If I could sit down over a beer (or two) with the commissioner of any NCAA Division I conference and spend one hour asking questions that the commissioners answers with honesty and detail, Valerie B. Ackerman of the Big East might be my top choice.

Val said today that Gonzaga is a "perfect" fit for the Big East...

Interesting timing.

(10-25-2023 08:34 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  Val said today that Gonzaga is a "perfect" fit for the Big East...
Interesting timing.

She also said "It's clear from what we read that other factors may have come into play for them in terms of money, alignment with maybe a football league. That's their decision to make."

(10-25-2023 07:35 AM)PlayBall! Wrote:  Maybe leaving a spot for ND's return after their contract with the ACC expires? If ND wants to return to full independence in FB, the BE for its other sports is, IMHO, the obvious choice. However, there's bigger bucks to be had in the B1G.

With the conferencing-up of all the old Big Eastern Independents, ND would want a four game FB scheduling agreement with some conference in any event ... adding a fifth to make the ACC happy is not really that big a price to pay for an Olympic sports home in a very strong basketball conference.

(10-25-2023 03:52 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  Had UConn not chosen to depart the American, the Big East would be at ten years right now with no new added members and the longest sustained membership grouping ever in the Big East. There's something to be said for continuity and consistency.

I think there is genuine hold-out hope for a Syracuse, a Pittsburgh or a Boston College to return, if the ACC implodes; however, adding Stanford, California and SMU (IMO) prevent that (the ACC from imploding) from happening. Notre Dame will always do what is best for Notre Dame, and Notre Dame will always have an open invitation to any league (full or partial) it wants. I don't see the Big East as being the top fit ever again.

Gonzaga is an institutional fit in every metric except geography. It's a shame that the two entities are on opposite sides of the country. Within the A10, Saint Louis hasn't done anything to earn an invitation and Dayton (by all accounts) seem to be continually blocked by Xavier (and, by default, the rest of the Big East). No one in the A10 has jumped ahead of everyone else, but the opportunity is there. Davidson would be a great long-term candidate (but clearly not right now) if they go on a sustained run of high-level success. Other A10 programs (Duquesne, Richmond, St. Bonaventure) lack the sustained success (or have too many gaps in program history) to be legitimately considered. The final members (Loyola, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle) will always be blocked no matter the success because they occupy and compete with the same markets of current BE programs.

If St. Mary's, like Gonzaga, was located in Pittsburgh or Detroit, they would have already been added. I think the Big East, if it wants to pursue growth and long-term competition with the all-sports mega-conferences, will need to look to expand into national territory. It can always keep and place its NE flag in NYC, but the money and revenue will be from a national perspective. For Catholic schools, too, they need to think about moving out of their regional territories and continue to attract future students from all over. The big Catholic schools won't close, but many of the small ones can (and likely will) in the decades ahead. There would be strength in aligning the top Catholic universities grouped by high-level basketball.

I think it's pretty doubtful the B1G/SEC would offer a full non-FB invite to UND. They can obtain FB scheduling agreements w/ UND w/o doing as such as they have stockpiled the vast majority of big brands/markets. Affiliate memberships on a program by program basis (such as B1G did w/ hockey) might be available, but UND BB/olympic sports simply don't move the dial enough to be 'must have' to the P2 in the absence of full FB membership. No doubt the Big East would give a full BB/olympic invite, or the B12 should they obtain a FB scheduling agreement ala the ACC or old Big East.

Here's an thought. If Gonzaga improves the BE media deal payouts, would Gonzaga take a pay cut at least for the new media to help the current 11 teams cover travel costs, at least traveling to Gonzaga games? I'm not sure if that would be feasible or not, but I think that could be an option.

I'm not a fan of these coast to coast leagues. IMO the BE should follow the SEC model and stick to their current footprint. The B1G has 4 west coast teams and nothing between them and Nebraska. The B12 added 8 new members and still doesn't have any in the Pacific Time Zone. The ACC 2 west coast schools, another island in Texas (central time) and the rest are all in the east. The B12 makes the most sense to me but still falls short. The ACC makes the least sense IMO

(10-26-2023 07:46 AM)gosports1 Wrote:  I'm not a fan of these coast to coast leagues. IMO the BE should follow the SEC model and stick to their current footprint. The B1G has 4 west coast teams and nothing between them and Nebraska. The B12 added 8 new members and still doesn't have any in the Pacific Time Zone. The ACC 2 west coast schools, another island in Texas (central time) and the rest are all in the east. The B12 makes the most sense to me but still falls short. The ACC makes the least sense IMO

I’m sorry, WVU, UCF, and Arizona make sense, but Duke and Stanford don’t? What’s the criteria here?

(10-26-2023 07:46 AM)gosports1 Wrote:  I'm not a fan of these coast to coast leagues. IMO the BE should follow the SEC model and stick to their current footprint. The B1G has 4 west coast teams and nothing between them and Nebraska. The B12 added 8 new members and still doesn't have any in the Pacific Time Zone. The ACC 2 west coast schools, another island in Texas (central time) and the rest are all in the east. The B12 makes the most sense to me but still falls short. The ACC makes the least sense IMO

If you swapped out Cal, SMU and Stanford in the ACC for Cinicinatti, UCF, and West Virginia in the Big XII, then it would make a little more sense.

(10-25-2023 08:47 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(10-25-2023 07:35 AM)PlayBall! Wrote:  Maybe leaving a spot for ND's return after their contract with the ACC expires? If ND wants to return to full independence in FB, the BE for its other sports is, IMHO, the obvious choice. However, there's bigger bucks to be had in the B1G.

With the conferencing-up of all the old Big Eastern Independents, ND would want a four game FB scheduling agreement with some conference in any event ... adding a fifth to make the ACC happy is not really that big a price to pay for an Olympic sports home in a very strong basketball conference.

While I'm sure that ND's administration would agree with you, there are a lot of ND fans who would not.