Pretty much what many of us have been saying since the split; the AAC will be a better basketball conference than the new BE this season:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/conferen...-the-best/

Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

(11-07-2013 03:52 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

+1 I think at most I think the new Big East is going to have this year in the tourney this year is 4, GT, Marquette, Creighton, and a bubble team my personal pick is St.John's because they return a lot of people if I remember correctly.

(11-07-2013 04:00 PM)Flying Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 03:52 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

+1 I think at most I think the new Big East is going to have this year in the tourney this year is 4, GT, Marquette, Creighton, and a bubble team my personal pick is St.John's because they return a lot of people if I remember correctly.

I think the Big East made a couple mistakes by adding Butler and Creighton. I understand that both have good programs and have had success for a while. BUT, with Stevens gone from Butler, and Creighton losing McDermott after this year I don't think those two programs can sustain the level of success they have enjoyed over the past 4-5 years. I mean who wants to go play basketball in the middle of Nebraska?

Couple those two with perennial bottom feeders Providence, Seton Hall, and DePaul and you really don't have a very good conference.

(11-07-2013 04:28 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 04:00 PM)Flying Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 03:52 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

+1 I think at most I think the new Big East is going to have this year in the tourney this year is 4, GT, Marquette, Creighton, and a bubble team my personal pick is St.John's because they return a lot of people if I remember correctly.

I think the Big East made a couple mistakes by adding Butler and Creighton. I understand that both have good programs and have had success for a while. BUT, with Stevens gone from Butler, and Creighton losing McDermott after this year I don't think those two programs can sustain the level of success they have enjoyed over the past 4-5 years. I mean who wants to go play basketball in the middle of Nebraska?

Couple those two with perennial bottom feeders Providence, Seton Hall, and DePaul and you really don't have a very good conference.

It's way better than the A-10.

(11-07-2013 04:28 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 04:00 PM)Flying Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 03:52 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

+1 I think at most I think the new Big East is going to have this year in the tourney this year is 4, GT, Marquette, Creighton, and a bubble team my personal pick is St.John's because they return a lot of people if I remember correctly.

I think the Big East made a couple mistakes by adding Butler and Creighton. I understand that both have good programs and have had success for a while. BUT, with Stevens gone from Butler, and Creighton losing McDermott after this year I don't think those two programs can sustain the level of success they have enjoyed over the past 4-5 years. I mean who wants to go play basketball in the middle of Nebraska?

Couple those two with perennial bottom feeders Providence, Seton Hall, and DePaul and you really don't have a very good conference.

In a lot ways the C7 should have stayed with the football schools. It still would have been smarter for those school to play Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis, and Temple on a yearly basis. I know they wanted to control their own fate but they pretty locked themselves into mid-major status going forward. They still have a good and competitive league but without football its hard to be taken seriously in college sports.

(11-07-2013 05:54 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 04:28 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 04:00 PM)Flying Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 03:52 PM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  Don't tell Xavier fans or any of the other new Big East fans on these forums. The biggest issue that conference will this season is a lack of top 15 type school to raise everyone's profile. Marquette and Georgetown are the best names but they might not be good enough to earn a four seed or better.

+1 I think at most I think the new Big East is going to have this year in the tourney this year is 4, GT, Marquette, Creighton, and a bubble team my personal pick is St.John's because they return a lot of people if I remember correctly.

I think the Big East made a couple mistakes by adding Butler and Creighton. I understand that both have good programs and have had success for a while. BUT, with Stevens gone from Butler, and Creighton losing McDermott after this year I don't think those two programs can sustain the level of success they have enjoyed over the past 4-5 years. I mean who wants to go play basketball in the middle of Nebraska?

Couple those two with perennial bottom feeders Providence, Seton Hall, and DePaul and you really don't have a very good conference.

In a lot ways the C7 should have stayed with the football schools. It still would have been smarter for those school to play Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis, and Temple on a yearly basis. I know they wanted to control their own fate but they pretty locked themselves into mid-major status going forward. They still have a good and competitive league but without football its hard to be taken seriously in college sports.

I'm glad they are gone…we don't need a hybrid of that level, it just doesn't work. All sports is the way to go. (And I liked Gtown, Marquette, and Nova. I didn't give a rats butt about the SJU, SH, Prov, and DePaul).

Providence will be much better this year with their excellent recruiting classes over the last two years, and Creighton is not in the middle of Nebraska. Omaha is actually a very nice town. The new Big East is not a great conference, but a league with Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Butler and Xavier cannot be discounted. I expect DePaul and St. Johns's also to be better and they are in the two biggest markets in the country, It will be a good league in good markets. Even with Memphis and Temple and UCONN as future annual rivals, I have no interest in Tulane, Tulsa and ECU. That to me is bad basketball.

If they're just talking this year, then maybe. But next year, the new Big East ranks slightly ahead of the AAC. The AAC will have a LOT of deadweight.

SMU? ECU? Tulane? Tulsa? Those 4 teams combined haven't made an NCAA tournament in 10 years. Houston was great in the 80s, but has 1 tourney appearance in the last 20 years. UCF and USF have potential, but have combined for 1 tourney appearance ever.

We can rip on the top of the new Big East all we want, but the worst Big East program (note: program, not team in any 1 year) would be nowhere worse than the 5th worst in the AAC.

Don't look now, but the "new" Big East is killing it on the recruiting front. I really worry about how the shift in conference footprints will impact the AAC's ability to recruit the NE.

I don't miss those schools either. After next season its going to be the ACC, the Big Ten, and everyone else. Big East, American, SEC, Big XII, PAC XII, and the Mountain West filling out the next six spots while the A-10, WCC, C-USA, and Missouri Valley make up the bottom of the multiple bid leagues. Just about every league below those spots are one bid leagues with double digit seeds give our take a few exceptions.

For the American to stay in the top four Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, and Memphis have to be strong while the two or three programs from the rest of the bunch need to step up. Right now I would argue that USF, UCF, Houston, SMU, and Tulsa will be the schools that will make up that second tier. That group has to fight for NCAA and NIT bids on a yearly basis. Maybe SMU will jump into the top tier if they continue to recruit well.

The Big East's problem will always be that ESPN will ignore them. Their other problem is that the league looks very balanced which equals a lot of solid resumes but nobody will standout.

I will miss 2 automatic W's vs. DePaul

(11-08-2013 09:15 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  If they're just talking this year, then maybe. But next year, the new Big East ranks slightly ahead of the AAC. The AAC will have a LOT of deadweight.

SMU? ECU? Tulane? Tulsa? Those 4 teams combined haven't made an NCAA tournament in 10 years. Houston was great in the 80s, but has 1 tourney appearance in the last 20 years. UCF and USF have potential, but have combined for 1 tourney appearance ever.

We can rip on the top of the new Big East all we want, but the worst Big East program (note: program, not team in any 1 year) would be nowhere worse than the 5th worst in the AAC.

In addition to the obvious 4, I would take SMU and Houston over Depaul and Providence, but I do agree the nBE is pretty deep.

SMU has a heck of a recruiting class coming in. They are going to be better than advertised.

(11-08-2013 10:27 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  SMU has a heck of a recruiting class coming in. They are going to be better than advertised.

I'm sure all 7 of their fans will be delighted.