(01-21-2013 04:05 PM)Youre my boy blue! Wrote: Who knows, maybe the execs at the Big East are crazy enough to consider ETSU. I would consider the Big East to be an upgrade from C-USA.. It's still basketball heavy. I'll cross my fingers and start praying.
The Big East will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER take us, for reasons that have nothing to do with quality of play.
These are the media markets that the Big East's long-term members bring in (national rank in parentheses):
Temple - Philadelphia (4)
Southern Methodist - Dallas (5)
Houston - Houston (10)
South Florida - Tampa (13)
Central Florida - Orlando (19)
Connecticut - Greater Hartford (30)
Cincinnati - Cincinnati (34)
Memphis - Memphis (48)
Tulane - New Orleans (53)
They rely on those large media markets to get them more TV money. That's the biggest issue in the loss of the Catholic Seven: five of them are in top 10 media markets, plus #35 Milwaukee (Marquette) and #53 Providence. That's a lot of potential eyeballs lost. The Tri-Cities ranks 92nd nationally, which is way below what the Big East is looking for. They won't even consider ETSU.