By Dick Weiss / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, December 21, 2012, 1:02 AM

The Big East, in an attempt to strengthen its new Western base, is in preliminary discussions with UNLV and Fresno State about joining the conference, sources confirmed to the Daily News on Thursday.

Commissioner Mike Aresco has also spoken to BYU, according to a story on CBSSports.com, although that school’s entry seems like more of a longshot.

UNLV is a founding member of the Mountain West Conference. Fresno State joined that conference this year. BYU left the Mountain West in 2011 to go independent in football and play basketball in the West Coast Conference. The additions of two or more of those schools would likely silence speculation that Boise State and San Diego State, which are supposed to begin play in the Big East this fall, might go back to the Mountain West.

The Big East currently has 12 teams — UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Temple, Memphis, SMU, Houston, Boise State, San Diego State, Central Florida, Tulane and East Carolina — set to play football in 2013. Rutgers, which is joining the Big Ten, and Louisville, which is leaving for the ACC, are likely to participate as all-sports members before moving on in 2014.

With the seven Catholic schools that do not play major football — Villanova, St. John’s, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence and Seton Hall — leaving the conference to form their own league, Big East basketball likely will consist of Memphis, SMU, Houston, Tulane, UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, South Florida and Central Florida. Adding UNLV and BYU as full-time members would bolster the basketball league.


BYU would have to get out of an eight-year contract with ESPN to join the Big East. BYU’s deal with ESPN is worth nearly $4 million a year through 2018, with an option for 2019.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/colleg...z2FgT2DNok

"Tulane and East Carolina — set to play football in 2013"

Fail.

Talking to UNLV is encouraging, if that means we're talking all sports. Surely we wouldn't be trying to get them for football only, would we?

If UNLV & Fresno State indeed join the Big East, I wonder if that would weaken the MWC enough to persuade Air Force to join as well. That might keep Navy in the mix for 2015 and give the nBE a solid 16 school lineup.

(12-21-2012 07:22 AM)Chappy Wrote:  If UNLV & Fresno State indeed join the Big East, I wonder if that would weaken the MWC enough to persuade Air Force to join as well. That might keep Navy in the mix for 2015 and give the nBE a solid 16 school lineup.

I think this is the strategy. If you invite both Fresno and UNLV, you also put additional pressure on BYU. But if they don't jump, AFA will and has already had talks with the Summit conference.

The BE will essentially have become a MWC/CUSA hybrid and ripped the best markets out of both leagues.

(12-21-2012 06:17 AM)johniesFan99 Wrote:  By Dick Weiss / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, December 21, 2012, 1:02 AM

The Big East, in an attempt to strengthen its new Western base, is in preliminary discussions with UNLV and Fresno State about joining the conference, sources confirmed to the Daily News on Thursday.

Commissioner Mike Aresco has also spoken to BYU, according to a story on CBSSports.com, although that school’s entry seems like more of a longshot.

UNLV is a founding member of the Mountain West Conference. Fresno State joined that conference this year. BYU left the Mountain West in 2011 to go independent in football and play basketball in the West Coast Conference. The additions of two or more of those schools would likely silence speculation that Boise State and San Diego State, which are supposed to begin play in the Big East this fall, might go back to the Mountain West.

The Big East currently has 12 teams — UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Temple, Memphis, SMU, Houston, Boise State, San Diego State, Central Florida, Tulane and East Carolina — set to play football in 2013. Rutgers, which is joining the Big Ten, and Louisville, which is leaving for the ACC, are likely to participate as all-sports members before moving on in 2014.

With the seven Catholic schools that do not play major football — Villanova, St. John’s, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence and Seton Hall — leaving the conference to form their own league, Big East basketball likely will consist of Memphis, SMU, Houston, Tulane, UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, South Florida and Central Florida. Adding UNLV and BYU as full-time members would bolster the basketball league.


BYU would have to get out of an eight-year contract with ESPN to join the Big East. BYU’s deal with ESPN is worth nearly $4 million a year through 2018, with an option for 2019.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/colleg...z2FgT2DNok

As stated by Aresco, ECU will be a full member and play basketball, too. There will be a eastern and western divisions for all sportsl.

(12-21-2012 07:19 AM)TripleA Wrote:  Talking to UNLV is encouraging, if that means we're talking all sports. Surely we wouldn't be trying to get them for football only, would we?

But how can we be satisfied with Tulane's awesomeness alone?

(I don't know what to think anymore.)

(12-21-2012 07:51 AM)justinslot Wrote:  

(12-21-2012 07:19 AM)TripleA Wrote:  Talking to UNLV is encouraging, if that means we're talking all sports. Surely we wouldn't be trying to get them for football only, would we?

But how can we be satisfied with Tulane's awesomeness alone?

(I don't know what to think anymore.)

Tulane will have to share its awesomeness with. A few more schools but in doing that the awesomeness will multiply and give itself back to Tulane. It's a wonderful cycle:)

If I'm the MWC, my strategy is to keep Fresno and UNLV by capturing BYU. Do that, and Boise and San Diego come back.

So how do they capture BYU?

Basically, you give them whatever they want. Let them keep their ESPN contract and (if I recall correctly) let them re-broadcast BYU's conference away games, a CBS product, on the BYU network. CBS might not be thrilled with that idea but they still add to inventory by getting BYU's conference games that are played on the road and that's a net gain.

Get BYU and they have a much better chance of keeping Fresno and UNLV. Capture and keep those three and I think that SDSU and BSU come back.

And then go on the offensive. Go after UConn and Cincy for football only -- by promising to waive exit fees and long time notification requirements if they go to a Big Five conference. That frees them up to join the Catholic 7 in other than football -- which is where they would much rather be. The MWC doesn't have to keep those two schools forever -- just long enough to wound the nBE sufficiently that the MWC can take from the nBE while the nBE is no longer strong enough to take from the MWC.

The ability to at least attempt this is almost entirely a function of CBS's willingness to put real money on the table. So how much progress is "substantial progress"? I guess we will find out...

Yoda out...

This is good news

Their one BILLION dollar endowment sure wont hurt their chances of building a program in a good conf. Would add huge academic boost as well.

Speaking of Tulane btw

(12-21-2012 08:09 AM)Yoda Wrote:  If I'm the MWC, my strategy is to keep Fresno and UNLV by capturing BYU. Do that, and Boise and San Diego come back.

So how do they capture BYU?

Basically, you give them whatever they want. Let them keep their ESPN contract and (if I recall correctly) let them re-broadcast BYU's conference away games, a CBS product, on the BYU network. CBS might not be thrilled with that idea but they still add to inventory by getting BYU's conference games that are played on the road and that's a net gain.

Get BYU and they have a much better chance of keeping Fresno and UNLV. Capture and keep those three and I think that SDSU and BSU come back.

And then go on the offensive. Go after UConn and Cincy for football only -- by promising to waive exit fees and long time notification requirements if they go to a Big Five conference. That frees them up to join the Catholic 7 in other than football -- which is where they would much rather be. The MWC doesn't have to keep those two schools forever -- just long enough to wound the nBE sufficiently that the MWC can take from the nBE while the nBE is no longer strong enough to take from the MWC.

The ability to at least attempt this is almost entirely a function of CBS's willingness to put real money on the table. So how much progress is "substantial progress"? I guess we will find out...

Yoda out...

What a plan. Bravo.

(12-21-2012 08:09 AM)Yoda Wrote:  If I'm the MWC, my strategy is to keep Fresno and UNLV by capturing BYU. Do that, and Boise and San Diego come back.

So how do they capture BYU?

Basically, you give them whatever they want. Let them keep their ESPN contract and (if I recall correctly) let them re-broadcast BYU's conference away games, a CBS product, on the BYU network. CBS might not be thrilled with that idea but they still add to inventory by getting BYU's conference games that are played on the road and that's a net gain.

Get BYU and they have a much better chance of keeping Fresno and UNLV. Capture and keep those three and I think that SDSU and BSU come back.

And then go on the offensive. Go after UConn and Cincy for football only -- by promising to waive exit fees and long time notification requirements if they go to a Big Five conference. That frees them up to join the Catholic 7 in other than football -- which is where they would much rather be. The MWC doesn't have to keep those two schools forever -- just long enough to wound the nBE sufficiently that the MWC can take from the nBE while the nBE is no longer strong enough to take from the MWC.

The ability to at least attempt this is almost entirely a function of CBS's willingness to put real money on the table. So how much progress is "substantial progress"? I guess we will find out...

Yoda out...

Will Boise and SDSU be happy if BYU and UNLV are all sports and they (Boise and SDSU) are football only with maybe Fresno thrown in (football only)?

(12-21-2012 08:33 AM)mwp1023 Wrote:  Will Boise and SDSU be happy if BYU and UNLV are all sports and they (Boise and SDSU) are football only with maybe Fresno thrown in (football only)?

I don't know the answer to that but I think that most would want an all sports western division. SDSU probably saves money being in the Big West for most sports; they can bus to most games. But there is a loss of prestige (and possibly a hit to recruiting) in playing in little gyms, etc.

Boise has to make an annual $1 mil payment to the BW to cover the increased travel costs associated with their membership. I believe that I heard that the nBE is either paying that or is at least subsidizing part of it -- and given what's happened to the television contract, that's a bigger hit than anticipated. They could probably eliminate that expense if they made the western division into an all sports division.

You will notice that, while the CBS piece said that Fresno and UNLV had been in discussion for football only, the link above does not limit that contact to just football.

Yoda out...

(12-21-2012 08:49 AM)Yoda Wrote:  

(12-21-2012 08:33 AM)mwp1023 Wrote:  Will Boise and SDSU be happy if BYU and UNLV are all sports and they (Boise and SDSU) are football only with maybe Fresno thrown in (football only)?

I don't know the answer to that but I think that most would want an all sports western division. SDSU probably saves money being in the Big West for most sports; they can bus to most games. But there is a loss of prestige (and possibly a hit to recruiting) in playing in little gyms, etc.

Boise has to make an annual $1 mil payment to the BW to cover the increased travel costs associated with their membership. I believe that I heard that the nBE is either paying that or is at least subsidizing part of it -- and given what's happened to the television contract, that's a bigger hit than anticipated. They could probably eliminate that expense if they made the western division into an all sports division.

You will notice that, while the CBS piece said that Fresno and UNLV had been in discussion for football only, the link above does not limit that contact to just football.

Yoda out...

I'm sure the BW has a nice buyout for Boise. Talk about a shakedown.

Get it done!!!

I put BYU in the category of ND at this point. I don't mean that they're equal in stature, but rather any hypothetical that includes BYU simply doesn't mean any more than a hypothetical that Conference A would be worth a lot if ND joined it. Of course the Big East or MWC would be better off with BYU just as any conference would be better off with ND. Duh. How BYU would be better off (and remember that what's "better off" for BYU means exposure in and of itself even over money and bowl access, and when you look at how they've been on TV the last 2 years, they literally have the best exposure of any school other than ND itself) is a different matter.

(12-21-2012 09:03 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I put BYU in the category of ND at this point. I don't mean that they're equal in stature, but rather any hypothetical that includes BYU simply doesn't mean any more than a hypothetical that Conference A would be worth a lot if ND joined it. Of course the Big East or MWC would be better off with BYU just as any conference would be better off with ND. Duh. How BYU would be better off (and remember that what's "better off" for BYU means exposure in and of itself even over money and bowl access, and when you look at how they've been on TV the last 2 years, they literally have the best exposure of any school other than ND itself) is a different matter.

Yeah I think any idea that involves BYU in the Big East has very little chance of happening, but any idea that has BYU rejoining the MWC has a 0% chance. Anyone thinking that a school that thinks that highly of themselves would basically admit they were wrong, that they can't do it on their own, and would crawl back to a league they viewed as beneath them is crazy.