Anyone beside Mejia going to show up next year? Of all the teams in the conference, I think DePaul has the most questions after losing Diener, Greer, and Seals. Mejia is going to be a very good point guard in this league, but is he going to have anyone to pass the ball to?

I get it...like capitalism vs socialism. We are a socialist conference. Everybody get's the same chance to win no matter how hard you work to be one of the better teams. If you have a poor coach and no talent....don't worry, you get the same shot at the crown cause we're gonna let you play a weaker schedule. If you pay big bucks for a great coach and work like hell to recruit the best players....doesn't matter. You get to play a murderous schedule so your chances of winning are the same as the have nots. Seems fair to me

Jackson1011 Wrote:

Quote:How do we not play a team we've been playing since the late 70s? I can understand UConn but not playing WVU is just messed up. Marquette and DePaul no offense don't excite me the way WVU and UConn do. We've been playing WVU for nearly 30 years and UConn for 10 years. Seton Hall was naturally a home and home, St. John's was a bit of a surprise but a welcome one because that gives me another easy local road game to get to. South Florida was expected big time. Good I want a rivalry with you folks.

-- this will be the first time that I can remember WVU and RU won't play in bball....at times it seems the two schools have been close to having a rivalry in hoops....now that has probably been put on hold for awhile...I have no idea why the league is insisten that WVU play Seton Hall but not Rutgers


Jackson

WVU and Rutgers have been playing together every year since 1973 thats 32 years. And thats 12 years longer than I've been alive. Scary to think that this is the first time since 1972 that we won't be playin. BTW the modern series started in 1971.

This is a schedule that nobody wanted except the BIGEAST office and TV. At the coaches' meeting, they wanted a round robin schedule with one team playing a home and away with one rival. Yes, it's an unfair balancing act. That's exactly how BC got a favorable seed last year, by playing the toughest teams only once.

Now, we're in a situation where we won't even play some teams, even though they could have been long-time rivals. The split can't get here too soon for me. Sixteen is obviously too many if we can't play everyone.

Quote:WVU and Rutgers have been playing together every year since 1973 thats 32 years. And thats 12 years longer than I've been alive. Scary to think that this is the first time since 1972 that we won't be playin. BTW the modern series started in 1971

-- I'm with you on this brista...and the thing is WVU is playing Seton Hall and Providence..schools that we have no history with have very little in commen with....how long till the all sports league :)



Jackson

CardinalEmpire.com Wrote:

cardtopper Wrote:I don't know if I buy the parity explaination.  Say you're the #4 team and you play the top two twice...you could likely loose three out of four games, then you play #5 twice and split.  You're 2 and 4 with ten other games.  Even if you go a decent 7-3 your finale record would be 9-7.  a couple of the lower rated teams could sneak past you in the regular season standings because they get a break in the schedule and get a better seed in the conference tournament.

That's exactly my point. They are trying for that "Cinderella Story" where a lower-ranked team soars up the standings (admittedly on the wings of a lesser schedule). If Nova, UConn, and Louisville played the exact same schedule as, say, USF, there would be no way for USF to even hope of finishing anywhere but at the bottom. But since USF gets an easier schedule, you can't immediately write them off.

*OK, so USF is probably a bad example... put a middle-of-the-road team in there and the point is the same*

It has far less to do with parity than you think. It’s all about television match-ups. Unfortunately that allows for a lesser team to back into championship contention. Boston College last season was a prime example in the Big East as was Charlotte in C-USA. Both were maybe the 4th best team in their respective leagues but because of favorable round-robin match-ups they were able to remain atop or near the top of the standings until extremely late in the season.

Parity, schmarity.

Unbalanced schedules due to an enormous conference and television demands are inherently unfair to the best programs in a league.

I agree L-yes, it's all about TV matchups; we went through the same thing in CUSA.

It doesn't help your conference championship count, nor do I really care about conference tourney championships.

For me, all that matters is you get better come February and March, and then you make your run in the NCAAs.

When it's all said and done, UofL's Final Four appearance this year will overshadow all of Cincy's CUSA regular and conference tourney championships.

As time passes, people only remember what you did in the NCAAs.




<span style='color:red'>The University of Louisville, BCS National Champions for the 2005 season </span>

"Whether you think you can do a thing, or can't do a thing, you are right". - Henry Ford

CardHouse Wrote:I agree L-yes, it's all about TV matchups; we went through the same thing in CUSA.

It doesn't help your conference championship count, nor do I really care about conference tourney championships.

For me, all that matters is you get better come February and March, and then you make your run in the NCAAs.

When it's all said and done, UofL's Final Four appearance this year will overshadow all of Cincy's CUSA regular and conference tourney championships.&nbsp;

As time passes, people only remember what you did in the NCAAs.




<span style='color:red'>The University of Louisville, BCS National Champions for the 2005 season </span>

"Whether you think you can do a thing, or can't do a thing, you are right". - Henry Ford

I'll tell you what though; it annoys the hell out of me during the season. Yeah, the NCAAs are where it REALLY counts but to discount conference titles regular season or tournament is just disingenuous. Winning your league is something to be proud of and more importantly it’s something to build a program on. Often if you are an elite team in a conference as powerful as the BE you will be a national title contender. A program like BC or Charlotte who had the chance to back into a title could have used that 'title' in recruiting. These kids in all honesty don't pay enough attention to know that BC or Charlotte didn't have to reach the same level of excellence other programs were challenged to reach in gaining its position in the league.

This is big time basketball; it’s a game for big boys. This is not the 5 year old church league where you don't keep score and everyone is a winner. IMO the lack of a level playing field is a major weakness for the Big East in terms of stability. MT can go out there and swear up and down that he's going to hold this thing together and everyone should be thrilled with this monster but it does not change the fact that a 16 team league scheduled in this manner will get real old real fast for all involved.

The starting lineup will likely be
G- C.Clinkscales
G- S.Mejia
W-K.Clarke
W-W.Chandler
C-Brumfield


Clarke was a bigger prospect than Sammy back in 2003, and was actually the best player on the team last year (not my words, but words from one of our former coaches). Chandler is Parade All-American who we expect will step in and do well. Clinkscales is a top notch pure point guard, who did leave a lot to desire in his shot and Brum is the typical garbage man. On paper, they may not look like much, but they will be a surprise team.

As a college basketball fan, no matter the records I always look forward to the DePaul-Georgetown game. I have alot of memories as a kid of the great matchups in the 80's.