So about the ACC in MSG

[Nukem2]

I disagree - They can make it look how they want, but there continuing actions suggest the last ACC moves were basketball driven.

Agree. ACC added bad FB programs and ave ND a sweetheart FB arrangement like it had with the BE. It was BB driven. Don't think ESPN was orchestrating a move to get Syracuse and Pitt FB programs into an already poor FB conference. All the added schools are BB powerhouses. Though, one could argue including UConn if that was the case. Whatever, the ACC/ESPN effectively broke up the BE.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

In all honesty, it's NOT the ACC's motivations. It's ESPN's. The BC president made that clear enough before ESPN crushed that story. The ACC made the moves they did to keep ESPN happy. And keeping ESPN happy meant destroying the conference that dared to shop their product on the open market.

This wasn't football, it wasn't basketball, it was Disney being pissed off. And you do NOT want to piss off Mickey Mouse. He will rip your guts out, grill them, and eat them while making you watch.

[CaribouJim]

Goo - Agree with everything you said except for bringing Boeheim into the discussion. He is one guy that despised the move and still despises the move.

The Big 10 tried to get Syracuse a few years back when all of this started. It is my understanding that Boeheim is the one that stepped in and stopped that from happening.

Then when Syracuse left for the ACC, Boeheim immediately blasted the move, only to come out and bless the move a few days later, after his president and other influences stepped in and silenced him. And what did he say in his post game presser after the Syracuse-Pitt game this year? "That was a classic Big East game!"

Boeheim hates being in the ACC. He wants to be in the Big East.

Very true and he wasn't crazy about MU being in the BE either because of MU's geography was too much of an outlier. He is just a grouch in general.

[Goose85]

Goo - Agree with everything you said except for bringing Boeheim into the discussion. He is one guy that despised the move and still despises the move.

The Big 10 tried to get Syracuse a few years back when all of this started. It is my understanding that Boeheim is the one that stepped in and stopped that from happening.

Then when Syracuse left for the ACC, Boeheim immediately blasted the move, only to come out and bless the move a few days later, after his president and other influences stepped in and silenced him. And what did he say in his post game presser after the Syracuse-Pitt game this year? "That was a classic Big East game!"

Boeheim hates being in the ACC. He wants to be in the Big East.

My point was more that now that Boeheim is in the ACC he wants the tourney in NY. I really think he and Coach K are the only two that are driving the NY bus along with ESPN.

[mufan2003]

The ACC is very top heavy, which is why so many think it is the best conference (and that Coach K tells them that), but from top to bottom not so much.

What happens if Duke and Syracuse struggle for a few years post Coaches K and Boeheim (like UNC and others)?
These two have been their basketball program for so long, few recall what they were like before these coaches were there. Boeheim head coach at Syracuse since 1976 and K head at Duke since 1980.

They are going to play the tourney in NY in 2017. Coach K will be 70 and Boeheim will be 72. After these two are done, will anyone else in the league (other than ESPN) really care if the tourney is in NY?

Multiple articles claim multiple sources confirming the Big East/MSG contract is "air tight" through 2026! This is huge and the ACC knows it. It is great having 10 schools in the Big East that all put basketball first, with the same goals to be dominant in basketball. Whereas the ACC has schools such as Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame clearly that clearly put football first. Big East schools are all in unison to play at MSG in NYC while it sounds like there is a tug of war in the ACC between Greensboro and NYC.

MSG is home to the legendary Knicks, that will always bring additional greatness to the world's greatest basketball venue. Nets will always play second fiddle to the Knicks. Times Square within walking distance of MSG.

This just provides more motivation for all fans of Big East schools to root for the other Big East schools in non-conference and in the NCAA Tourney. Good to know there are 5 Big East schools with top 25 recruiting classes for 2014, and that 2 are Seton Hall and Providence who have been down in years past. Also huge, despite their annoying fan base, to have Doug McDermott on the cover of SI comparing him to Larry Bird. Kind of like the Chris Mullin of the 80's.

Big East needs to kick some ass in the next 2-3 years to establish that the new Big East is still a Beast! Really hope MU lands Diamond Stone.

[Goose85]

The problem most Big East fans have with the ACC (and ESPN more recently) is that the ACC has raided one conference, the second time with the intent to regain basketball's top spot by killing the top basketball conference.

The New Big East grabbed one team from the MVC (Creighton), and technically two from the A-10, but Butler was only in the A-10 one year so they weren't really taking an established A-10 school. No significant damage done to any one conference.

The ACC, with the 15 members, will have 8 ACC members and 7 Big East members next year. Taking a team or two, ok. But taking 7 from one conference, with 4 in the past year or so, is a legit reason for ACC hatred. In that respect it is not really like what the New Big East did, or even what the Big 10 did when adding Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland - all from difference conferences.

[mufan2003]

The good news is that the powers that be in the Big East and at the 10 schools, along with FOX Sports, have been fully aware since day 1 of the threat that ESPN and ACC would try to delegitimize the new Big East and Fox Sports 1. Evidenced by the fact that multiple sources claim the Big East's contract with MSG is "air tight" through 2026.

[TheSultan]

The problem most Big East fans have with the ACC (and ESPN more recently) is that the ACC has raided one conference, the second time with the intent to regain basketball's top spot by killing the top basketball conference.

But where else are they supposed to take them from?

[warriorfan4life]

In all honesty, it's NOT the ACC's motivations. It's ESPN's. The BC president made that clear enough before ESPN crushed that story. The ACC made the moves they did to keep ESPN happy. And keeping ESPN happy meant destroying the conference that dared to shop their product on the open market.

This wasn't football, it wasn't basketball, it was Disney being pissed off. And you do NOT want to piss off Mickey Mouse. He will rip your guts out, grill them, and eat them while making you watch.

Except that the NHL is thriving away from Mickey Mouse in spite of having the dumbest commissioner in the history of sports. If the NHL had someone with a clue in charge, they would be fighting to be the number two sport in this country.

Along these lines, I wish that FS1 had the NHL and EPL contracts. I think those two contracts could help FS1 really differentiate itself from The Mouse.

[MU/Panther]

MLB will be a boost to FS1.