Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports reports from 2023 Big East Media Day. The article, in part, addressed potential Big East expansion in an interview with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman:

But the conference’s presidents have decided to stay at 11 members 'for now,' Ackerman told Front Office Sports, even though it has received inquiries from a number of schools interested in joining.

“There really hasn’t been any school that is sort of, exactly perfect — including in geography,” she said.

Ackerman hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the conference could pursue expansion in the near future, though it would be unlikely that a new school would come in before the conference’s current media deal ends in 2025. The next deal would likely include a fee structure for if the conference added or lost members, Ackerman said, as is the case in the current deal.

https://frontofficesports.com/the-bigges...media-day/

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.

Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

(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.

the problem for ND there is no place for smaller bowl games. All the secondary bowl games snatched up by the conferences. Like this year if they didn't have the ACC bowls, where would they be going? It's a pretty big issue for them.

(10-25-2023 08:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

That sounds about right.

(10-25-2023 08:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

Or an FBS split that would require them to add FB.

They would need to get up to 18 full members. At one time that sounded like too many but with the ACC/B1G going to 18 it seems plausible.

MAC could make it easier if it would move Villanova up from FBS.

My vision is coming together for Big East football!

B1G (18) > 20 + Miami, Virginia
SEC (16) > 20 + Clemson, Florida St, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
XII (16) > 24 + Georgia Tech, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina St, San Diego St, SMU, South Florida, Tulane
Big West (11) > 15 + California, Oregon St, Stanford, Washington St
Big East (11) > 17 + Boston College, Duke, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest

Big East Football

Boston College, California, Connecticut, Duke, Oregon St, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Washington St
> Notre Dame remains independent but plays 5 Big East Football schools switching every other year

(10-25-2023 08:38 AM)stever20 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.

the problem for ND there is no place for smaller bowl games. All the secondary bowl games snatched up by the conferences. Like this year if they didn't have the ACC bowls, where would they be going? It's a pretty big issue for them.

Not nearly as big a problem for ND as it would be for most other schools. Recall that ND had a strict no bowl game policy until the 1969 season. They only modified that in order to compete for national championships, and at one point there was a requirement that the bowl game have a direct bearing on the national championship. A number of ND fans would like to return to that policy, or even to a no bowl games policy. Not saying that I agree with that, but it is a thing.

If ND really wanted to, they could strike an agreement with a conference that would only apply to bowl games, although even that likely would require a minimum number of games against that conference's members. Or I suppose it could create its own bowl game where the bid would go at-large if ND either qualified for the CFP/NY6 or was not bowl eligible.

(10-25-2023 08:52 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(10-25-2023 08:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

Or an FBS split that would require them to add FB.

They would need to get up to 18 full members. At one time that sounded like too many but with the ACC/B1G going to 18 it seems plausible.

MAC could make it easier if it would move Villanova up from FBS.

In any split, the P4 is taking the Big East with them. The Big East makes money. They have a decent sized media deal, particularly when you factor in not paying for football. The P4 isn't going to say "Well, we could make an extra $100M with the Big East, but they don't have football, so...."

(10-25-2023 08:52 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(10-25-2023 08:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

Or an FBS split that would require them to add FB.

They would need to get up to 18 full members. At one time that sounded like too many but with the ACC/B1G going to 18 it seems plausible.

MAC could make it easier if it would move Villanova up from FBS.

Only way Villanova to the MAC would ever become a thing is if: (1) Villanova upgrades to FBS; and (2) MAC agrees to take Villanova for football-only. Villanova would go the UConn route before they joined the MAC for all sports.

(10-25-2023 08:38 AM)stever20 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.

the problem for ND there is no place for smaller bowl games. All the secondary bowl games snatched up by the conferences. Like this year if they didn't have the ACC bowls, where would they be going? It's a pretty big issue for them.

They could come to agreement with bowl games, especially the ones the Pac-12 is leaving behind.

With the expansion of the CFP, I could see many of the lower-tier and even a few of the mid-tier bowl games, going away. At the end of the day, any program with kids that have any chance of going to the NFL are going to opt-out. For ND, it could even be a CFP spot or bust, given that it is now 12 teams.

Perhaps ND does return to the Big East down the road, but I'd also say that they'd be, respectively, doing a great disservice to many of their Olympic sports.

(10-25-2023 10:02 AM)tf8693 Wrote:  A number of ND fans would like to return to that policy, or even to a no bowl games policy.

Bring back Charlie Weis or Tyrone Willingham and they'll get their wish

Expansion? How many little catholic schools and mama's boys are out there to get?

I could actually foresee Notre Dame having all its sports (notwithstanding football, of course) in the Big East at some future point. And it would "feel right" on various levels.

As to any other Big East expansion targets, the league doesn't seem to be particularly interested currently. As I've posted many times, the Big East's quiet hope is that there remains an all-sports P4, with each league offering no more than 18 to 20 members. In contrast, the league does not want to see three all-sports power leagues with 24 members or more — as the "numbers differential" between those three leagues and the Big East could create a negative perception for the BE.

It's fairly easy to speculate what the "end games" might be for the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC. It's much more of a challenge to do so with the Big East.

(10-25-2023 09:26 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  My vision is coming together for Big East football!

B1G (18) > 20 + Miami, Virginia
SEC (16) > 20 + Clemson, Florida St, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
XII (16) > 24 + Georgia Tech, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina St, San Diego St, SMU, South Florida, Tulane
Big West (11) > 15 + California, Oregon St, Stanford, Washington St
Big East (11) > 17 + Boston College, Duke, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest

Big East Football

Boston College, California, Connecticut, Duke, Oregon St, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Washington St
> Notre Dame remains independent but plays 5 Big East Football schools switching every other year

That's fine but in no way would they be considered top tier. Who's in the Big West? Fullerton? Pacific?

Just take Dayton and St. Louis already.

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.

(10-25-2023 08:52 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(10-25-2023 08:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Looks to me the Big East is never expanding unless Notre Dame or an ACC school post-GOR warpath falls in their lap.

Or an FBS split that would require them to add FB.

They would need to get up to 18 full members. At one time that sounded like too many but with the ACC/B1G going to 18 it seems plausible.

MAC could make it easier if it would move Villanova up from FBS.

Hmmm, I wonder if there's a conference the BE could merge with to add a bunch of members...wait, I know! They could merge with the AAC and create a Conference called the Reborn Big East.

(10-25-2023 03:55 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  Hmmm, I wonder if there's a conference the BE could merge with to add a bunch of members...wait, I know! They could merge with the AAC and create a Conference called the Reborn Big East.

The Bigger East.