Nameless
1st String
Posts: 2,028
Joined: May 2019
Reputation: 230
I Root For: UConn
Location: Florida
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RE: "Abandoning the Big East has become a disaster for one time powerhouses"
(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
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