<a href='http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_312890.html' target='_blank'>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-re...s/s_312890.html</a>

Big East basketball goes on steroids next season. The conference will swell from 12 to 16 teams, as Boston College flees to the ACC while Louisville, Marquette, DePaul, Cincinnati and South Florida climb aboard.

Is a 16-team superconference a good thing?

Depends on whom you ask.

Some believe the conference will be too large and thus will ruin the home-and-home rivalries that are the lifeblood of any great league. Others worry that adding too much quality will cost deserving teams at-large NCAA Tournament bids.

The remedy, many suggest, is to lop off the seven basketball-only members.

It's an idea that has some merit, but to hear Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese tell it, folks shouldn't waste their breath discussing it.

"Our presidents aren't going to do that -- period," Tranghese said.

Certainly, no split will occur in the next two years. That's because of the league's contractual obligations with ESPN.

Tranghese insists there won't be a divorce after that, either. The football-playing members, he says, will not wave goodbye to basketball-only members Marquette, Georgetown, DePaul, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova.

"If this was going to break up, it would have happened when Miami and Virginia Tech and Boston College left (to join the ACC)," Tranghese said. "Others could have left, but they sat for three months and didn't want to do it. They said, 'Reconfigure this.'

"We need to get as good as we can, to where we're so attractive that nobody wants to leave."

Tranghese also pointed out that if the football-playing schools formed their own conference, they would lose a New York City presence, including the Big East tournament. That could seriously hurt a program such as Pitt's, which relies heavily on Big Apple recruits.

In recent years, conference officials have met with ESPN before the season to try to determine the top four teams. Those four were then scheduled to play each other twice each and to appear on national television more than all the other conference teams combined.

This year, the four teams were UConn, Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame. Tranghese said ESPN likely will want to spread the exposure among six teams next season.

Quote:Others could have left, but they sat for three months and didn't want to do it. They said, 'Reconfigure this.'

-- what an interesting thing for Tranghese to say since the BE papers reveal that the vote among the football schools was 6-0 in favor of splitting

Quote:Tranghese also pointed out that if the football-playing schools formed their own conference, they would lose a New York City presence, including the Big East tournament.

-- Sounds to me like the deal to split has already been negotiated....BE name and MSG staying witht the bball onlies etc...

-- It really shouldn't be suprising that Tranghese is saying this...he has always been a bball first, bball only kinda guy...I'm sure if it were up to him the football schools would not leave..but honestly the 2010 clause was put in place for a reason


Jackson

Elsewhere, someone pointed out that actually, his statement on not splitting makes a lot of sense today.

Today, Tranghese and the BE have to say the league will remain a 16 team conference. It's important for contract negotiations with TV networks and other BE revenue sources. Clearly, that does not mean Tranghese will still be around in 3, 4, or 5 years nor does it mean the football teams will not split away.

Tranghese will do everything in his power to keep this mess together and believe me he has more clout with the Presidents than most think. The new schools view him as the savior that got them into the BCS and the old schools have been following him since the early years, that relationship runs deep.

The football schools went from a unanimous vote to split to staying together and forming a 16 team conference, even though everybody involved hated the 14 team format. Tranghese was the catalyst that made that happen, this scenario serves as an example to the amount of influence he has.

In the article he uses Pitt as an example with this statement: Tranghese also pointed out that if the football-playing schools formed their own conference, they would lose a New York City presence, including the Big East tournament. That could seriously hurt a program such as Pitt's, which relies heavily on Big Apple recruits.


IMO, if the football schools left, the bball schools would be in a world of hurt. Based on the above statement MT has convinced the FBall schools that they need the bball schools more than they actually do. Which is why they're still together. If the fball schools wake up, there is a chance that this conference will split in the future. Unfortunately as long as MT is commissioner he will continue to lull them to sleep. IMO, MT fought for the 5 year clause to pacify the football schools, rest assured he will spend the next 5 years tying these 16 schools together so tightly it will be very difficult for them to split.

Look for Tranghese to retire soon or be the commissioner of the basketball schools because he is not supporting football!

Quote:IMO, MT fought for the 5 year clause to pacify the football schools, rest assured he will spend the next 5 years tying these 16 schools together so tightly it will be very difficult for them to split.

-- In my mind...the only sure thing about the 16 team league is that some kind of change is going to occur between now and 2010....It seems to me the best we can hope for is an all sports league of our own...and the worst we can expect is some variation of the "Gavitt Plan" where two leagues are formed under the BE Umbrella...perhaps each "divison" under the BE umbrella would add one more team (ECU to football schools, Xavier to bball onlys)....in basketball each school would play a home and home with there division and have some made for TV inter-divison games like SU/GT, UC/Xavier, Seton Hall/Rutgers etc....again...in my view the 16 team league as we will know it next yr is not a long term solution to anything

-- Football expansion is going to have to take place...8 team league with a 12 game season is too small...and not even East Carolina would accept a football only membership without assurances that an all sports membership will be coming in a short period of time


Jackson

You are right Jackson. It just whether we will be 9, 10 or 12 schools when the split happens.

I loathe MT. How horrible.

Jackson, I could see ECU taking a football only invite if our basketball & other sports landed in the A-10. Coach Holland has said that we need to schedule closer schools in all sports. ECU's football team would benefit being a member of a more region friendly BCS conference. ECU already has rivalires with several of the current & future A-10 schools. Baseball is strong enough to be independent. I'll bet ECU would take a football only invite without assurances of a full membership. I might be wrong, but financially ECU would be stupid not to roll the dice.

Quote:"If this was going to break up, it would have happened when Miami and Virginia Tech and Boston College left (to join the ACC),"

Maybe he doesn't know that the Big East minutes were made public. Splitting then would have been disastrous to the basketball schools, despite that we still voted 6-0 to split.

And they would not have added the 5 year no exit fee penalty clause if a split was not down the road.

Ask him these questions off the record and you would receive different answers.

I agree Jackson, there will be changes to the way the conference is set up but if MT has his way we will always be connected to the bball schools. Its a shame because the only way this conference can reach its full potential is to evolve into an all sports conference. Unfortunately, taking care of the bball schools contradicts with making this a strong all-sports conference. Our best hope is that the football schools wake up and put up some resistance.

nflsucks, IMO, MT had to concede to the 5 year clause because without it the fball schools wouldn't have agreed to the 16 team league. It was MT's way of buying time.

If a split was imminent, I think the conference would have a bball division and an all sports division, that way rivalrys could get established, future schedules and OOC opponents could be identified, etc. All the things that need to be done to allow for a clean break should be happening right now, but IMO, they're not. In essence, the bballs have a five year head start in establishing an identity and selling itself to the networks and the public, if a split was a done deal why aren't they taking advantage of this time?

I hope I'm wrong, but MT has this conference right where he wants it.

Brick City Pirate Wrote:Jackson, I could see ECU taking a football only invite if our basketball & other sports landed in the A-10. Coach Holland has said that we need to schedule closer schools in all sports. ECU's football team would benefit being a member of a more region friendly BCS conference. ECU already has rivalires with several of the current & future A-10 schools. Baseball is strong enough to be independent. I'll bet ECU would take a football only invite without assurances of a full membership. I might be wrong, but financially ECU would be stupid not to roll the dice.

The problem with the A-10 is it's already bloated with 14 members once St. Louis and Charlotte join.

For those goofballs who have been doubting TopCoog I rest my case. There never ever will be a split...it would be an insane sacrafice of huge markets. i am not waiting for the 'he really didn't mean it" crap to start popping up.

TopCoog Wrote:For those goofballs who have been doubting TopCoog I rest my case. There never ever will be a split...it would be an insane sacrafice of huge markets. i am not waiting for the 'he really didn't mean it" crap to start popping up.

What else is he going to say. A split happens and he is out of a job. I will wait until 2008-2009, then it will get interesting.

BTW still waiting for the 4-5 Million for the Big East Champ in the BCS Bowl. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Quote:BTW still waiting for the 4-5 Million for the Big East Champ in the BCS Bowl.&nbsp; :laugh:&nbsp; :laugh:&nbsp; :laugh:

This concept isn't as far-fetched as you might think. It was actually discussed at the Chicago meetings in October of 2003 I believe.

However, the concept was along the lines of all BCS conference payouts being pro-rated by the number of teams in the conference. 12 or more member conferences would get a full share, 11 member conferences would get an 11/12th share, 10 member conferences would get a 10/12th share, etc.

So while an 8/12ths share of 14 million+ BCS share is greater than 5 millions (more like 9 million+), the concept of a reduced payout was on the table. SEC and B12 have thought for a while that all BCS conferences should have at least 12 members. The B10 and Pac-10 made sure the idea had a short-life span.

The B10 truly only wants ND, and the Pac-10 does not want Utah and BYU (the only viable non-BCS institutions out west). The Pac-10 at one time wanted Colorado and Texas out of the B12, but Texas wasn't interested and I doubt they would want scandal-ridden Colorado (with Utah, since BYU was the main stumbling block of the Utah/BYU combo) at this time.

I think things will start getting interesting again around 2007-08 for changes to possibly take place in 2010 and beyond.

Cheers,
Neil

Quote:but if MT has his way we will always be connected to the bball schools.

Agreed. But after all, he is the commissioner for all 16 schools and has been involved with the BE since its inception. He's doing a very difficult job balancing all of the competing needs. If there is a split, he won't be coming with the Div. 1A schools.

Quote:MT had to concede to the 5 year clause because without it the fball schools wouldn't have agreed to the 16 team league. It was MT's way of buying time.

If a split was imminent, I think the conference would have a bball division and an all sports division, that way rivalrys could get established, future schedules and OOC opponents could be identified, etc. All the things that need to be done to allow for a clean break should be happening right now, but IMO, they're not. In essence, the bballs have a five year head start in establishing an identity and selling itself to the networks and the public, if a split was a done deal why aren't they taking advantage of this time?

I believe in getting the clause, he probably also received the assurances from the D 1A presidents that there would be a real effort toward making the 16-team conglomeration work. Which is probably why there are no divisions along the lines of a split.

Quote:I hope I'm wrong, but MT has this conference right where he wants it.

Agreed. For now. The real dangers are:

1) Will the BE lose its BCS bid three years down the road? I think not, but its not a slam-dunk

2) Will there be further expansion? I think not - other than the B10 possibly getting tired of waiting for ND and going to 12. Still they could look westward to Missouri instead of toward BE teams.

3) Will the new academic requirements be enforced? And if yes, what will this mean for conference shuffling? Football and bb schools losing schollies will eventually cause conferences to start losing bowl and NCAA fund unit $$$.

It's going to be an interesting couple of years, starting in 2005-06.

Cheers,
Neil

It could be worse. It could have had 18 schools.

Big East Conference
Eastern Division
Charlotte
Georgetown
Providence
Saint John's
Seton Hall
Villanova

Central Division
Connecticut
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia

Western Division
Cincinnati
De Paul
Louisville
Marquette
Notre Dame
Saint Louis

Just another thought about the split....here in West Virginia we have a nightly state wide sportsline nightly that is hosted by the WVU play by play man and some other media types attached to WVU....anyway...this is the most vanilla show one can imagine...nothing controversial is mentioned, and the WVU comapny line is always put forth...well with that being said even these guys routinely talk about the split occuring...in there conversations it is never an "if" but a "when"....this really leads me that it is going to occur as planned


Jackson

As I was told tonight, if a spilt did occur, the NCAA Tournament would have to expand by one more conference bid and another play-in game. I know conferences such as the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and SEC would love to see more games added to the NCAA Tournament.

I don't think the Big East splitting will affect the number of NCAA tournament games played. It's more likely that you'll just see it go from 34 at large bids (or whatever the number is) down to 33 at large bids, rather than play in games being added.