(01-02-2017 11:16 AM)johnbragg Wrote: (01-01-2017 06:15 PM)shizzle787 Wrote: Would the Big East add UConn, Cincy, Memphis, and Temple if they went independent in football? I realize that Cincy and Temple could be blackballed due to Xavier and Nova respectively, but if FOX threw in more money in the pot, and agreed to help out the four with a few football games against one another, what is stopping them.
In football, all of the schools could play each other, BYU, Army, and UMass every year, and each would likely schedule an FCS team. The first five weeks of the season could be H/H with P5s. Thoughts?
Hey everybody. Just stopping by.
OP: No. No we would not.
Just popping in with JohnBragg.
As is the case with any realignment decision, if the money is there, and there is opportunity, the fine details can work themselves out.
Initial response would be no way would the Big East want the headache that is football again. The C7 dealt with that for a long time (Villanova, Georgetown, St. Johns, Seton Hall and Providence much longer). There is also the hurdle of duplicate markets in Cincinnati (UC) and Philadelphia (Temple).
However, the Big East is a basketball-first league. If Fox offers enough incentive and TV money to those schools (UC, Temple, UConn, Memphis) for a Big East non-football membership, and the BE Presidents are convinced that they make more money with those schools than without, then there is definitely a possibility something like that could happen.
Those four schools, along with Army, BYU, and UMass would offer enough of a football scheduling alliance to create the backbone of a year-to-year schedule. Again, however, there needs to be enough financial incentive for those schools to want to pursue that - otherwise it's a moot point.
I think there is a very, very low probability of something like this ever occurring, but perhaps if a select group of AAC schools float this idea around in advance of their next negotiations, they could get more money out of ESPN (or whomever is their next provider).