(03-10-2013 12:21 PM)AlaIllTex Wrote: The biggest loser in all this is Brigham Young and that was all self-inflicted.
The c7 schools also lost from where they started in all this. Yes, they're getting more money than the nBE for now but thats dependent on mens basketball which doesnt generate nearly the revenue and isnt as popular as FBS football. They dont have access to the money which could come if asked to join the ACC or B12 down the road. This is as good as it gets for them. Unless basketball grows revenue and grows popularity. Its declining relative to FBS football right now ( and I love college Bb).
Georgetown, Marquette, and Villanova traded being in a conference with: Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Cincinnati, UConn and West Virginia for one with (likely) Xavier, Creighton, and Butler. That's nowhere near an even trade. Every league has programs that are better than others, but if Providence and DePaul were in the Atlantic 10 would they be candidates for a "super league"? Im not trying to trash the c7 and I think what they're doing is the wisest move for them at this time. I just think they've lost quite a bit in this process and they don't have close to the potential to get to where they were. UConn and Cincy have potential for full shares in the ACC or B12 down the road, therefore, the "step back" taken versus the c7 isn't so bad when looking at the big picture.
The nBE will have some great bb programs too.
The old Big East killed you with numbers, but you only got to play those schools once a year. In the C7 Big East, each member will playing double round robin, which means more games against the top teams in the conference.
It also means that teams at or near the bottom of the conference got buried there and found it impossible to dig their way out as USF and Rutgers found out. Providence and DePaul were in the tournament the year before the conference expanded in 2005. Providence, in fact, was ranked in the top 25 that year and had been to the Elite 8 only half a dozen years or so before that. St. John's had also been to a recent Elite 8 before expansion. Those programs suffered most by the imposing numbers.
It's hard to predict how successful the C7 Big East will be. But by solidifying their brand identity, they are shooting for a niche market that could be a real winner for them. BYU is considered a valuable product because of their appeal beyond Utah to Mormons anywhere. Mormons are less than 2% of the American population while Catholics are 25%. That's a pretty big niche!
As nice as it would be for them to have Notre Dame, which I'm sure they would love, it's not exactly like they're settling for chopped liver. Xavier has had more success in the past decade on the basketball court than Notre Dame has had. Butler has had more success than Pitt. Cincinnati hasn't gotten beyond the Sweet 16 at any time in the past decade (and that only once), so what's the big loss?
I actually think that the C7 Big East has tremendous potential just as they did when they were originally formed in 1979. A slimmed down version of the Big East will be better for everyone in it by making them all more competitive. Meanwhile Syracuse, Pitt, and Notre Dame will now be battling numbers in the ACC where they are the outsiders, where it will be harder for them to maintain regional relevance, where it will be harder for them to have access to their alumni & fan base who do not live near their campuses, and where they will be battling the established ACC basketball powers.