Demise of the Big East article.......

[Bill McPeek]

I thought this was an interesting article on the demise of the Big East, especially the comments concerning the Catholic schools.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab--...211516936.html

[m21eagle45]

Originally Posted by Bill McPeek I thought this was an interesting article on the demise of the Big East, especially the comments concerning the Catholic schools.

Link?

[Bill McPeek]

Originally Posted by m21eagle45 Link?

Sorry about that. Link is now there.

[Radar]

Almost makes me hope UD stays in the A10. Sounds like it's the Catholic school AD's and Presidents have baggage...

[Bill McPeek]

Originally Posted by Radar Almost makes me hope UD stays in the A10. Sounds like it's the Catholic school AD's and Presidents have baggage...

Big egos?

[hawkoooo]

Is this news to anyone?

It was my understanding that the basketball members impeded the fortification of the BE. Without their posturing and obstructions, the BE may have been able to rally and keep some of the Western schools they had already added (TCU/BSU/SDSU).

I thought everyone knew that the "New BE" is essentially a deal with the devil. I still want in and think it is better than a depleted A10, but let's not kid ourselves here. We are dealing with greedy, envious, vengeful, egotistical, and at times even irrational institutions.

[TerryK_67]

You all have this utopian idea that being included in the C-7 is gonna be some kind of nirvana. Chances of this turning out to be a good deal are probably 10 – 90. Take a step back and try to think logically!
The old A-10 (with Butler and VCU), could only generate a TV deal in the $300,000 per team range. Wake up! That is what the market will bear for a pretty decent basketball only league. Remember college basketball ratings compare with midnight infomercials - not BCS football!
So along comes FOX sports – that wants to compete with ESPN…. So they offer 10 times more money per team - $3M per team. But the new league is not really any better than the old A-10. Remember Lousiville, Syracuse, UCONN, et al are not coming… You got 3 decent old Big Least team combing with 3 of the best A-10 teams. The result will not be the old Big Least! It will be pretty much the same as the A-10 was. What happens when the ratings don’t measure up? The $3M will shrink back to the $300,000. That is what the market will bear!

If we go to the new conference we got a 10% chance, and if we stay with the watered down A-10 the odds aren’t any better. We are now in a lose - lose situation.

[Medford]

It may or may not be better of UD in the long run, but your crazy if you think its not stronger as a group than the current A-10 (not counting Temple/UNCC who were leaving anyways). The current A-10 package was not built around LaSalle, SBU, Fordham or Duquesne. It was built around many of the teams rumored to be leaving, or in the mix to be leaving. Add to that, 3 very solid national attractions in Marquette, G'town & Nova, plus perhaps (likely) Creighton and you've got a package that is significantly stronger than the current A-10.

Its the Kim Kardashian of conferences compared to the A-10, stronger at the top, significantly stronger at the bottom and streamlined in the middle.

	Temple TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple College became Temple University in 1907. Located in Philadelphia, Temple is a comprehensive public research university with 34,000 students, 8 campuses, and 300 academic degree programs. Notable alumni include Bill Cosby and Daryl Hall. Temple's nickname is the Owls and are fellow A10 Conference members.

	St Bonaventure SAINT BONAVENTURE Founded in 1858, St. Bonaventure University is a liberal arts college located on 500 acres in southwestern New York state. SBU offers 43 undergraduate majors, the most popular of which are elementary education, journalism, psychology, accounting, marketing, finance, and management. Total undergraduate enrollment is 2,000. Virtually all freshmen and most undergraduates live on campus. A founding member of the A10 Conference. Famous athletes include Bob Lanier. Historical nickname was the Brown Indians, but later changed to the Bonnies. Their mascot is a wolf.

	Fordham FORDHAM Fordham University is an independent Jesuit university established in 1841 as St. John's College on old Rose Hill Manor in the village of Fordham, then part of Westchester County in the Bronx, NY. The name Fordham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "ford" and "ham," meaning a wading place or ford by a settlement. Rose Hill is the name given to the site in 1787 by Robert Watts, a wealthy New York merchant, in honor of his family's ancestral home of the same name in Scotland. The College was originally staffed by diocesan clergy. The name was officially changed to Fordham University in 1907. Fordham's 10 schools enroll 14,448 students. There are 7,652 undergraduates, of whom 3,842 live in University-managed housing either on-campus or in the local community. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Rams. Athletic claim to fame is consistent mediocrity in nearly all sports and few A10 title winning programs.

	Duquesne DUQUESNE Duquesne University is a private, coeducational university, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania located on 48 secluded acres, on a bluff above downtown. Founded in 1878 as a Catholic college by the Order of the Holy Spirit. It is the only Spiritan institution of higher education in the world. Duquesne offers 10 schools of study and 100 degree programs to 6,000 undergraduates and 3,800 graduate students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Dukes.

	LaSalle LA SALLE In 1863, La Salle University was established through the legacy of St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Christian Brothers teaching order, which De La Salle founded 300 years ago. Located in Philadelphia, La Salle is an educational community shaped by traditional Catholic and Lasallian values. La Salle's main campus is an ideal place for students to pursue an education. The 130-acre park-like setting includes 54 buildings and is located approximately six miles from Center City Philadelphia. The University can accommodate 2,114 resident students in its 12 residence halls, two apartment complexes, and 75 townhouses. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Explorers. Notable athletes include Tom Gola and Lionel Simmons.

	Charlotte CHARLOTTE UNC Charlotte is one of a generation of universities founded in metropolitan areas of the United States immediately after World War II in response to rising education demands generated by the war and its technology. Now a research intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest institution in the Charlotte region. The university comprises seven professional colleges and currently offers 18 doctoral programs, 62 master’s degree programs and 90 bachelor’s degrees. More than 900 full-time faculty comprise the university’s academic departments and the 2007 fall enrollment exceeded 22,300 students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the 49ers.

[Glen Clark]

Originally Posted by hawkoooo . . . let's not kid ourselves here. We are dealing with greedy, envious, vengeful, egotistical, and at times even irrational . . .

We're used to that, here on UD Pride

___________________
Whether your glass is half empty or half full, you still have more to drink.

[UACFlyer]

Originally Posted by TerryK_67 You all have this utopian idea that being included in the C-7 is gonna be some kind of nirvana. Chances of this turning out to be a good deal are probably 10 – 90. Take a step back and try to think logically! The old A-10 (with Butler and VCU), could only generate a TV deal in the $300,000 per team range. Wake up! That is what the market will bear for a pretty decent basketball only league. Remember college basketball ratings compare with midnight infomercials - not BCS football! So along comes FOX sports – that wants to compete with ESPN…. So they offer 10 times more money per team - $3M per team. But the new league is not really any better than the old A-10. Remember Lousiville, Syracuse, UCONN, et al are not coming… You got 3 decent old Big Least team combing with 3 of the best A-10 teams. The result will not be the old Big Least! It will be pretty much the same as the A-10 was. What happens when the ratings don’t measure up? The $3M will shrink back to the $300,000. That is what the market will bear! If we go to the new conference we got a 10% chance, and if we stay with the watered down A-10 the odds aren’t any better. We are now in a lose - lose situation.

Terry, from the git go the BE/C7 clout has been grossly underestimated. Just a few months ago some Priders were saying that the A10 held all the cards...that the C7 teams needed the A10, not vice versa.

When was the last time you heard that? The C7 holds all the cards and will pick over the A10 any way it wants.

Fox won with its ~$3 million per team offer. But, it had to offer that figure to win out over other networks that also wanted to sign a C7+ deal.

Over time the ratings may dictate that the $3 million is reduced...but not down to $350K. If the $3 million becomes $1.5 million in a few years, that's still ~5x the A10 deal.

Priders have greatly underestimated the cachet of the Big East name and schools. Evidence the fact that schools like UD are all but begging to be associated with them.

[UACFlyer]

Assume everything the article reports about the behavior of the Catholics is spot on.

Why then, did the likes of Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Uconn, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnatti, Louisville not foresee the disaster ahead and tell the Catholics to go FTS?

These large institutions, eight of them, still had a solid FB and BB league a few years after the first ACC raid. They were a BCS league....other schools were begging to join. The schools listed above could have added TCU, Utah, BYU....in a heart beat. The result would have been a solid FB league and a very good BB league...and a large TV contract.

But these large schools let the little Catholics block every move. Was there not a single big school president willing to lead the group to "freedom"? Apparently not. The commissioner couldn't do it....he represented all the schools.

In my opinion, it would have required only one president from one of the eight large schools to lead the way. There is no substitute for leadership....few are able, even fewer want it.

I was once asked to lead a consortium comprised of 20 of the countries largest companies involved in a multi-million dollar high-tech deal with the government. Trouble was, at the time I knew nothing,..nothing,...about the technology involved. I was forced to take the responsibility...with a great fear that I would be resented by those in the 20 companies that were experts. To the contrary,....everyone was so delighted that they weren't saddled with the responsibility, that they enthusiastically embraced their new "know-nothing" leader (me!) and provided 100% cooperation. They wanted to be led...they needed to be led. But, no one was willing to do it.

Leadership responsibility is no fun...few are able and even fewer want it. The BE FB schools needed but one president with balls. They didn'y have one. That's why I thought that if there was one A10 president with balls the raid by the C7 could have been thwarted. I thought maybe that guy would be Curran. Appears not to have happened.

There is no substitute for leadership.