# new basketball conference a real possibility!!



## xubrew (Dec 17, 2002)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/129/sports/ACC_rumblings_may_spur_a_Big_East_split+.shtml

WOW!!! WOW!!!! WOW!!!!

the last two paragraphs were enough to get me excited enough to pace the room thinking of the possibilities. it looks like xavier's big break could come from NOT having an acc expansion.

the last two paragraphs:

But tempers will cool considerably if Miami reasserts its commitment to the Big East, especially if the league can come up with a plan that would split the eight football-playing members of the conference from its five basketball-only brethren. ''That's going to happen, it's just a matter of time,'' said one Big East source. ''[The basketball schools] feel slighted. They feel they have given up so much already. They're tired of it. They want to go out on their own.''

If that happens, Big East football will have eight members and could expand to as many as 12, while the basketball gang of five -- Seton Hall, St. John's, Villanova, Georgetown, and Providence -- will be looking for three or four additional partners as it forms a new league. One school expected to be asked to join would be Notre Dame, which could retain its football independence and be affiliated with a strong Catholic school-based basketball conference. Speculation for the other members ranged from Marquette and DePaul to Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.


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## robyg1974 (Jul 19, 2002)

VERY interesting. Let's take a look at the eight football-playing Big East programs, let's call this conference FB/BB BE (i.e., football/basketball Big East):

Miami
West Virginia
Pittsburgh
Virginia Tech
Boston College
Syracuse
Temple (presently an A-10 school in basketball, obviously)
Rutgers

And let's take a look at the remaining SIX (not five) teams, let's call this group the BBO BE (i.e., basketball-only Big East):

Providence
Villanova
St. John's
Seton Hall
Georgetown
Notre Dame

There is one Big East basketball member that has been left out here: UCONN. UConn has a Division I football program, as of relatively recently. Let's add them to the FB/BB BE, which bumps that conference's membership up to nine. Let's also say this new FB/BB BE conference steals away the top three football programs in C-USA: Louisville, Cincinnati, and East Carolina. We now have the finalized FB/BB BE, a twelve-team mega-conference with two divisions, take a look:

North

Pittsburgh
Boston College
Syracuse
Temple
Rutgers
UConn

South

Miami
West Virginia
Virginia Tech
Louisville
Cincinnati
East Carolina

Not bad!

Back to BBO BE speculation. Let's try to find six teams that this BBO BE can steal away from other conferences. Again, the A-10 and C-USA are the programs that make the most sense here. Here are the 22 remaining C-USA and A-10 teams:

Marquette
St. Louis
DePaul
Charlotte
Memphis
UAB
Tulane
South Florida
Houston
Southern Miss
Texas Christian
St. Joseph's
Rhode Island
UMass
Fordham
Saint Bonaventure
Xavier
Dayton
Richmond
LaSalle
George Washington
Duquesne

The BBO BE will want to take the top six programs from this list, and, in my opinion, those six teams are:

Marquette
DePaul
St. Louis
St. Joseph's
Xavier
Dayton

Let's take a look at the new BBO BE twelve-team two-division super-conference that we have formed here:

East

St. Joseph's
Seton Hall
Georgetown
St. John's
Providence
Villanova

West

Notre Dame (retains football independence, obviously)
Marquette
Xavier
Dayton
St. Louis
DePaul

NOW, what about the remaining teams from that list? Well, conveniently enough, we have eight remaining C-USA teams and eight remaining A-10 teams, so the two conferences can retain their names if not their luster, take a look:

Atlantic Ten

Rhode Island
Richmond
UMass
LaSalle
George Washington
Fordham
Saint Bonaventure
Duquesne

Conference USA

Memphis
Charlotte
UAB
Tulane
South Florida
Houston
Southern Miss
Texas Christian

WINNERS: FF/BB BE members and A-10 and C-USA teams that join the BBO BE.

LOSERS: BBO BE teams from the old Big East (because they'll be losing out on that football money) and spurned A-10 and C-USA teams (because their membership has been reduced and their top programs are gone).

The new A-10 goes from being a major conference to a minor (not even a mid-major) conference. I don't think that new A-10 would be any better than, say, the CAA! And the new C-USA is pretty lousy, as well, they also fall from the major ranks to the mid-major or minor ranks. Both the A-10 and C-USA go from being 3-4 bid conferences to 1-bid (and occasionally 2-bid) conferences. I never liked either conference, anyway; each was always dominated by 2-3 teams. Now, those 2-3 teams are gone, which is fine with me!

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens here, but I think it's pretty obvious that there will be a domino effect. Whatever happens with the Big East has a major impact on the A-10 and C-USA, as well, so stay tuned, the college basketball landscape may be about to undergo a major transformation!


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## robyg1974 (Jul 19, 2002)

*OR, if Miami, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech/Boston College join the ACC, then...*

*New 12-team ACC:

Division #1

Duke
Wake Forest
NC State
North Carolina
Florida State
Clemson

Division #2

Syracuse
Maryland
Georgia Tech
Virginia
Miami
Boston College

*New 12-team Basketball AND Football Big East:

North

UConn
Pittsburgh
Temple
West Virginia
Virginia Tech
Rutgers

South

Louisville
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Memphis
Tulane
Southern Miss

*New Basketball-only Big East:

East

Seton Hall
Georgetown
St. John's
St. Joseph's
Providence
Villanova

West

Notre Dame
Marquette
Xavier
Dayton
St. Louis
DePaul

*New Conference USA (they need an eighth team)

Charlotte
UAB
Tulane
South Florida
Houston
Southern Miss
Texas Christian

*New Atlantic Ten

Rhode Island
UMass
Fordham
Saint Bonaventure
Richmond
LaSalle
George Washington
Duquesne


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## BCH (Jun 25, 2002)

I have a feeling the ACC will look like this:

Division #1

Duke
Wake Forest
NC State
North Carolina
Virginia
Maryland

Division #2

Syracuse
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Florida State
Miami
Boston College/VT

This preserves the biggest rivalries for basketball. this also puts Miami and FSU in the same division meaning they will not play twice a year, which suits them becuase they already play once a year.


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