SF Husky Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:

SF Husky Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:[quote="SF Husky"]

Come on SFHusky

UConn traveled 5,000 or so to Detroit for there firstever Bowl Game. Explain why UConn travels crappy to their league games. You had 600 to Syracuse in 2004 (I was there) and Cuse easily beat that by 5 fold in horrible weather in 2005 (I was there). Charlotte is any easy sell for Cuse fans--we had 6,000 Cuse fans (I was there) in 2004 at Chapel Hill. UConn should be able to sell 10,000 to Charlotte. Color me a skeptic on the travel UConn travel claim. You are not WVU class.

You are very wrong. UCONN brought at least 12K to Detroit and it was right after Christmas. The over attendence was the highest for Motor Bowl ever at around 55K I believe. Many people that were at the game can tell you this. I have no idea where you get the 5K number from.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/MFoot...2/Bowl.pdf Go to page two and scroll to the bottom--your official athletic guide says over 6,000 went. I think 5,000 or so is about right. UConn traveling is a mirage right now.

People at the Motor City bowl will tell you otherwise. I dont care what that guide says. For all I know it could be people brought ticket packages through UCONN. People at the game said at minimal 10K and up to 15K. U honestly believe Toledo brought that many? Year before they played BC I believe and the attendence was much less. You can post this on Scout's board and see what UCONN fans that were there have to say. I guranteed you no one will agree with you on that. I am pretty sure plenty of people brought tickets on their own to the Motor City. Also, I just came back from Pepperdine basketball vs. UCONN not too long ago and there were around 1000 UCONN fans there.

Say your right--why doesn't UConn travel to away games in season?

No idea. I think they have to learn to travel better for away games. I guess it is a habit most UCONN fans have not pick it up yet. Time will tell. But one thing is for sure, we do love our Huskies. Another NCAA championship at Storrs will fuel the love for the football team too. This year's team is looking very tough. They did not play well tonight but still blew UMASS out of the water. Did you guys see the sick dunk by Rudy?

Jackson1011 Wrote:

Quote:At a recent Board meeting at East Carolina, our quest speaker was Terry Holland, Athletic Director at East Carolina. The following is his take on Big East expanison and is based on his comments to the Board and a follow-up conversation I had with him. Please note well item #5. Here is what he said:

1. The Big East coaches and AD's wanted to add a ninth team for football scheduling purposes almost immediately after the ACC raid but the President's vetoed that idea.

2. The Big East football schools most likely will split from the rest of conference following the 2008/2009 school year. That is the last year of the present Big East agreement.

3. They will create a 12 team all sports conference with football being the primary emphasis for expansion candidates.

4. To meet the 2008/2009 deadline, the Big East will have to extend invitations to the expansion candidates sometime during the 2006/2007 to 2007/2008 school year.

5. The single most important criteria the Big East will use in deciding to whom to extend an invitation will be how well the school "travels." That is, how many people can a school take to a bowl game.

6. This is the most important criteria because the Big East has to defend its tie in with the Continential Bowl in Charlotte and the Gator Bowl.

Please note well number 5. There has been much said on this board about Nova, UMass and several MAC teams as possible expansion candidates. Number 5 would appear to eliminate most, if not all, of them.

On a personnal ECU note, item number 5 would appear to help East Carolina's chances of being an expansion candidate. With the exception of WVU, and possibly Louisville, ECU travels better then any school in the Big East. We usually take about 25,000 to a bowl game. Secondly, if East Carolina were in the Big East and were invited to the bowl game in Charlotte, we could be expected to bring 30,000 to 35,000 to the game.

66PIRATE

-- Found this on another board...author of the post is 66Pirate...I can't speak for how informed or uninformed he is but I found this interesting especially on the heels of RichRod's comments today


Jackson

Terry Holland may have said this in a private setting but he has talked in far more general terms in public. His actions do back up this theory. Terry Holland has said again and again in public that the BigEast is going to expand and ECU is trying to protect itself by making itself a viable candidate.
His theory is CUSA will get raided again and while we are not openly pursuing another conference, to get left behind would not be a good thing.
I actually like CUSA as it stands now and if it stayed this way, it would not break my heart to remain in CUSA. The problem is of course, it is not going to stay the same. Terry Hollands action with bringing in new coaches and raising millions of dollars to upgrade facilities, shows an urgency that he knows something is coming in the next five years.
UCF if it stays on its current course is all but gone to the BigEast. The only piece of the puzzel missing for them is increasing attendance and they showed at the CUSA Championship game what they are capable of. Even with that I dont see them averaging over 35k for home attendance next year. We shall see. Memphis is an excellent candidate for the BigEast and UTEP is becoming a potential target for any MWC expansion.
If CUSA loses Memphis, UCF and UTEP we are looking at having to add probably North Texas, La Tech and Florida Atlantic, which should not give too many ECU fans the warm and fuzzy.

Quote:If our BCS bid is secured after 2007 I would rather have Army/Navy as associate members for Football only than play leftover CUSA teams. if the need to get to 12 is proven feasable. We need to keep the league an east coast league--it needs to run I-95. If we decide to go 9: I say take UCF if we go 12 take UCF/Army/Navy and ECU. I'm not ruling out Memphis but not inclined right now--culturally they aren't Big East.

-- I agree Texan Mark..

-- IF we do end up going to 12...I hope we are able to add enough schools with actual fan bases to have the championship game at a neutral site (aka medow lands or Big Apple bowl)...no offense to CUSAbut I think having a championship game on campus takes away from the event...although in the same regard I don't want a championship game like the MAC had where no one was there



Jackson

SF Husky Wrote:I also agree with most of the BE fans here that only two school should even be considered for expansion:

1) ECU because they already play a lot of BE schools and they are not that far.

2) UCF because two FLA schools in FL is good for the conference. It would guranteed a game in FLA every year.

Temple should be considered only and only if they invest in football, bring back some fans and win some games. Otherwise, they can stay in MAC forever.

If you don't include Memphis for even just "consideration"...then you must be blind.

KL

Jackson1011 Wrote:

Quote:If our BCS bid is secured after 2007 I would rather have Army/Navy as associate members for Football only than play leftover CUSA teams. if the need to get to 12 is proven feasable. We need to keep the league an east coast league--it needs to run I-95. If we decide to go 9: I say take UCF if we go 12 take UCF/Army/Navy and ECU. I'm not ruling out Memphis but not inclined right now--culturally they aren't Big East.

-- I agree Texan Mark..

-- IF we do end up going to 12...I hope we are able to add enough schools with actual fan bases to have the championship game at a neutral site (aka medow lands or Big Apple bowl)...no offense to CUSAbut I think having a championship game on campus takes away from the event...although in the same regard I don't want a championship game like the MAC had where no one was there

Jackson

Exactly...the MAC was left with 5,000 fans in a 65,000 seat stadium in a neutral city for their Championship Game.

CUSA has to "build" up to a neutral site game....or....if huge crowds at home fields make it a much better atmosphere...it might stay a "home" field...as a reward to which team in the Conference finished with the best record (this year it was UCF).

Since many Divisions aren't won till the last week of the season...its hard for teams NOT within driving distances to travel in HUGE numbers on such short notice...when most teams are just trying to build up their home attendance first.

CUSA Champ Game FAR exceeded CUSA's earliest predictions when they FINAL approved this Championship Game late last Spring.

Sadly, I think former CUSA Commish Slive BLEW IT bigtime when he "delayed" expansion...and then ended up expanding to 11 teams for Football? 11?? LOL!!

If he would of gone to 12 teams in 2001 or '02...CUSA could of had a Champ Game for the last 4-5 years.

KL

Shannon Panther Wrote:

tigersharktwo Wrote:PSU,ND,MD and BC are home runs.ECU is a foul ball,Temple is a strike out.Memphis and UCF are walks.

BC and MD are solid doubles, not home runs.

Memphis should at least be an infield single...................

Jackson1011 Wrote:Wilkie...many of us old BE fans...and I include myself in this...do not want to see our league turn into CUSA east.....I think most of us could handle East Carolina because most of our schools have played them reguarly in the past and UCF for Flordia recruiting...but I don't think any of us want any part of Tulane, USM, or any MAC school....If we are looking at a 12 team league with the championship game in NYC....I would hope Army and Navy for football only would be apart of the deal because we will need to have some appeal to the northeastern fan/NYC market

Quote:Ok, I have had enough of the BS from the old BE football schools! Without West Virginia and Louisville the BE would lose its BCS status by 2010! Louisville and WVA are the plums of Big East Football.

-- The past success/reputation of pitt and syracuse are also important factors in keeping the bid....and the locals of Rutgers and Uconn also carry a lot of weight...the best thing that could happen to this league is if Uconn and Rutgers both became very.. very good in football


Jackson

I think I can safely say that Wilkie is on an island. There may be one or two other fans of his ilk in the world. The vast majority of Louisville fans (I won't speak for UC) want nothing to do with dragging in 4 programs from CUSA. One, maybe 2 and thats it.

I have to back L-Yes on this, Wilke and Army52Mike are on a island by themselves on this.

One I am totally against a 12 team Big East and I feel it is a STUPID idea. I would much rather go with a 10 school Big East and if/when ND, Maryland and Penn State say no I could live with 2 out of the following 3-(That is if RC Johnson is GONE) UCF and either Memphis or ECU.

more important is the changes that technology is making. We are rapidly moving to a time when every college football game is going to be avilable on TV. The product is going to be diluted to an extent though unimaginable just a few years ago. This past season every CUSA game was avilable on CSTV all access. In fact, Dish offered the games free of charge. Next season the Big 12 enteres into a deal with Fox and the MWC joings CUSA on the CSTV all access package. The Big East and others will do the same thing.
How will this impact college football....tremendously. It will have much the same effect that Cable TV news had on CBS, NBC, and ABC. I like to call it death by a thousand cuts.
Lets take, for example, the New mexico State fan who in past years would watch the Texas-OU game because his school was not on TV. Now that his school is on TV(every week) he will watch them instead. Granted, the Texas-OU audience will be bigger, though VASTLY smaller than it once was.
The effect of this is multi faceted. Each school, both large and small is now going to be able to build a rabid fan base much easier than in the past. Major schools will no longer be able to say sign with us so you can be on TV. Fans will become much more interested in their own leagues to the exclusion of others. With all access I found my viewing habits last year totally changes, 90% of the games i watched were CUSA.

In the last 20 years we have had a rash of AA teams move up, with this new technology that process will increase. UAB, USF, Marshall, UCF, La Tech, UCONN, ULL, ULM and other were all AA not to long ago.
This will all result in major unforseen changes in college sports.

"66pirate" said he sat on the ECU board of governors during the last expansion. To me he seems credible to me because of the detail of the behind the scenes stuff he laid out in the last expansion especially in regards to VT and how there was a time we looked like a shoe in when they thought they might be left in the BE. When they weren't he said VT felt bad about how it played out and alluded to them trying to help us out in the future. Low and behold not long after we have a 9 games in 10 years with 4 in Greenville 4 in Blacksburg and one in Charlotte with VT. He would still probably be privy to info like this that TH probably never intended to get into the public. Personally I think he is credible and already has predicted info that came true.

Jackson1011 Wrote:

Quote:If our BCS bid is secured after 2007 I would rather have Army/Navy as associate members for Football only than play leftover CUSA teams. if the need to get to 12 is proven feasable. We need to keep the league an east coast league--it needs to run I-95. If we decide to go 9: I say take UCF if we go 12 take UCF/Army/Navy and ECU. I'm not ruling out Memphis but not inclined right now--culturally they aren't Big East.

-- I agree Texan Mark..

-- IF we do end up going to 12...I hope we are able to add enough schools with actual fan bases to have the championship game at a neutral site (aka medow lands or Big Apple bowl)...no offense to CUSAbut I think having a championship game on campus takes away from the event...although in the same regard I don't want a championship game like the MAC had where no one was there



Jackson

This year it was the correct decision for C-USA to have the Championship Game at a host school. C-USA is not yet at the point where Tulsa vs. UCF would draw a good crowd at a neutral spot. I think the same thing could be said for some Big East schools. How would UConn and South Florida draw in a city like Washington, Philadelphia or New York? UConn would bring some folks, but the stadium would not be half full. This is not a slam on C-USA or the Big East, it's just the way it is right now.

I'd rather have 50,000 in Orlando or Tampa than 30,000 at a neutral site.

Quote:This year it was the correct decision for C-USA to have the Championship Game at a host school. C-USA is not yet at the point where Tulsa vs. UCF would draw a good crowd at a neutral spot. I think the same thing could be said for some Big East schools. How would UConn and South Florida draw in a city like Washington, Philadelphia or New York? UConn would bring some folks, but the stadium would not be half full. This is not a slam on C-USA or the Big East, it's just the way it is right now.

I'd rather have 50,000 in Orlando or Tampa than 30,000 at a neutral site.

-- Agreed...although I do think a EAC championship in NYC that had Uconn in it would do fine attendance wise....the trick is to have has many teams as possible that would interest NYC area/NE fans...which is why I feel a major push should be made it add the Academies for football only if the league goes to 12


Jackson

TopCoog Wrote:In the last 20 years we have had a rash of AA teams move up, with this new technology that process will increase. UAB, USF, Marshall, UCF, La Tech, UCONN, ULL, ULM and other were all AA not to long ago.
This will all result in major unforseen changes in college sports.

ULL has never been 1-AA. However, I do think that more 1-AA programs will make the move to 1-A. There are some 1-AA programs that have some nice potential as possible 1-As.

As much as I agree with L-Yes that we should not secure more than one or two C-USA teams in the next realignment round, I also think we should get the idea of choosing Army and Navy out of our system.

I'm strongly agree to 9 teams at this point.

9 allows the best possible football schedule with 4 home and 4 away games. Plus it'll also allow a perfect home and away 18 game round robin series for the 10 basketball teams (ND is coming with us, they wouldn't be "helping" us if that wasn't the case. ND helps no one but themselves). By going 9 it allows the conference to be somewhat stable while still have openings if any of our dream(and I empahsize on dream) canidates ever decide to join (ND, PSU, MD). If one of the bunch joins then we have a 10 team conference which is still fine and if 2 join then we go for that 12th team cause 11 teams don't work well. If we have 2 of ND, PSU, and MD, we could probably easily get BC back since they'll probably be dying to get back to a NE conference after playing in crap bowls every year.

Also there's not 4 schools out there that would help right now. Right now I really only see UCF and Memphis.

UCF had a good year and could be on track to do something special with their program. Plus they provide more contact with the Florida talent and provide a travelling partner with USF. Its still troublesome thought that last year they won zero games in the MAC conference. Uconn would have won the Mac conference when they were independant. They a little too close to failure IMO.

Memphis, seems to be trying the Louisville route. Too bad they didn't try earily cause they could have been already invited. They have probably the best fan support out of all the CUSA plus they bring the Liberty bowl with them. Their geography and culture is a little too different to the other schools though and that could hurt them.

Also no Temple at all. Until Temple changes their AD, president, and their Board of Trusties, never trust Temple. Temple is the poster child of a BCS welfare school. While they were in the Big East they did nothing to improve themselves. They pretty much had the metality of, "we'll let you do all work while we just sit back and collect the money". They never tried to get fans in the seats and they never tried to improve their facilities. I mean just look at the strategy this year, they're basically a win for hire program. They whored their team to other big programs' homes for cash while the big program completely killed the team. I could just imagine their marketing slogan, "Why destroy no name IAA programs when you could destroy us, for a few dollars more you could destroy a program that used to be in a BCS conference". Until there's major changes in Temple administration, that program will always fail.

I believe invitations will be extended in 2008, so they can join in 2010. So the next years is very important for any of the expansion canidates. I'm confident that the BE will keep the BCS bid especially considering what WVA and Louisville has back. USF, Pitt and Uconn are still young and if they could avoid injuries, I think at least one would be a top 25 team.

Anyone that thinks Penn State, Maryland, or Notre Dame is going to join the Big East loses all credibility. Keep dreaming err smoking or what ever you are doing.

Thanks for providing a voice of reason CCB

Although, I don't exactly buy into the "culture" argument regarding Memphis. Memphis is a riverfront city, and actually has much more in common with the cities of Cincinnati, and Louisville then east coast cities. IMO, Memphis probably has at least as much in common with Pittsburgh and Morgantown as the Northeast areas.

Not sure what went on, but my guess for the Memphis snub is that Calhoun's (as well as several other BE coaches) dislike for Calipari had a lot to do with it. Also, if RC Johnson is still around when the invite(s) is extended, it will hurt Memphis' case, as he was a driving force in the one year delay. Now, Cincinnati no longer has Bob Huggins around to stump for his friend Cal, and a completely new administration, so who knows if Memphis has an ally in UC? I'm personally biased toward them.

Yeah, though... add one team, and no Temple, Army or Navy please

The myth of 9.What does it really offer?Games with ND,Army and Navy plus 1AA and MAC schools already have that well in hand.

Lemmiwinks Wrote:Memphis is an Ohio Riverfront city, and actually has much more in common with the cities of Cincinnati, and Louisville then east coast cities. IMO, Memphis probably has at least as much in common with Pittsburgh and Morgantown as the Northeast areas.

Not sure what went on, but my guess for the Memphis snub is that Calhoun's (as well as several other BE coaches) dislike for Calipari had a lot to do with it. Also, if RC Johnson is still around when the invite(s) is extended, it will hurt Memphis' case, as he was a driving force in the one year delay. Now, Cincinnati no longer has Bob Huggins around to stump for his friend Cal, and a completely new administration, so who knows if Memphis has an ally in UC? I'm personally biased toward them.

Yeah, though... add one team, and no Temple, Army or Navy please

1. Memphis is on the Mighty Mississippi.
2. I have no idea what is going to happen with the Big East, but personal feelings will not have a lot to do with it. This is about money and business.