Originally Posted by
BLT
Honestly, I liked the concept of a coast to coast hoops conference, being on tv for entire blocks. Mainly for overall university reputation and recruitment. Joining the Big East was a big boon for Marquette on many levels, including non-revenue sports and enrollment. MU's business situation in the 1990's was bleak as it viewed itself as Milwaukee's Catholic school. Fr. Wild changed that.
The population is moving south, where there is no conference school now. California's fiscal mess is hitting school funding deep and more kids are willing to consider moving east to private schools. More so, Milwaukee has grown light years as a young person's town along the whole East Side and many of the national fans were learning that from TV. In some ways, the proposed new conference is a step back from that..and that concerns me. On the other hand, MU was always treated as the step child in the BE and this move makes MU the prince, and the Fox deal looks like a great media opportunity for the conference, something the old BE never really got from ESPN in recent years.