http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wic...05147.html

LOUISVILLE, KY.
Big East Conference membership is not off-limits to public universities, one of the league’s athletic directors said Friday, and Wichita State would be a good fit should the Big East decide to expand.

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen, known to Wichita State from the Bluejays’ days in the Missouri Valley Conference, said he’s pushing for Big East expansion from 10 to 12 teams and that WSU and Gonzaga would be good fits.

Rasmussen was careful to say that his opinion in these matters might not carry much weight, but that the Big East presidents and athletic directors have agreed to discuss the possibility of expansion at the conference’s annual meetings in May.

“As a part of the strategic planning exercise the Big East Conference is currently undertaking, the topic of expansion is an agenda item,” Rasmussen said in a text message. “While I do not sense a great appetite currently by Big East presidents for expansion, I personally would be an advocate for adding Gonzaga and Wichita State.”

How far will those discussions go and how long will they last?

“It could be five minutes,” Rasmussen said.

He said presidents are the power brokers in the Big East and that they will ultimately make any decision about expansion. The conference, three years old this summer, had agreed to not talk about growing in its first two years so that it could play double round-robin basketball schedule (18 games).

A 12-team conference would likely result in East and West divisions. Current members – all private schools – are Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier. The conference, like Wichita State, does not sponsor football as a Division I sport.

In December, Wichita State president John Bardo announced that he and interim athletic director Darron Boatright were in the midst of a fact-finding mission that would address the university’s place in college athletics.

The two biggest areas of interest -- football and conference affiliation -- were at the top of Bardo’s list to be addressed, he said.

Wichita State dropped its football program after the 1986 season because of low attendance and falling revenues, and has been a part of the Missouri Valley Conference for more than 70 years.

Reached Friday, Boatright said it would not be in Wichita State’s interest to discuss any specific conference or their possible plans in regard to expansion or affiliation.

Are the adding Football?

The BIG EAST has a good thing going right now...don't expand just for expansion sake...

if Wichita State was to somehow get into the Big East, that might shutter their football talk for a long time.

Gonzaga and St Mary's makes more sense IMO.

Gonzaga...has the Creighton AD looked at a map?

The Big East needs to look at the A-10. Wichita St and NIU would be options too.

(03-26-2016 12:09 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wic...05147.html

[i]LOUISVILLE, KY.
Big East Conference membership is not off-limits to public universities, one of the league’s athletic directors said Friday, and Wichita State would be a good fit should the Big East decide to expand.

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen, known to Wichita State from the Bluejays’ days in the Missouri Valley Conference, said he’s pushing for Big East expansion from 10 to 12 teams and that WSU and Gonzaga would be good fits.

As a Hoyas fan, I am happy with the 10-team Big East, and even happier with our relatively tight footprint in the northeast and upper midwest. I understand how Creighton, out there in Nebraska, would appreciate a couple more western teams, but for my part I am not interested in seeing that happen. Definitely not Gonzaga, despite their hoops success.

Creighton's on an island. Like West Virginia.

And like West Virginia, they are pushing for expansion that improves their geographic problem.

No one should be surprised by this.

If the Creighton AD is right (heh) then the Big East might add public schools and schools in the Pacific time zone.

So, jdgaucho, talk to your AD, tell him the time is now for UCSB to send its application in to the Big East.

Gonzaga is too far. Still think they should add VCU, Wichita State, Dayton, and Saint Louis. Would make a great area of teams from Kansas/Nebraska to the East Coast.

Xavier is blocking Dayton. Wichita State wants bigger than Big East. It is a toss up between Richmond and VCU. St. Louis, Evansville or some other privates near Creighton that could help.

Honestly, stay at 10. Double round-robin for basketball. No difference between 10 and 12 (really) for the conference tournament. None of the current Big East schools are looking elsewhere. Why expand?

(03-26-2016 12:37 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  Gonzaga...has the Creighton AD looked at a map?

The Big East needs to look at the A-10. Wichita St and NIU would be options too.

I think you mean UNI...

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Denver and Gonzaga.

This conference wants nothing to do with a public school, even UConn now.

(03-26-2016 01:23 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Denver and Gonzaga.

This conference wants nothing to do with a public school, even UConn now.

Yet, they probably lecture "diversity" every chance they get on their campuses with the irony totally lost on them.

to me, the only way Gonzaga makes sense is if the BE added a western division and went to 15. which means 4 western teams would need to come onboard with the Zags. I don't really see a need for that. maybe if the p5 broke away and agreed to bring some non fb leagues with them?
I can only see wichita st CONSIDERED if the BE went to 14 or more. Then I could see discussion of Wichita and SLU in west and VCU/Richmond and ? in the east

UConn would make sense if their willing to take a public school.
UConn could try to pretend to be P5 like BYU.
Might be a better path to a P5 invite I doubt that but but who knows.

UConn could do it if they can make the math work for football as an independent. They would have UMass, Army, NMSU, BYU, and possibly Idaho to work with in terms of scheduling. It's a lot of revenue to make up in football (well over $1 MM per year), but the Big East may be a better value for other sports.

The Big East doesn't need to expand right now. They can afford to continue building up the conference, fully assimilating Butler, Creighton, and Xavier with the C7, and securing itself as one of the best basketball conferences in the country. The round-robin format is one of the greatest strengths the league has for basketball, and removing it right now - for expansion - would be a mistake. If the round-robin is to be eliminated because of the addition of 2, or more, schools, then those schools need to be perfect fits (private/Catholic institution, basketball-first athletic program, consistent basketball success, big city/media market, strong fan base). As of right now, there are no perfect fits, so there is no reason to expand.

Saint Louis and Dayton are probably candidates #11 and #12, respectively. However, until Saint Louis gets its basketball program in order (it's been downhill since the unfortunate passing of Rick Majerus), and Dayton gets a seal of approval from Xavier, we will remain at 10 for the foreseeable future. I would rank Richmond as #13 (private school, east coast location, huge endowment, nice facilities, strong fan base, but inconsistent basketball program) and Davidson as #14 (private school, east coast location, strong basketball tradition, but very, very low enrollment), respectively, after that.

Perhaps the Big East can arrange a scheduling arrangement with Gonzaga and/or St. Mary's (home/home with four schools each year). It would be a strong benefit for both parties, and improve SOS for all involved. Wichita State and VCU will not be added because of it's respective public school statuses - despite the strong basketball programs that both schools offer.

given that Creighton's guy mentioned Wichita makes me think Private isn't a necessary requirement. I think if there is expansion, fox is going to push for the best basketball programs period, and not best private basketball programs.