I agree but Temple football plays like a Division II team and the fan attendance is high school!

Villanova or Temple
You can not have both. Villanova and Temple used to play the last week of the football season until 'Nova dropped their football program. If ever a split then:

St. John's and Georgetown
These two should be kept in the fold. You guys talking about markets can not ignore these two. Mike T knows their value, that's why these schools were never left out. The other basketball schools would be forced to join with any of:

Xavier, Dayton, or St. Louis
Strong programs on the fringe of a top conference. Which is similar to:

Central Florida
Classic case of Louisville forcing Kentucky to play, Memphis to Tennessee, even ECU to UNC. This is the new version: UCF will force USF to confront them on field.

Wilkie01 Wrote:I agree but Temple football plays like a Division II team and the fan attendance is high school!

That comes off as smack, but it's not far off the mark. I was expecting more from Temple in Golden's 2nd season. However, here they sit at 0-5, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-11, give or take a game, is looking likely. I'd say they're best shot at a win is Saturday against NIU.

They do appear improved despite the current O-fer, but I think if Golden doesn't turn it around in the next few years that program could be dropping down or eliminated. I think he's the last chance.

Temple fans just do not support football. Temple is a 40,000 student University for gosh sakes! Thank of how large their alumni base must be. To bad they do not care about Temple football .

esayem Wrote:Central Florida
Classic case of Louisville forcing Kentucky to play, Memphis to Tennessee, even ECU to UNC. This is the new version: UCF will force USF to confront them on field.

I dont get it, were playing them 4 times. We played them twice already and won both games. If they lose the next 2 theres really no point to continueing the series at all.

there's not really a whole lot to support.

i heard a few years back that more than half the players on temple's team did not even receive a scholarship offer from any other school other than temple. one would think there is a ton of potential there. it's in philadelphia. it's got 40k students like you said. yet they produce nothing.

they REALLY need to make a commitment because as bad as they are, they still have a ton of potential. i don't know if there will ever be a big east split, but it's very likely that there will be some day. if temple's house is in order, they'd be as strong a candidate as anyone else. pennsylvania is a strong highschool football state and the big east has no football teams from that area. temple's first priority should be recruiting. 75% of the time should be spent on recruiting. they also need to pump a little more money into the program. if nothing else, it's an indication that they are serious. i'm convinced that the city would get behind them BIG TIME if they ever put together a top 25 caliber team. if you think about it, philadelphia is a city that loves football, but there is no major college football in the city. they love college basketball. they'd love big time college football as well.

Syracuse
UConn
Rutgers
West Virginia
Louisville
Pitt
Cincinnati
South Florida
Villanova or Temple
Central Florida
UMass
Memphis or East Carolina
I think this is the best option, with St. John's and Georgetown in as non-football members.

Wilkie, you and I agree on UMass, what are your reasons?

Good basketball, has as much football potential as Boston College, and it is a State School located in the BE foot print.

brista21 Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:Why do you want 12 teams? It is stupid. Look at the ACC. Their 12 team configuration sucks. Their title game sucks. Stop trying to imitate mediocrity.

Having 12 teams works for the SEC because they have the right 12 teams for what they need. We do not have 12 teams available for what we need.

Going to 12 teams just to have 12 teams is moronic. It is not a magic number. The ACC has fallen flat on their faces since they tried this idiotic idea.

The perfect conference is the Pac-10. They will never go to 12 teams and that is probably for the best. We should copy what works for them instead.

A gradual expansion to 9 teams, while staying in the hybrid another four years, followed by a split and stopping at 10 teams is our best course of action.

I don't necessarily agree on the staying in the hybrid with you but as always you have a well reasoned and well thought out series of ideas behind that. But I agree 12 teams is silly, we're much better off going to 9 in a few years. And eventually 10. If we had the right teams coming aboard to go to 12 then it'd be worth it, but at this point UCF is the only worthy looking candidate out there with their massive facilities upgrades, vastly improving attendance, and good on-field results.

As much as I bug U guys with buffalo... I agree if a split happens going to 12 right away doesnt make alot of sense.. I think U need 9.. and 10 would make more sense to cover for possible raid from wherever. only way 12 makes sense is if BE gets 3 to 5 mil for a champ game on tv.

Wilkie01 Wrote:Good basketball, has as much football potential as Boston College, and it is a State School located in the BE foot print.

how closely do you follow umass??

umass won 21 games last season. that was their first 20 win season since 1997-1998. they've managed three winning seasons in the past ten years. they haven't been in the top 25 or the ncaa tournament since 1997. (coincidentally, it was louisville that beat them in the first round that year).

they had a good team last year, but with only one starter back and a questionable recruiting class, i think they may be looking at their 8th losing season in 11 years rather than a twenty win season. prior to last season umass typically averaged less than 4000 fans a game.

their football team....is fcs.

i do believe that umass has potential. however, i have to scratch my head when i see so many from the big east listing them as a realistic expansion candidate. they've shut up more than they've put up. this is a team that loses more than it wins in the atlantic ten and who's football team is 1AA.

why does the big east want to expand so badly in the first place?? even if you like the idea, why would you be so sold on it that you'd invite UMASS?? my enquirering mind wants to know. how are you so much better off with 9 or 10 or 12 if umass (or others like them) is one of the 12??

louisville fans are from kentucky. they should remember this. umass is so serious about its basketball team, that when they hired travis ford, they didn't pay the buyout in his contract and ford had to flip the bill himself. if that isn't a testament of non-dedication, then i don't know what is.

xubrew Wrote:louisville fans are from kentucky. they should remember this. umass is so serious about its basketball team, that when they hired travis ford, they didn't pay the buyout in his contract and ford had to flip the bill himself. if that isn't a testament of non-dedication, then i don't know what is.

UMass was in shambles when Calipari got there and hasn't done shat since he left.

Division A
Buffalo
Connecticut
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
Temple

Division B
Akron
Cincinnati
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Toledo
West Virginia

:noisycricket:

I follow UMass more than you know. Coach Ford is optimistic about his team this year. Do you know why they were not any good? Bad coaching. This has changed:

Coach Ford just got a contract extension! Now that's what you call dedication. They were a top 65 team last year, as was West Virginia (who they lost to in the NIT). They have so many kids that want to play there he has them enroll as students and basically redshirt without officially being on the team.

Calipari thought UMass had elite potential, he was right and is right about Memphis!

Wilkie and I are right too!

david gibbs appears to be a good point guard, and i'm sure he'll be an asset to umass...next season...if he doesn't decommitt.

as it stands, umass is losing four starters. the class they have coming in this season, which will make up about half their team, is rated below south florida's.

i don't want to be misunderstood. it's my belief that travis ford is a good coach and can get the maximum output out of the sum of the parts coming in. i don't see them finishing at or near the top of the atlantic ten, but they're still moving in the right direction.

however, to identify them as a team that could uplift the big east is so ridiculous that i don't even know where to begin. it's one thing to say a team can come in and compete at a high level within the league, and therefore they are worthy of a look. it's another thing to be so desperate to increase membership that in basketball loses more than it wins in the atlantic ten, and in football doesn't even have a team at the level you're competing at.

ucf makes sense. if you're willing to split the pie with nine teams instead of eight, they're a good pick because they bring something to the table. new basketball facilities, a reasonable amount of progression in basketball, and visible enthusiasm to football and to its athletic dept. in general. they would also provide a traveling partner for south florida (for those that don't follow the non-major sports, this is actually important when you really stop and think about it).

memphis makes sense. great fan base. top notch basketball. adequate football with a potential to get better.

ecu makes some sense. crap basketball, but decent football that has a backing and that's actually achieved some success at the fbs level.

then we have umass. seven losing basketball seasons in ten years...in the atlantic ten. no top 25 in 11 years. no ncaa tournament appearances in the same amount of time. crap attendance. and to top it off, football that doesn't even compete at the fbs level. i really do respect umass, but i couldn't make a case for their candaticy if i tried, and i'm a pretty good b.s'er. they make geographic sense, but so does northeastern, who plays in the same fcs football conference as umass, and plays in a bigger market (boston) and has had about the same amount of basketball success and attendance over the past ten years.

don't get me wrong. umass HAS potential. they just haven't lived up to it yet. to identify them as the addition that could enhance the big east is crazy. the big east has a bcs bid. half the teams in the big east are ranked, with louisville right behind and uconn unbeaten. there is no reason to think ANYTHING is wrong or that the big east needs anything else. i won't even waste your time with basketball.

nevertheless, some believe that the league needs a change in order to fix what's wrong (i for one have no freaking clue what is wrong, but evidentally, people think something's wrong). they are suggesting that a team who's had seven losing seasons in ten years, at a non-major level, who has poor attendance, and who doesn't even have div1a football, would be a good addition. others want to take further than that. they want to invite schools that don't even have football teams (charlotte, georgia state) and who have very sub par basketball teams (georgia state).

gee, that's GREAT!!! mike tranghese will LOVE this idea!! i can't believe he didn't think of it before now.

NBE
Cuse
Rutgers
Buffalo
Umass
Temple
Uconn
Pitt
BC
easy travel for all...

As of right now, UCF looks to be the #1 option if the Big East goes to nine teams. They have a nice market (Orlando), new stadium on campus, good coaches, and a lot of $$$. Considering what they've done in the last several years, I can only imagine what they could do in a BCS conference.
If 10 is the magic numer, Memphis has a lot of potential. The Liberty Bowl would most likely follow Memphis to the Big East. Memphis, I would imagine, has a decent market (don't really know) and, as we know, a great basketball program. Also, isn't the administration at Memphis looking into building a new stadium on campus? It seemed when Memphis was playing well, they had a good following and a nice stadium average.
Again, if Memphis were in a BCS conference, I'd say you would see a much improved football program.

WVU
Louisville
Pitt
Rutgers
USF
UCF
Cincinnati
UCONN
Syracuse
Memphis

Dude, Memphis wasn't doing much before Calipari. Recruiting predictions don't really matter. UMass wasn't predicted to win the A10 last year, which they did.

As far as ECU goes, why? They offer a marginal football team! That's it! Ha ha, yea they beat us in Bonesville, or whatever they want to call the ghetto that is Greenville. They have NO market.

UMass held the Boston market by the balls during Calipari's regime. They have way more support than BC when they're good. We aren't talking last ten years, otherwise, why was USF admitted?

All of this talk won't matter when UMass is selling out their 9K something beautiful on-campus basketball arena again. If they aren't any good this year, why did UK duck out of the return game in Boston?:spongebob:

They lost three starters: James Life, Rashaun Freeman, and NBA draft pick Stephane Lasme.

Gary Forbes, a Virginia transfer, will be up for conference player of the year. He is awesome, watch for him this year. He and point guard, Chris Lowe, will be back with all the new guys and a couple of reserves from last year. They will be finishing towards the top of the A10.