(02-14-2019 03:42 PM)orangefan Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 03:30 PM)esayem Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 01:14 PM)orangefan Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 12:20 PM)esayem Wrote:  [quote='Dr. Isaly von Yinzer' pid='15902543' dateline='1550032520']
BTW, there was never any talk of an eastern seaboard conference...

There was talk in April/May of 1985 and January of 1989. Although it was just that, talk.

In 1985 from the Philly Inquirer:

"There have been ongoing discussions (about an all-sports conference) for five or six years," the Temple president said. "But there is nothing imminent. I know the president of West Virginia is very interested."

There has been talk in the past of a possible Seaboard Conference that would include Florida State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Temple and West Virginia. However, Liacouras said a more feasible arrangement would include Temple, Penn State, Rutgers and West Virginia as a starting base.
"Each of us has a comprehensive program which includes graduate and professional schools, and all are in the Northeast," Liacouras said.

So there was talk, and the President of Temple was aware of it. Yes, it was radical at the time, but it was floated out there. By whom? I have no idea.

On a related note, West Virginia's athletic council voted to leave the A10 and join the Metro in the mid-80's (WVU President, Golden Gee, initially supported this).

In 1989 the "Eastern Seaboard Conference" was talked about amongst AD's of West Virginia, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, FSU and Penn State. It was blown up by newspapers, but quickly downplayed by those involved as a "30 second conversation over breakfast".

* Later in May of 1989, AD's actually met and discussed the financial matters regarding a football conference. So this was more serious. Mentioned attending Army, Boston College, Florida State, Miami, Navy, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, Syracuse, Temple and West Virginia. Penn State was a no-show.

Interesting, I was unaware of this. By 1989, the schools have direct control of their TV rights. The landscape is shifting, and it would make sense for a group of independents to chat about ideas for how to position themselves together in the market. However, there would not have been any urgency, since the CFA was still functioning and still included the SEC and Notre Dame.

The urgency came when the Big Ten invited Penn State in December 1989, sending Syracuse, Pitt and BC into panic mode. Things became even urgent when Notre Dame abandoned the CFA in February 1990 by signing its own TV deal with NBC. This was followed by the SEC's decision to expand, which would have at a minimum introduced a threat that they were considering leaving the CFA.

Even when Penn State did leave, SU, BC and Pittsburgh were extremely fortunate to "replace" Penn State with Miami, maintaining a solid football arrangement until around 2000, when the Big East's second TV contract for football turned out to be a disappointment.

Which ironically that second tv contract was a disappointment mainly because Miami was in their down period.