Before I begin, I will be the first to acknowledge that this expansion proposal requires some out-of-the-box thinking and it may not be feasible (I'm putting the idea out there to see what you guys think). I'll also freely admit that there are some roadblocks to making this proposal work. In addition, I also believe that the current conference format is unstable and that at some point, the football schools will have to split from the basketball schools in order to find a more stable conference configuration. With those qualifying statements issued, I'd like to forward an idea regarding Big East expansion.
Big East and its problems
The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 as a northeastern conference consisting of the region's premier basketball powers and schools with the potential to become basketball powers. The conference has changed radically since its inception; first by sponsoring football in 1991 and second by expanding to include many teams outside of the conference's northeast footprint (Miami, Louisville, USF, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette). Unfortunately, these changes have not brought the conference the stability it desired and talk of expansion/reorganization is still commonplace.
As I stated above, I believe that at some point, the Big East football schools are going to be forced to split off from the Catholic basketball schools. However, the problems with expansion, in my opinion, are three fold.
1) Candidates that would significantly improve the Big East's contract and make the conference stable are not realistic choices. Schools like Penn State, Maryland, BC, Notre Dame, etc. would definitely bump the Big East TV contract up several million dollars and would provide the conference will increased stability. However, none of those schools are realistic expansion candidates.
2) Most expansion talk focuses on an immediate quick fix. The reality of the situation is there is no realistic quick fix that will eliminate the Big East stability issues. If the conference declared that it was adding Memphis, ECU, UCF, and Temple today, the Big East won't immediately improve and we may actually have several years of decreased revenue (more mouths to feed but no huge increase in food).
3) Most expansion scenarios further dilute the Big East's regional identity. As I mentioned above, the Big East was originally founded as a northeastern conference. However, unlike the other big conferences, internal politics and external changes have caused the conference to lose some of its regional identity. As a result, I feel that the Big East sometimes struggles to define itself and its goals. Are we truly the football representatives of an entire regional of the US (the northeast) or are we merely a collection of football schools that have banded together for the time being?
The Northeast - a possible solution?
Whenever one looks at a map illustrating the NCAA football conferences, you'll notice something of interest. Nearly every region of the United states (Southeastern, Midwest, Plains, Southwest, Pacific Coast, East Coast, Rocky Mountains, etc) has at least one FBS conference that represents it. The lone exception to this is the northeastern which really only has three/four FBS team - Syracuse, UConn, BC, and Rutgers (if you count them as NE). Three of those teams belong to the Big East while the other belongs to the ACC. My proposal for the Big East focuses on the lone region that lack true representation in the college football world - the northeast. Before I discuss my proposal, however, I'll address what I see as the two biggest problems and two biggest benefits of northeastern expansion.
Problems
1) The Northeast only cares about pro-sports. This is a common stereotype about the northeast and one that is at least partially true. However, I think the Northeast's interest in professional sports has as much to due with preference as it does with the fact that the regional has a lack of college football programs (UConn, Cuse, Rutgers, and BC not withstanding). I think if there were more FBS teams in the Northeastern United States, then college football could definate find a place among sports fans in the region. Would it become as big as it is in the Southeast or the Midwest? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it couldn't grow.
2) Teams. There have been some very good college football programs in the Northeast in the past, but by and large the region has lacked top level (meaning FBS) representation. This is a major wrench in any northeast expansion proposal. While the Northeast has a plethora of FCS programs (Delaware, UMass, URI, Nova, etc), it lacks current FBS programs that the Big East could target.
Advantages
1) Wealth and population. The Northeast is the wealthiest and one of the most highly populated regions in the country. Delaware is ranked 12th in median income, for example, while Massachusetts is ranked 5th. The Northeast also has large, valuable media markets such as Philadelphai, New York, Boston, Hartford, Providence, etc.
2) Lack of direct competition. One benefit of northeastern expansion is that the Big East could become the dominant conference in a region where it would face virtually no competition. Any expansion to the south is going to face heavy competition from the SEC and ACC. Likewise, expansion to the west will face pressure from the Big Ten. While the Big East has done a good job establishing a foothold in those regions (Louisville, Cincinnati, and Tampa), it is highly unlikely that the conference will ever gain much more than that. Ohio is likely to remain, at less for the foreseeable future, a Big Ten state just as Kentucky will most likely remain an SEC state. The Northeast, on the other hand, is a place where the conference can fully become entrenched.
The Proposal
My proposal was inspired by TexasMark's hybrid proposal (
http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=323512) though I've altered it substantially. I entitled the thread "hybrid model with planned full membership" because this expansion model begins as a hybrid but has a set plan for full membership.
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia
UMass (basketball only)
Delaware (basketball only)
During the initial stage, the 8 current Big East football schools split to form a new conference. UMass and Delaware would be offered partial membership (basketball + Olympic sports) initially with the promise of full membership after five years on the following conditions:
1) Each program would begin construction on and complete a new 40,000 seat stadium within 5 years of accepting membership. In addition, each program would plan, construct, and finish acceptable football practice facilities (indoor practice facility or practice bubble, weightroom, etc) within 5 years of accepting membership. This would force both programs to upgrade their football facilities to meet the NCAA minimum.
2) Each program would agree to play 4 Big East programs on a rotating basis with no return game during the 5 year transitional period. The schedule would be devised so that no overlapping would occur (the four programs UMass played would be different from the four that Delaware played) This helps solve the scheduling problem during the transitional years.
The conference would retain the option to eject either school if the above requirements were not met. While UMass doesn't have the support in the state government to move to a lower tier FBS conference (i.e. the MAC), I think BCS inclusion and the invitation of a major conference would prompt the state legislature to find the money needed to make the transition happen. I think the same would be true of Delaware.
The benefits of this expansion model are:
1) the conference gains a stronger foothold in the unclaimed NE region of the US
2) the conference would be able to oversee its expansion candidates progress
3) Boston and the Delaware Valley media markets would be added to the BE
4) Both schools are regarded as having good academics (esp. Delaware)
5) It allows for manageable expansion and reestablishes the BE as a NE conference.
6) It gives the candidates some time to grow before they join the conference.
Similar Proposals
I outlined a 10 ten model, but other hybrid-to-full models using a different configuration would be possible. For example, here is a similar proposals using a 12 team hybrid-to-full model
12 Team Example Proposal
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia
Memphis/ECU/UCF
UMass (basketball only)
Delaware (basketball only)
URI (basketball only)
UMass, Delaware, and Rhode Island would all face the same requirements I outlined above (thought the playing Big East teams would be reduced to three teams instead of four). In addition to potentially adding three NE schools, the conference would also add either Memphis (Liberty Bowl and basketball), ECU (football), or UCF (travel partner for USF and more Florida exposure). Requirements could be placed on these programs as well for permanent full membership if the conference so desired (e.g. Memphis must build an on-campus stadium, ECU would built a new basketball arena, etc).
