I know the conference is more geographically spaced than it once was, but here's some light reading for those who are stuck at home in this nor'easter like me (or just Big East hoops obsessed, lol.) Does a good job of covering all bases and not just pinning everything on the teams changing conferences. The author probably could've added us as another example, lol.

Hope anyone who is stuck in this storm stays safe!


https://nypost.com/2021/01/31/abandoning...-dame/amp/

I read this article before work and I agreed with the entire premise. I feel we could've created a nice all sports league but it didn't come to pass.

(02-01-2021 05:31 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I read this article before work and I agreed with the entire premise. I feel we could've created a nice all sports league but it didn't come to pass.

Yeah, I loved the Big East I grew up with and miss what I considered to be the "glory days" (I'm sure older fans have a much different definition of what the glory days are, lol.) As much as I love being able to play the C7 again, the main teams I miss playing are Cuse, Pitt and West Virginia.

It was the best hoops league, and while it was clearly the weakest of the autonomous football conferences it was still a pretty damn good league. I doubt it will ever happen, but maybe one day we'll have another round of realignment that forces conferences to be more regional while still retaining those almighty TV dollars

2005-2012 Big East was truly something special. Such a wonderful mixture of Private/Public schools, legendary coaches/up-and-comers, urban/state schools. Despite the mixtures, when formed together, was truly an elite basketball conference and a legitimate power football conference. The powers-that-be saw more value in pulling it apart than it did keeping it together, and the remnants (whether the B1G, ACC, Big 12 or present Big East) are each unable to ever reach the same levels that the former version of the Big East was able to reach.

I have long advocated for a preseason shootout at MSG of current Big East programs vs. former. Perhaps a one-day, four-game set-up, rotating annually. Between the present Big East, and adding in Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College, Louisville and Cincinnati (I realize I am leaving out USF, Virginia Tech and Miami). It would look more like a BE/ACC Challenge, but including WVU, Rutgers (especially with where they are now) and Cincinnati would be fun.

Dare to dream.

(02-03-2021 03:42 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  2005-2012 Big East was truly something special. Such a wonderful mixture of Private/Public schools, legendary coaches/up-and-comers, urban/state schools. Despite the mixtures, when formed together, was truly an elite basketball conference and a legitimate power football conference. The powers-that-be saw more value in pulling it apart than it did keeping it together, and the remnants (whether the B1G, ACC, Big 12 or present Big East) are each unable to ever reach the same levels that the former version of the Big East was able to reach.

I have long advocated for a preseason shootout at MSG of current Big East programs vs. former. Perhaps a one-day, four-game set-up, rotating annually. Between the present Big East, and adding in Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College, Louisville and Cincinnati (I realize I am leaving out USF, Virginia Tech and Miami). It would look more like a BE/ACC Challenge, but including WVU, Rutgers (especially with where they are now) and Cincinnati would be fun.

Dare to dream.

I'm not sure it's possible for me to agree with a post more than I do this one, lol. 2005-12 were the exact years I was referring to in my previous post, and your shootout seems like such a fun thing to do annually. Would definitely draw a lot of eyeballs and likely draw a lot of fans (especially if it's at MSG), so I'm not sure why (to my knowledge, at least) anyone with the ability to make this happen hasn't at least tried. Seems like such a no brainer

I just read the article and the writer makes some interesting points. Seems the program that has taken the biggest step back is Syracuse. You have to think that Jim Boeheim's various challenges the past few years have limited his full effectiveness.

The writer (Zach Braziller) suggests Notre Dame might have been better off staying with the C7. That is an interesting thought and it might have been better for Irish men's hoops to have done so. But Notre Dame also has very strong baseball and women's basketball programs, and the ACC is much better in those two sports than the Big East. Still, it would have been cool to have ND in the Big East as we know it today.

Pittsburgh ... the university made a massive blunder in hiring Kevin Stallings. I was so fed up with that man and his foulness by the time he left Vanderbilt that I would not have wished him upon any men's hoops program — even if I detested that program. My brother-in-law's nephew attends Pitt and we talk some about the athletics there as his wife (my sister) is an ACC woman (she attended both UNC and N.C. State). For me, it's always seemed a bit "wrong" to have Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Maybe I'm just too old for this current iteration of the ACC, as I recall the days when geography and college sports conferences actually made sense.

Thanks for reminding me to read this, Nameless. I enjoyed it.

(02-09-2021 10:51 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I just read the article and the writer makes some interesting points. Seems the program that has taken the biggest step back is Syracuse. You have to think that Jim Boeheim's various challenges the past few years have limited his full effectiveness.

The writer (Zach Braziller) suggests Notre Dame might have been better off staying with the C7. That is an interesting thought and it might have been better for Irish men's hoops to have done so. But Notre Dame also has very strong baseball and women's basketball programs, and the ACC is much better in those two sports than the Big East. Still, it would have been cool to have ND in the Big East as we know it today.

Pittsburgh ... the university made a massive blunder in hiring Kevin Stallings. I was so fed up with that man and his foulness by the time he left Vanderbilt that I would not have wished him upon any men's hoops program — even if I detested that program. My brother-in-law's nephew attends Pitt and we talk some about the athletics there as his wife (my sister) is an ACC woman (she attended both UNC and N.C. State). For me, it's always seemed a bit "wrong" to have Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Maybe I'm just too old for this current iteration of the ACC, as I recall the days when geography and college sports conferences actually made sense.

Thanks for reminding me to read this, Nameless. I enjoyed it.

Not a problem, Bill. As someone who's been around much longer than I, it's nice to have your input lol.

I would love to see ND here still, especially considering their Catholic roots. They just seem to fit so well. I had no idea their baseball team was so good though, that's definitely another angle to consider (albeit smaller than if we're talking about hoops or football.) I know my mom would love to have the UConn women share a league with such a big rival again, and I think the football team would be fine without a conference (although this year may have made them reconsider that.) Joining the ACC is probably a wash overall for them, if not a slight net positive. Would love to hear from more fans of the Irish on this.

It's tough to fault Cuse and Pitt for leaving. The money was there. But some of my best hoops memories as a child were games against both. Especially Pitt. I'll never forget Taliek Brown, a non-shooter, letting one go from between the 3 point line and half court and burying it to help us beat them one year. It's little things like that which make the break up of the old conference so hard for me still. I really miss those days.

I was young when BC, VT and Miami left, so I don't mind those departures as much.

ND, as a Catholic school “fits” with the Big East only as religious fit. ND is a football-first athletic program, in a rural/non-urban campus in a non-metropolitan media market. Even taking those away, ND is a national academic and athletic institution; it desires a national reach and elite academic associations to be a part of. The ACC simply provides to this mission more than the Big East can. Other than Georgetown, there really is no peer that ND could have in the Big East. In the ACC, it has Duke, it has UNC, it has Virginia, it has Georgia Tech, it has Miami, it has Wake Forest and it has Boston College.

I would love for ND to be in the Big East. But it didn’t make sense for them in 2012 and it doesn’t make sense in 2021. The fact is every conference wants ND, but the ACC, more so than the B1G, is the best modern best fit.

(02-13-2021 09:32 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  ND, as a Catholic school “fits” with the Big East only as religious fit. ND is a football-first athletic program, in a rural/non-urban campus in a non-metropolitan media market. Even taking those away, ND is a national academic and athletic institution; it desires a national reach and elite academic associations to be a part of. The ACC simply provides to this mission more than the Big East can. Other than Georgetown, there really is no peer that ND could have in the Big East. In the ACC, it has Duke, it has UNC, it has Virginia, it has Georgia Tech, it has Miami, it has Wake Forest and it has Boston College.

I would love for ND to be in the Big East. But it didn’t make sense for them in 2012 and it doesn’t make sense in 2021. The fact is every conference wants ND, but the ACC, more so than the B1G, is the best modern best fit.

Great points. Wasn't really thinking objectively when making my comment, but instead was solely looking at it from a sports/ past history point of view

(02-13-2021 09:32 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  ND, as a Catholic school “fits” with the Big East only as religious fit. ND is a football-first athletic program, in a rural/non-urban campus in a non-metropolitan media market. Even taking those away, ND is a national academic and athletic institution; it desires a national reach and elite academic associations to be a part of. The ACC simply provides to this mission more than the Big East can. Other than Georgetown, there really is no peer that ND could have in the Big East. In the ACC, it has Duke, it has UNC, it has Virginia, it has Georgia Tech, it has Miami, it has Wake Forest and it has Boston College.

I would love for ND to be in the Big East. But it didn’t make sense for them in 2012 and it doesn’t make sense in 2021. The fact is every conference wants ND, but the ACC, more so than the B1G, is the best modern best fit.

As a Catholic man who would strongly like to have Notre Dame in the Big East in some respects, I could not have framed this any better.

Well put.

(02-12-2021 10:22 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(02-09-2021 10:51 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I just read the article and the writer makes some interesting points. Seems the program that has taken the biggest step back is Syracuse. You have to think that Jim Boeheim's various challenges the past few years have limited his full effectiveness.

The writer (Zach Braziller) suggests Notre Dame might have been better off staying with the C7. That is an interesting thought and it might have been better for Irish men's hoops to have done so. But Notre Dame also has very strong baseball and women's basketball programs, and the ACC is much better in those two sports than the Big East. Still, it would have been cool to have ND in the Big East as we know it today.

Pittsburgh ... the university made a massive blunder in hiring Kevin Stallings. I was so fed up with that man and his foulness by the time he left Vanderbilt that I would not have wished him upon any men's hoops program — even if I detested that program. My brother-in-law's nephew attends Pitt and we talk some about the athletics there as his wife (my sister) is an ACC woman (she attended both UNC and N.C. State). For me, it's always seemed a bit "wrong" to have Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Maybe I'm just too old for this current iteration of the ACC, as I recall the days when geography and college sports conferences actually made sense.

Thanks for reminding me to read this, Nameless. I enjoyed it.

Not a problem, Bill. As someone who's been around much longer than I, it's nice to have your input lol.

I would love to see ND here still, especially considering their Catholic roots. They just seem to fit so well. I had no idea their baseball team was so good though, that's definitely another angle to consider (albeit smaller than if we're talking about hoops or football.) I know my mom would love to have the UConn women share a league with such a big rival again, and I think the football team would be fine without a conference (although this year may have made them reconsider that.) Joining the ACC is probably a wash overall for them, if not a slight net positive. Would love to hear from more fans of the Irish on this.

It's tough to fault Cuse and Pitt for leaving. The money was there. But some of my best hoops memories as a child were games against both. Especially Pitt. I'll never forget Taliek Brown, a non-shooter, letting one go from between the 3 point line and half court and burying it to help us beat them one year. It's little things like that which make the break up of the old conference so hard for me still. I really miss those days.

I was young when BC, VT and Miami left, so I don't mind those departures as much.

First, Nameless, congrats to UConn on the strong win vs. Xavier today. I watched some of the game. UConn looked very solid. I wanted to watch Adam Kunkel (former Belmont player) with Xavier. He did not look good from what I saw.

You will see my post (in response to GW11's) in this thread regarding Notre Dame. If ND wanted to join the Big East, the BE would (at the minimum) need to strongly consider. But I don't see it as a "sufficiently good fit" for the league. I have long had a soft spot for Notre Dame (I would even consider myself a "closet fan" of the Irish). But I don't see it happening.

After UConn, there are very few programs that offer D-I football that would make sense in the current Big East. Notre Dame and Boston College are perhaps the main ones (due to their Catholic affiliations) but both would bring drawbacks. Pitt and Syracuse would be solid adds but also would offer negatives.

Louisville and Cincinnati would be two others given their city locales and previous histories with some BE schools.

West Virginia (though with a BE history) is simply an odd fit now given its rural location. Quite frankly, Memphis would be a better add to the Big East than West Virginia in many respects (admittedly, I'm a Tiger fan, but you have to consider the big picture).

The "best" adds for the Big East — if geography and/or Catholic affiliation are not considered — would be Dayton, Gonzaga, VCU and/or Wichita. Those four have rabid fan bases and no football. They are located in urban places and are major men's hoops programs by all definitions. They pay their coaches well, send men to the NBA, can draw 6,000 or more for homes games, have national respect, etc.... The Big East would be pleased to have any of them.

However, IF the Big East wanted to go to 14 and added three Catholic schools from cities that "made sense" geographically, my choices would be Dayton, Saint Louis and Duquesne (in Pittsburgh). My brother-in-law is from Erie and we like the city of Pittsburgh. I would like to see that city represented in the Big East.

Your mother must be a big Husky women's hoops fan!!! Very cool.

(02-13-2021 11:17 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(02-12-2021 10:22 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(02-09-2021 10:51 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I just read the article and the writer makes some interesting points. Seems the program that has taken the biggest step back is Syracuse. You have to think that Jim Boeheim's various challenges the past few years have limited his full effectiveness.

The writer (Zach Braziller) suggests Notre Dame might have been better off staying with the C7. That is an interesting thought and it might have been better for Irish men's hoops to have done so. But Notre Dame also has very strong baseball and women's basketball programs, and the ACC is much better in those two sports than the Big East. Still, it would have been cool to have ND in the Big East as we know it today.

Pittsburgh ... the university made a massive blunder in hiring Kevin Stallings. I was so fed up with that man and his foulness by the time he left Vanderbilt that I would not have wished him upon any men's hoops program — even if I detested that program. My brother-in-law's nephew attends Pitt and we talk some about the athletics there as his wife (my sister) is an ACC woman (she attended both UNC and N.C. State). For me, it's always seemed a bit "wrong" to have Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Maybe I'm just too old for this current iteration of the ACC, as I recall the days when geography and college sports conferences actually made sense.

Thanks for reminding me to read this, Nameless. I enjoyed it.

Not a problem, Bill. As someone who's been around much longer than I, it's nice to have your input lol.

I would love to see ND here still, especially considering their Catholic roots. They just seem to fit so well. I had no idea their baseball team was so good though, that's definitely another angle to consider (albeit smaller than if we're talking about hoops or football.) I know my mom would love to have the UConn women share a league with such a big rival again, and I think the football team would be fine without a conference (although this year may have made them reconsider that.) Joining the ACC is probably a wash overall for them, if not a slight net positive. Would love to hear from more fans of the Irish on this.

It's tough to fault Cuse and Pitt for leaving. The money was there. But some of my best hoops memories as a child were games against both. Especially Pitt. I'll never forget Taliek Brown, a non-shooter, letting one go from between the 3 point line and half court and burying it to help us beat them one year. It's little things like that which make the break up of the old conference so hard for me still. I really miss those days.

I was young when BC, VT and Miami left, so I don't mind those departures as much.

First, Nameless, congrats to UConn on the strong win vs. Xavier today. I watched some of the game. UConn looked very solid. I wanted to watch Adam Kunkel (former Belmont player) with Xavier. He did not look good from what I saw.

You will see my post (in response to GW11's) in this thread regarding Notre Dame. If ND wanted to join the Big East, the BE would (at the minimum) need to strongly consider. But I don't see it as a "sufficiently good fit" for the league. I have long had a soft spot for Notre Dame (I would even consider myself a "closet fan" of the Irish). But I don't see it happening.

After UConn, there are very few programs that offer D-I football that would make sense in the current Big East. Notre Dame and Boston College are perhaps the main ones (due to their Catholic affiliations) but both would bring drawbacks. Pitt and Syracuse would be solid adds but also would offer negatives.

Louisville and Cincinnati would be two others given their city locales and previous histories with some BE schools.

West Virginia (though with a BE history) is simply an odd fit now given its rural location. Quite frankly, Memphis would be a better add to the Big East than West Virginia in many respects (admittedly, I'm a Tiger fan, but you have to consider the big picture).

The "best" adds for the Big East — if geography and/or Catholic affiliation are not considered — would be Dayton, Gonzaga, VCU and/or Wichita. Those four have rabid fan bases and no football. They are located in urban places and are major men's hoops programs by all definitions. They pay their coaches well, send men to the NBA, can draw 6,000 or more for homes games, have national respect, etc.... The Big East would be pleased to have any of them.

However, IF the Big East wanted to go to 14 and added three Catholic schools from cities that "made sense" geographically, my choices would be Dayton, Saint Louis and Duquesne (in Pittsburgh). My brother-in-law is from Erie and we like the city of Pittsburgh. I would like to see that city represented in the Big East.

Your mother must be a big Husky women's hoops fan!!! Very cool.

I was actually able to watch the X game with my mom, didn't expect to because I had work but was able to take pretty much the whole day off since we weren't too busy. We did look solid today; defense was good as usual and we were hitting our shots. We don't always shoot as well as we did today from 3 though, so I'm still skeptical about us being able to score without Bouknight. Hopefully we keep it up tomorrow, we need the W badly.

I would love to have any of the former BE schools you mentioned back in the BE. Obviously it's unlikely, but it's fun to think about dream scenarios haha.

And my mom is a huge fan! She was all district her junior and senior years in high school, and actually had a chance to play for the UConn women. Pretty sure she flunked out before playing a game though, she was a party animal lol. Needless to say, she's a diehard. She's been to a few of the women's final fours. One of them, (I believe it was like 2013) they actually won the championship game by like 20 or 30, and weeks later she was still watching the recording of the game and yelling at the TV lol. I was like, "Mom, they couldn't hear you while you were at the game, they definitely can't hear you now! They killed them anyways!"

She gets a little too into it sometimes, haha

On the UConn men's hoops theme, I see James Bouknight had 18 points last night in 25 minutes last night. Strong. Congrats on getting him back.

Your mother sounds like a hard-core UConn fan. I have some friends (a group of family members) who are major Tennessee Vol fans. They get into it hard. I sometimes playfully ribbed them for their fanatic behavior.

(02-17-2021 09:51 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  On the UConn men's hoops theme, I see James Bouknight had 18 points last night in 25 minutes last night. Strong. Congrats on getting him back.

Your mother sounds like a hard-core UConn fan. I have some friends (a group of family members) who are major Tennessee Vol fans. They get into it hard. I sometimes playfully ribbed them for their fanatic behavior.

Bouk looked great. Did t like seeing him go down with what looked like a pulled hammy late, but I haven't heard anything on the injury front since so it was probably nothing. Whew, lol.

Yeah, hardcore is putting it mildly lol. If Tennessee and UConn were as big of rivals as they used to be, she would probably go at with your friends for the whole game. Even if we were up double digits lmao

Lots of Tennessee fans detest Geno due to jealousy. Similarly, they dislike Tom Brady because he has had a more successful NFL career than their golden boy, Peyton Manning. My friends are reasonable and classy Vol fans — but even they can get a bit prickly at times. Your mother might "set them off" were they to meet!

Good luck to the Huskies (women and men) down the stretch, NLess.