dgrace4cards
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RE: Big East looks to expand
(11-01-2010 05:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote: (11-01-2010 02:49 PM)dgrace4cards Wrote: (11-01-2010 02:27 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote: (11-01-2010 02:15 PM)piratefan1975 Wrote: I've been blowing this thread up today and it's been fun, but this is my last post.
I'm no TV exec and don't claim to have all the numbers. I'm not a decision maker in any way, shape or form; just enjoy expansion talk. With that being said, ECU has a sizable fanbase, over 27,000 students; the fastest growing school in one of the top ten most populated and fastest growing states in the Union.
Our fans travel from great distances to go to games as evidenced by our attendance vs. the population of Greenville. I'm not smart, but one thing's for certain, all those people aren't coming from the east unless they're coming by boat from Bermuda, which I don't think's the case. That only leaves north, south and west. To the north is Tidewater, VA and DC, the west is Raleigh-Durham (and Charlotte) and the south is, well, South Carolina. I make no claims that we carry any of these markets, but I do know we have a strong presence there. (That's like saying UCF carries Orlando) To dismiss us simply as Greenville being the 103rd ranked TV market is a little short-sighted. I think the Big East leadership is aware of our current/potential reach and influence on the Mid-Atlantic Seaboard.
Based on TV markets, these may agree...
105. Florida State
106. University of Nebraska
112. Boise State
114. Michigan State
116. University of Indiana
119. University of Oregon
143. Texas Tech University
160. University of Florida
183. University of Virginia
I like ECU and in terms of fan base attendance and overall football play over the past decade, it's likely the best of the C-USA options on paper. The problem is that I just don't think anyone outside of North Carolina and maybe some contingent areas in Virginia realizes it - there is virtually no national opinion about ECU (good, bad or indifferent). Memphis has a horrid football program, but they've played enough elite level basketball games where at least the average person off the street will hear the school's name and say, "Oh, that's a major basketball program." I'm not saying Memphis is a great option, either, as they truly have been terrible in football, yet there's some national name recognition.
Does the average sports fan in California or the Midwest turn on a football game to watch ECU just because ECU is involved? If we're being honest here, probably not. What about TCU? Well, that's likely a different answer.
Frank, can't you extend an invite to a team like ECU because they are ripe to benefit from a BCS upgrade, and have already put in the physical improvements to the facilities to be ready? I support ECU because they to me come across as a true college football program, and thats what the BE needs. Would you not extend a program an invite even if they aren't "there" yet, but with the BCS tag would certainly project to be on the same level as the rest of the league and most likely in a better position than some.
They along with TCU, UCF, and 1 of Houston/Memphis/Nova/Temple should be selected in two phases. TCU and ECU first phase and UCF and ? 2nd phase.
If I were running the Big East (or any other BCS conference), I would only invite schools that are clearly unabashed improvements to the conference today, both in reality (BCS criteria) and public perception. Throw out all of the market size data (although not irrelevant) and do people believe intuitively that the move makes sense? Frankly, less is more for the Big East. There isn't a Penn State/Notre Dame-type school that's going to vault BE revenue into the stratosphere, so I don't see a financial reason to go up to 12 football schools. TCU improves the perception of the league drastically and makes the national TV games look more attractive all around. That's about the only school that seems to make intuitive sense (and even they aren't perfect).
The way people talk, it feels like they are forgetting that the Big East is actually already a BCS conference here. The conference's aim should be to get the maximum return on the smallest expansion possible because its revenues are already the lowest at the BCS level and it gets tougher financially to make it work with each additional school. 9 or 10 football schools would be a perfectly good size (TCU plus maybe School X - if I had to guess and assuming Villanova doesn't move up, School X would be Temple even if they aren't exactly completely deserving of it).
I agree with everything you say here, with the exception we need to focus on 12 teams for scheduling purposes and ultimately for tv contract/revenue purposes. I think a 2 phase deal is the best way to go, with the automatic being TCU, then choose between ECU/UCF for the 2nd team in phase 1. If Nova decides to come on board they are automatically defaulted to the second phase, and its an arms race for the last team to be invited. Meanwhile that leaves an opening to invite KU/KState/MU to go to 14 if the Big 12 collapses. Get to 10 to resolve scheduling problems and by 2012 fall have your lineup in place be it publically or privately to negotiate the new tv contract.
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