Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving

spookydog · Unread post by **spookydog** » 11 years ago

It was just a matter of time...

http://m.espn.go.com/extra/ncaa/story?storyId=8735330

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

spookydog wrote:It was just a matter of time...

http://m.espn.go.com/extra/ncaa/story?storyId=8735330

Nothing is set in stone. This article indicates it is not even a cetainty that the basketball only schools have the necessary voting block to dissolve the league. If Temple has full voting rights, they do not. Even if the basketball onlies could dissolve the league, it all comes down to tv money. Can they get more money from a tv contact as part of a hybrid or basketball only league? That will drive thie course of action. If the CBS report on a possible new television contract are any indication, things will never be the same for the basketball schools as it appears they will get less tv money than now regardless of whether they stay in the hybrid league or go out on their own.

If the Catholics go out on their own, it would be interesting to see how they fare in the new configuration. I would think they would see a significant drop in revenues (tv and ticket). Would their current basketball model of playing off campus in large arenas still work? How would thye draw without Syracuse, Notre Dame, Pitt, Louisville, and UConn coming to town? Could they continue to maintain their programs at the current level and pay coaches big salaries with less revenues?

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 11 years ago

Make the dream scenario happen! Bye bye Bonnies, Fordham, Duquesne, La Salle, GW - HELLLLOOO Atlantic East.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

Rhody is not in the dream conference Blue Man....no way Providence and Rhody in the same conference....no way we boot any current A-10 schools out of the conference.....better to extend offers to Marquette and DePaul to join the A-10...no where left for the other big easts to go then.....Xavier, Dayton, Butler are the key....if they stay in A-10 despite an offer to go with the Catholics then the big east has to scramble.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

I don't think a league of small catholic schools is viable over the long term. The fan bases are not big enough right now, and the popularity of those teams will shrink when they are no longer bringing the UConns, Syracuses, etc., into their towns for games. Notre Dame and BC are the two most recognizable catholic college sports brands, and those schools have already abandoned the league.

I am not naive to the fact that the seven catholic basketball schools could convince Xavier, Dayton and (maybe) Butler to go along with them based on their current reputations, but I do think that if those schools take the long view they would recognize that their fortunes might be better if they stick with the A10 and take a couple of those catholic schools with them.

A couple weird notes about potential new conferences: I put Butler as a "maybe" above because while it is a small private school, it is not a catholic school. How strongly will the identity of that league be "catholic"? How comfortable would Butler be as the only non-catholic school? Would they fear being a second class citizen, being consistently isolated on certain voting matters? On a similar note, let's say UMass bolts for a football conference at some point (as most expect). Charlotte is already gone. That would leave URI with the prospect of being nearly alone as a public school in the A10 (along with VCU). How comfortable are we with that? One consideration is that, for a state school, URI is pretty small and our enrollment wouldn't dwarf many of the other members, and would be smaller than a few. So maybe our uniqueness as a state school would make that less awkward.

These are certainly interesting times. The sooner Dan Hurley gets the basketball team going, the better position we'll be in. No pressure.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

X, Dayton, and Butler would go if offered. The A10 is good but the Big East is still a mega-basketball brand. It was basketball only in 1979 with the football schools like Cuse and BC independents. No reason it can't go back to being that type league.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

This isn't 1979.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

TruePoint wrote:This isn't 1979.

True but a Big East of G'Town, Nova, STJ, etc. can offer more money/brand to X, Dayton, Butler than anything the A10 can. Not really close. Have to be realistic.

Issac · Unread post by **Issac** » 11 years ago

These seven schools can meet and talk all they want. They can write reassuring letters to their supporters and bluster a bit, but in the end they will do nothing because they lack power and are trapped between desire and money. The facts are these seven schools enjoy the prestige and money they comes from being in a BCS/FBS conference without having to make the big financial commitment needed in FBS football. Yes, a break-up could occur, but the initiating force will come from the football schools and not these seven. I do not see that happening soon.

If a break-up does come, some A-10 schools could be poached to bring the new league to larger size, probably SLU, Dayton, and Xavier, but not Butler. This new, Catholic conference would be basketball attractive from the start, but its luster will diminish with time since the top conferences all trump an athletics national brand, diversity, and bigness. Other than maybe, Georgetown, none of these seven schools fit that bill. This new league would become a top mid-major basketball oriented conference, but one that a newly re-configured A-10 could compete with.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Still, RF1's point about operating the same way with less revenues and smaller big-draw games like 'Cuse/UConn/L'Ville/ND still applies even if they get the top A10 teams to join them. The top A10 programs have invested in their own facilities and would be better positioned to fare well in a new BigEast, but the current BE teams like PC/SH/GT, etc would not be able to sell out their oversized, rented-out arenas, all while getting less $ from a TV contract.

If the low end for BE TV contract money for these existing hoops-only schools is $1.1M, much lower than their current $1.5M take, then they will likely make LESS (but more than the A10 does now) if they break away themselves with no football to bolster their contracts.

My guess would be that they'd make 50% off TV compared to what they now take home, if they were to break free. A10 schools get 400k each annually, so maybe a new BE group would take $800k. A10 schools would be thrilled for that, but could the existing BE schools survive in that new financial climate? I don't think so.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Gonebarongone wrote:
TruePoint wrote:This isn't 1979.
True but a Big East of G'Town, Nova, STJ, etc. can offer more money/brand to X, Dayton, Butler than anything the A10 can. Not really close. Have to be realistic.

I guess, but since those schools are already in the A10 it could be cheaper and easier for them to push GTown, Marquette and Villanova to join them. I mean, either way, those 6 schools are going to be the key to a good television deal. So it's worth it to them to pay an exit fee and to play in a 10 team league with the "Big East" name? Again, I think it's shortsighted. That may seem even somewhat sensible in 2012, but that sensibleness is going to dramatically decline over time, as we get farther away from the Big East being what it was 5, 10, 15 years ago.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

I fear rhody will be left behind again...

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

If Dayton and X, and maybe StL or Butler, leave to join with the BE 7, we are poop.

We would be left out, paying the price for 12+ years of futility. What would we have left? VCU?

Marquetter and DePaul aren't joining the A10, along with any of the others, unless TV money gets seriously bumped up in the near future.

Also, I can't see the A10 dumping the bottom tier of schools. That's what it would take to truly join what's left of the BE and the top two thirds of the A10.

Besides, where are we right now? We're much closer to the bottom than the top, and bringing in NO money from Dance appearances in a dog's age.

The Hurleys will turn us around, but will it be in time to avoid possible disaster?

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

The real issue is not where Rhody is right now. Most smart people can take a broader view of things. The problem is PC. Why would you want Rhody when PC is there? Same reason everyone thinks Florida State is perfect for the SEC in football. Problem is Florida and Georgia would never allow it and it brings zero in additional eyeballs. Dayton, X, Butler, SLU all bring new markets to the table. I think, in the grand scheme of things, Rhody is closer to the top than the bottom of the A10 but not a fit in a combo conference, especially since PC is an original Big East team. If those seven form some sort of group, Rhody is on the outside.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

By that principle, then why did the Big East bring Temple in, when they already had
Villanova in the Philly market?
Rutgers to the NJ market, when they already had Seton Hall?
Larger markets, than Southern NE, for sure, but the same idea.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:By that principle, then why did the Big East bring Temple in, when they already had
Villanova in the Philly market?
Rutgers to the NJ market, when they already had Seton Hall?
Larger markets, than Southern NE, for sure, but the same idea.

Rutgers in the early 1990s and the first Temple invite were football only initially. And, honestly, who knows what the Big East has been doing the last two years? But, if the hoops only schools take a deep breath and settle on a hoops only conference where you are going to have make some hard calls, I just don't see how two schools in a modest market 35 miles from each other both get spots and you would have to think PC survives the cut.

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 11 years ago

The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Red is correct. This is what I have been trying to say, but more succinct. I think people just have a hard time envisioning the landscape of college basketball after all of the football-motivated realignment settles. It's going to be much different and the Big East's history will be as relevant as Holy Cross's.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 11 years ago

If the Big East name was worth anything, then they would have been able to keep their founding members. I don't think the catholic schools have very much leverage. None of those teams rival the success of VCU Butler and Xavier in the past 10 years. There are multiple articles about Xavier chartering private planes to all their games. In terms of importance NCAA bids are a close second to TV deals. The article cited the RPI drop the Big East schools would suffer from Tulane or any of the new football schools. That is the tournament money. New A10-Big East hybrid may be inevitable. Wishful thinking. URI-PC twice every year? best case scenario around here.

The article also mentions Madison Square Garden is protected from the Big East watering down it's conference tournament. They could lose the garden! A10 has the Barclays and is rising.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

Seawrightspostgame wrote:If the Big East name was worth anything, then they would have been able to keep their founding members. I don't think the catholic schools have very much leverage. None of those teams rival the success of VCU Butler and Xavier in the past 10 years. There are multiple articles about Xavier chartering private planes to all their games. In terms of importance NCAA bids are a close second to TV deals. The article cited the RPI drop the Big East schools would suffer from Tulane or any of the new football schools. That is the tournament money. New A10-Big East hybrid may be inevitable. Wishful thinking. URI-PC twice every year? best case scenario around here.

The article also mentions Madison Square Garden is protected from the Big East watering down it's conference tournament. They could lose the garden! A10 has the Barclays and is rising.

You really think that the power brokers (university presidents, ADs, TV guys) are looking at a spreadsheet of tourney bids? They are looking at one thing only. How many eyeballs will be watching and how much can I sell this inventory of games for. VCU/Butler/X does not sniff Georgetown/Nova/STJ. The other issue is that, with the exception of X, Butler and VCU would be very scary because they can be viewed as coaching dependent. Stevens and Smart won't be there forever.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

If you don't think those two things (NCAA appearances and marketability of the conference's games) are related, you aren't thinking about this properly. How do you think Georgetown became a household name in basketball? The college basketball landscape is not static. Maybe Villanova is a bigger national draw than Xavier at this specific time, but there is nothing to say that it will always be that way.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

TruePoint wrote:If you don't think those two things (NCAA appearances and marketability of the conference's games) are related, you aren't thinking about this properly. How do you think Georgetown became a household name in basketball? The college basketball landscape is not static. Maybe Villanova is a bigger national draw than Xavier at this specific time, but there is nothing to say that it will always be that way.

I don't disagree with that. It's just not nearly as important as the markets (DC, Philly, NYC). And the markets are millions of miles apart. It's why Rutgers was added to the big ten. It's why Maryland was added. Let's put it this way. If there was a draft of every single basketball school to form one conference, Gtown, Nova, StJ are going first, probably just a small bit ahead of X and then well ahead of Butler/VCU.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Markets are undoubtedly important, but I also think it may be oversimplifying things to only think about markets. What "major" market is Duke in and how many students are enrolled there? Compare that with Rutgers and then ask yourself who will more people tune into to watch play a basketball game? I could have used Penn State or Syracuse, too, as they're in the middle of nowhere, but they have alumni bases in big cities.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

A10 had no issue with having two schools from the same city of Richmond.

I just don't see ANY situation where the 7 BE hoops teams maintain their $1.5M yearly TV payout. How will they survive when that payout is cut to at most $1M per school (likely less!)? Their whole existance in basketball was built up on the football money. They don't have their own modern facilities, they play in oversized rented arenas this year. Attendance will be worse next year. Many pay their coaches $1M/yr. They just don't know how to get by with less and maintain their program's level of success.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 11 years ago

I think it is a push.
http://businessofcollegesports.com/2012 ... h-madness/

More bids, more money. A10 6 bid league this year? I've read that. Big East parlays their TV contract into multiple bids in the tourney and more revenue. Without the elites bringing back tourney success, where is their leverage? St Johns is garbage, and for some reason Nova has taken a step back.

The Big East has been elite for a very long time but those days are obviously behind them.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 11 years ago

I guess it doesn't matter what the name of the league is or who does the leaving but the likelihood of a combo is pretty high at this point. So, do you take the entire A10 and add the elite Big East or take the entire Big East and add the elite A10? I think the latter is much more likely. And, if it happens, I just don't see how Rhody makes the cut. There would be no marginal benefit for the new league.

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... nce-source

This would be...unwieldy.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Well, they say 21 obviously because they feel it gives them some kind of benefit in the negotiations, but its just posturing. UMass is basically gone. That's 20. Then you look for four schools who wouldn't bring anything in terms of competitiveness, market, facilities, alumni base, etc., and you can find them easily. (Mine would be Forham, Bonnies, LaSalle and Duquesne.)

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

I think it might be premature to assume UMass is leaving just now...the viability of their move up might only last as long as their deal with the Krafts.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Easy Ed, you may have a point:

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

UMass just might stay put. What about Temple? Would they go back to the A10?

That would mean 22 teams! Not gonna happen, unless 4 or so A10 teams are voted out.

An 18 or 20 team conference might work, with an East and West division like the SEC.

Just as long as Rhody is a part of it!

Would be far and away the best non BCS basketball conderence in the land. I would guess that would up the TV proceeds for the current A10 members by quite a bit.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

Unless they change their minds on BCS football I don't see UMass or Temple coming back to the A-10 or Charlotte staying.....BCS football will have the majors and mid-majors soon enough.......those three schools will not be majors.....

I see a 20 team conference of the best mid-major basketball schools from Chicago eastward......4 divisions, 5 teams each...you play your division rivals home and away......everyone else once for 15 games....total of 23 games....you get 6 non-con games....

....I don't see the A-10 jettisoning any members however....

Brutus · Unread post by **Brutus** » 11 years ago

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.

Wow Red, your post couldn't be more wrong, but that isn't surprising.

Issac · Unread post by **Issac** » 11 years ago

Red is right in that the chips are held by the football schools, so don't expect action by the seven basketball only schools on their own. They don't want to give up the money. If change comes, it will be initiated by the football schools and only them.

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

Brutus wrote:
Rhode_Island_Red wrote:The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.
Wow Red, your post couldn't be more wrong, but that isn't surprising.

I think he's more right than he's wrong. Football is the straw that stirs the drink now when it comes to collegiate sports revenue, since the NCAA tournament, while a big moneymaker, gets split into a lot more pieces. If you don't have a D-1 football program, then you're not a driver when it comes to conference realignment, except for maybe the biggest of the big programs (Duke, UNC, etc.). And even those schools have D-1 football, and theoretically could be good at some point.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 11 years ago

the ESPN articles came today and led this discussion. First it was the 7 catholic schools were thinking of protecting themselves. Then it was the A10 had already considered different ideas to gain those programs. Usually ESPN plays things safe and pushes it's own agenda to create money for itself. So I bet something is happening, there is also a article on how the Big East has been downgraded in the new BCS format for the playoff.

Who would have thought Syracuse would have left the Big East 15 years ago? or Maryland would be in the B1G?

Optimistic · Unread post by **Optimistic** » 11 years ago

Brutus wrote:
Rhode_Island_Red wrote:The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.
Wow Red, your post couldn't be more wrong, but that isn't surprising.

You literally never post anything that isn't a direct attack on someone. Go back to the PC boards.

Brutus · Unread post by **Brutus** » 11 years ago

SGreenwell wrote:
Brutus wrote:
Rhode_Island_Red wrote:The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.
Wow Red, your post couldn't be more wrong, but that isn't surprising.
I think he's more right than he's wrong. Football is the straw that stirs the drink now when it comes to collegiate sports revenue, since the NCAA tournament, while a big moneymaker, gets split into a lot more pieces. If you don't have a D-1 football program, then you're not a driver when it comes to conference realignment, except for maybe the biggest of the big programs (Duke, UNC, etc.). And even those schools have D-1 football, and theoretically could be good at some point.

SGreenwell, where he's wrong is that it now appears that the basketball schools could break away and keep the Big East name and the Garden for the tourney.

Brutus · Unread post by **Brutus** » 11 years ago

Optimistic wrote:
Brutus wrote:
Rhode_Island_Red wrote:The basketball-only schools can't afford to leave the Bigheaded East because they'd lose access to the brand name, the tournament at Madison Square Garden and especially all that television money.

Besides, when conference realignment settles out they'll be on the outside looking in just like us. Remember, there's the BCS cartel and then there's everyone else. If they were to leave the Bigheaded East, they'd immediately become one of everyone else.
Wow Red, your post couldn't be more wrong, but that isn't surprising.
You literally never post anything that isn't a direct attack on someone. Go back to the PC boards.

Really? I have posts telling SGreenwell that he is very fair in what he says about opponents of the Rams. I also have a post telling ATP that this site is very good and that he does a nice job with it.

I also challenge you to find a post of mine where I make fun of URI or any other poster on this board. I also challenge you to find a post of mine where I call URI or another poster childish names as is Red's trademark.

Just because many of the messages Red posts are incorrect and I mention it, isn't an attack, it's fact.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Looks to me like the BE 7 might want to bolt the conference and create a new one. However, the TV money might not be there, and anyway, if Temple has a vote, they might not be able to.

Looks like the more plausible scenario will be the A10 absorbing those schools, or most of them. That would be far better for URI for sure. That way there's no chance we would be left out.

Hopefully that would mean that the TV contracts for the A10 would be upgraded. The biggest obstacle to that, is would the networks and ESPN want the A10 bottom feeders included? I can't see schools like Fordham getting 1 mil plus a year for TV rights fees. Playing in an old 2000 seat gym isn't going to cut it.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 11 years ago

Maybe they can create standards for A10 membership?? like they do in football with the amount of seats a stadium can accommodate. Then the lower tier programs would just go to conferences that suit them. I like that.

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

Brutus wrote:
SGreenwell wrote: I think he's more right than he's wrong. Football is the straw that stirs the drink now when it comes to collegiate sports revenue, since the NCAA tournament, while a big moneymaker, gets split into a lot more pieces. If you don't have a D-1 football program, then you're not a driver when it comes to conference realignment, except for maybe the biggest of the big programs (Duke, UNC, etc.). And even those schools have D-1 football, and theoretically could be good at some point.

SGreenwell, where he's wrong is that it now appears that the basketball schools could break away and keep the Big East name and the Garden for the tourney.

In the same story though, it mentions that they'd somehow have to convince Temple to join up with them, or one of the other football schools - I believe they need 8 votes to reach the number needed to split off from the Big East. Even if they did split off, I think it would be more to protect the slice of the pie they have now and to provide some certainty / stability going forward, vs. maximizing revenue, which the teams that have left the Big East are looking to do. (To make a bit of a sloppy analogy - If the basketball-only teams tried to split off now, it strikes me as a move similar to locking in on an interest rate in a mortgage, trading the chance at a lower rate for stability.)

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Brutus wrote:Really? I have posts telling SGreenwell that he is very fair in what he says about opponents of the Rams. I also have a post telling ATP that this site is very good and that he does a nice job with it.

I also challenge you to find a post of mine where I make fun of URI or any other poster on this board. I also challenge you to find a post of mine where I call URI or another poster childish names as is Red's trademark.

Just because many of the messages Red posts are incorrect and I mention it, isn't an attack, it's fact.

I think part of it is that your post just took a shot at another poster without offering any substantive argument to support your disagreement. Maybe that isn't a high crime on a message board, but when you're here as a token fan for a rival program, you step into the box with two strikes. I have no interest in going to a PC board, but if I did I would understand that my posts (and especially my confrontations with other posters) might be viewed a little differently than everyone else's.

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 11 years ago

Since Temple has a full vote and the & BB schools can't vote to dissolve the league, they will either need to be kicked out or leave on their own. So, what is the exit fee for non-football schools, or is the exit fee the same for both? It seems to me that any of those schools would pay a $10m exit fee to to join a conference that will then cut their income by a third to a half is not likely. They are it it until it explodes.

URI96 · Unread post by **URI96** » 11 years ago

RIFan wrote:Since Temple has a full vote and the & BB schools can't vote to dissolve the league, they will either need to be kicked out or leave on their own. So, what is the exit fee for non-football schools, or is the exit fee the same for both? It seems to me that any of those schools would pay a $10m exit fee to to join a conference that will then cut their income by a third to a half is not likely. They are it it until it explodes.

The C7 do not have the votes to dissolve the league and the name and all of the post season credits make things very complicated.

daytonflyerfan · Unread post by **daytonflyerfan** » 11 years ago

I thought this article was good.

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=4202

There is a clause that allows the C7 to all exit the conference together at the same time and not have to pay the exit fee. There is also some talk that the C7 may be able to keep the Big East name and also keep the NCAA tournament post season credits if the conference dissolves.

Sounds like the C7 want to get this resolved in the next 6 months. The new tv contract sort of sounds like a linchpin, if the new tv contract isn't that strong, maybe the C7 split off on their own.

This is obviously a really uncertain time. I would hate to see some of the A10 schools get left behind if a new conference is formed composed of the C7 plus the better A10 schools. I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe merge the Big East and A10 and just drop the weakest A10 schools, that would seem to be the least painful/controversial move.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

I want URI and PC in the same conf !!!!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

One thing that strikes me as WAY overdue is the dropping of the A10 teams that have demonstrated, long-term, that they do not wish to invest in their hoops programs.

Yeah, I'm talking about you, Fordham, LaSalle, Duquesne, and Bonnies.

I hope this doesn't end up being a big issue for the A10 going forward. It's hard to coordinate the ouster of these low level programs while at the same time integrating new ones.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

It is tough to see a 20 team league happening. My take is that the A-10 is floating things out there to appear pro-active. Nobody knows how any of this will play out. The A-10's strength at this time is that it is a ready made conference with infrastructure already in place. Dissolving a league such as the Big East, litigating all its after-effects, and starting up a new league from scratch is not something that happens quickly. It is possible that the BE Catholic basketball onlies may not have the luxury of time to act.

OBRAM · Unread post by **OBRAM** » 11 years ago

Unfortunately, I never hear of Rhode Island being in any kind of mix. They talk about St. Louis, Dayton, GMU, VCU, but never hear of Rhody talk.

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