it. They are not Tulane...!

I get this mindset, but who cares? Let the games on the court dictate that. If we have a league where 10/12 teams are NCAA quality, isn't that a good thing? If we beat each other up a bit, even if we only end up with 7-8 bids, that's still damn impressive. And if the league is really that good, look back at 1991. Didn't the Big East get 7/9 or 7/10 teams into the Big Dance?

We need a quality product to sell, and if 70-80% of our games are good enough to draw national attention, that's a product worth selling, as opposed to only having Marquette/Georgetown to sell 2-3 times per year.

[Mucrisco]

BrewCity77,
Well, I tried what you suggested and offered some opinion on that other site that shall not be named. I think I've filled my quota for now.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

BrewCity77,
Well, I tried what you suggested and offered some opinion on that other site that shall not be named. I think I've filled my quota for now.

Just avoid Ners and you should be fine

[TheSultan]

This makes sense to me. Stay connected with Uconn, Cincy Temple and Memphis as long as possible, but build the conference around great basketball. This is a good basketball conference and can survive future football defections should they occur. Any of the football schools leaving will not destabilize the conference in the future and we're still the Big East.

Why would UConn, Cincy, etc. want to be in a conference with basketball schools driving the bus? As it stands, there will be a conference of the following schools. Temple, Memphis, Houston, USF, UCF, UConn, Cincy, SMU, and Tulane. Assuming they move ECU to full membership, that's a 10 team conference. Why would they park their other sports in another conference???

[Mucrisco]

Honest question:

How important is football to Temple and Memphis? Maybe they park football in that conference, then play the rest of their sports in the Big East. Also, how much TV money would that conference attract? They could have the best of both worlds by getting tv money in that conference, and hoops money in the Big East.

[TheSultan]

To me, if I am running a school that is playing football, you have to be all-in. That is your primary money earner. So you stick with your football partners.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Honest question:

How important is football to Temple and Memphis? Maybe they park football in that conference, then play the rest of their sports in the Big East. Also, how much TV money would that conference attract? They could have the best of both worlds by getting tv money in that conference, and hoops money in the Big East.

While Temple has reached a couple recent bowl games, I don't think it's very important. They've been to 4 bowl games in their history. The last time they were in the Big East they simply couldn't compete and were booted because of it. And in the past 3 years, they've had 2 coaches depart to bigger jobs. There is absolutely no way anyone will look at adding them for their football quality. The ACC may take them if they have to, but they're pretty bad. I think playing in the MAC or C-USA is far more their speed.

Memphis had a few good years, going to 5 bowl games in 6 years from 03-08. Since then they've fallen fast, and I'm pretty sure the FedEx dollars are going more to the basketball side than football. They're a mid-tier C-USA team at best and will probably be a Big East bottom feeder even with the questionable additions. I can only see the ACC taking them as a desperation move. It'd have to get pretty bad before that happened.