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ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
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mikeinsec127 Offline
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Post: #21
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-20-2021 10:08 PM)esayem Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 09:11 PM)mikeinsec127 Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 02:30 PM)esayem Wrote:  There was no way the Big East was going to remain a P6 conference, so if they wanted to keep the entire conference intact they should have added Villanova (football) and UCF (all-sports). When Rutgers, WVU, and Louisville left, add Temple, UMass, and Navy (football only). You end up with a 13-team Big East for basketball with the option of adding one of Xavier, Butler, or Creighton for an even 7/7 split.

UMass*
UConn
Temple*
Villanova*
Navy*
Cincinnati
UCF*
USF

PC
SJU
Seton Hall
G'town
Xavier*
DePaul
Marquette

Stop. Villanova moving up was pure fantasy. They had no stadium, no ability to improve practice facilities, no fan support and no money to make the move. There was no room on campus for improved facilities and the town was dead set against allowing expansion of the campus or the original stadium. Villanova's plan was to play all away games and expect the other BE schools to split their gates. Eventually their home games would be played at a little soccer stadium in Chester, hoping the away team would fill the venue.

Yet they were legitimately brought up and seriously considered by Big East people. Huh, weird.

And very nearly voted in under those crazy terms. Shows how desperate some of the schools were. There was even a push the get G'town to try and move up. RU and WV were two definite no votes on Villanova. I've heard that Pitt was the third.
07-20-2021 11:08 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #22
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-20-2021 10:37 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...t-football

Good article, and as someone whose school went through those torturous days 10 years ago, I think it is pretty much spot-on.

One thing I never understood back then was the uproar over Villanova football. That seemed to tear at the conference, was a huge bone of contention in the years leading right up to the 2011 collapse. Never understood then or now why it rankled so many. As a USF fan, it seemed like a Northeast Inside Baseball kind of thing. I remember when debate raged about it on the old Big East forum. I loved to mix it up on all the controversial issues, but that one I sat out. I couldn't care less whether Villanova developed a D1 football program and joined or not. But boy everybody else sure did.

The other is why we turned down the ESPN deal in March 2011. That deal would have put us on a par with the ACC in terms of money, and made it much harder for the ACC to lure teams away a few months later. Not saying they couldn't have done it anyway, but it would have vastly increased our chances of survival, IMO.

I lament the loss of Big East football. Between 2005 - 2012 the conference had a tight-knit, us against the world football conference that was great fun to be a part of. Things have not been the same for us since. For USF, it was a disaster we have yet to recover from.
(This post was last modified: 07-21-2021 07:32 AM by quo vadis.)
07-21-2021 07:30 AM
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schmolik Offline
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Post: #23
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
This was my personal opinions of the Big East and ACC back before it happened (Sept. 10, 2011):

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/8440...-and-uconn
07-21-2021 09:18 AM
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GoldenWarrior11 Offline
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Post: #24
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
Very enjoyable read, and one that brings back a somewhat orderly account of what fueled the destruction of the Big East as a football conference. The biggest void in this account, for obvious reasons, is the role that ESPN played behind the scenes, which was the biggest driver in terms of pushing teams out of the Big East and into other power conferences. ESPN was largely successful in this regard. They consolidated the top brands of the Big East (a sixth AQ conference) and managed to funnel them into the ACC (Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisvlle), the Big 12 (West Virginia) and Rutgers (Big Ten). In addition, it severely drove down the value of the conference as it was (the AAC), offering cheap and affordable complimentary programming to the other conferences' content it already had. The only thing that ESPN didn't really expect to have happened was the C7 being picked up by Fox, and then paying to keep the Big East brand, history and MSG as a tournament site. It was apparent that they believed that they were going to devalue the Big East into a non-AQ conference, as a "best of the rest" league with still-strong (not elite) basketball. Without Fox's interest, the C7 quite possibly would still be in the BE/AAC as a hybrid, especially if the money was the best it was going to get. There is zero doubt in my mind that ESPN did not believe that UCF, Houston, Memphis and others in the AAC have successfully invested in themselves and elevated their football programs as a result. That is another misstep I believe they took.

Regarding the "What If?" expansion discussions pre-2011, the fact remains that there were no candidates that were going to be supported by both the football faction and the non-football faction. No available programs were strong in both football and basketball that would have been able to be accepted by both sides. With Big East Football only having eight members at this point, the league was looking at adding, potentially, four new programs just to be able to get to a conference championship game (especially not knowing that the CCGs were going to be deregulated for the Big 12). Regardless, let's say for arguments sake that the Big East added Memphis (all-sports), UCF (all-sports), ECU (football-only) and Temple (football-only) pre-2011. That gets them to twelve members, a CCG game and likely locks them up with ESPN for a billion-plus TV deal. In the end, many of the teams will still refuse a GOR, as those eyes still would have been on the ACC. The academics were/are better; the programs were/are historically better; the associations were/are better. Thus, there was truly nothing that the Big East (2005-2012) could have collectively done to keep all of the members together. Between the defections of Syracuse/Pittsburgh in 2011, the defections of Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech in the early-2000s, and the inability to secure Penn State as a member in the 1980's, there were numerous "warning signs" of the Big East, as a football conference, inevitably breaking apart.

It's easy to start pointing fingers at the basketball schools for not supporting the football schools more, but the reality was that the Big East was founded as a basketball league. It's just as easy to point the finger at the football schools for not supporting the conference's original mission as well. Nevertheless, what should be highlighted, is that what made the Big East special for so long was the mixture of schools (Private/Publics, Rural/Metro and Football-First/Basketball-First), that led to really competitive basketball and football contests, with great fan support, that created a quality and entertaining league. The collection of schools found value with one another, despite the clear differences, and really helped elevate one another into their respective spots in different conferences today. There really hasn't been, nor will there be in my mind, another conference like it ever again.
07-21-2021 09:52 AM
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schmolik Offline
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Post: #25
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
The big domino that effectively ended Big East football and began the split of the football schools and the Catholic 7 was Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving for the ACC in 2011. But the pivotal move could have been when the Big 12 chose West Virginia instead of Louisville (I'm not sure Cincinnati was ever considered and/or were Louisville and Cincinnati considered as part of a 12 team Big 12). But Louisville wound up in the ACC after Maryland left for the Big East and I would think most of us think Louisville actually is better off in a geographically better conference.

What if game: What if the Big 12 had taken Louisville instead of West Virginia? The ACC accepted Louisville and their poor academics but West Virginia's academic rankings are even worse. I know some of the ACC fans at these boards think UConn is a swear word but maybe Connecticut is in the ACC right now and WV is stuck in the AAC? Or maybe Cincinnati is in the ACC instead of UConn and Louisville? Maybe the Big 12 decides to add WVa as #11 and Cincy as #12? Could UConn have been the biggest loser when West Virginia was chosen by the Big 12?
07-21-2021 10:23 AM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #26
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 09:18 AM)schmolik Wrote:  This was my personal opinions of the Big East and ACC back before it happened (Sept. 10, 2011):

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/8440...-and-uconn

Interesting read. You focused a lot on the B1G back then, but did mention the ACC possibilities as well.

What I would take issue with, now and then, is the notion that the Big East was a 'mess'. Yes, it was a frankenstein cobble of basketball and football, but it was a cobble that worked. Big East hoops was the best in the land at the time, and for all the criticism it received, the Big East performed like an AQ on the football field.

And, the Big East also had great culture. It was just two separate cultures. The 8-team football league, despite all odds and oddities, had developed a tight-knit focus, and the Big East hoops conference had as well, again despite its sprawling nature.

What it boiled down to, IMO, was money. And the ACC could offer more money.
(This post was last modified: 07-21-2021 10:45 AM by quo vadis.)
07-21-2021 10:44 AM
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esayem Offline
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Post: #27
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 07:30 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 10:37 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...t-football

Good article, and as someone whose school went through those torturous days 10 years ago, I think it is pretty much spot-on.

One thing I never understood back then was the uproar over Villanova football. That seemed to tear at the conference, was a huge bone of contention in the years leading right up to the 2011 collapse. Never understood then or now why it rankled so many. As a USF fan, it seemed like a Northeast Inside Baseball kind of thing. I remember when debate raged about it on the old Big East forum. I loved to mix it up on all the controversial issues, but that one I sat out. I couldn't care less whether Villanova developed a D1 football program and joined or not. But boy everybody else sure did.

The other is why we turned down the ESPN deal in March 2011. That deal would have put us on a par with the ACC in terms of money, and made it much harder for the ACC to lure teams away a few months later. Not saying they couldn't have done it anyway, but it would have vastly increased our chances of survival, IMO.

I lament the loss of Big East football. Between 2005 - 2012 the conference had a tight-knit, us against the world football conference that was great fun to be a part of. Things have not been the same for us since. For USF, it was a disaster we have yet to recover from.

Villanova was on par with Boston College when they dropped their program. The two had an annual rivalry to boot.

Villanova first studied moving to 1-A in the early 90's, so they've had plenty of time to address any stadium issues.
07-21-2021 10:53 AM
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CoastalJuan Offline
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Post: #28
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-20-2021 10:09 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 09:53 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 09:19 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 08:33 PM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  The Syracuse AD pretty much spells out what happened. The Big East didn’t expand when it could have saved itself by doing so along with not turning down ESPN’s TV deal. TCU, Houston, UCF, and Memphis should have been invited way before the conference imploded but the hoops schools weren’t interested in making the football conference viable.

Seems like it would have been difficult in any circumstances to convince the no-FBS programs to create a 20-member basketball conference in which they were so outnumbered by FBS programs. Maybe that means the football/basketball divorce should have happened years before it did?

Playing the hypothetical, had the football schools broken off before the original ACC raid then I think they're in a pretty good situation.

Miami
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Rutgers
Boston College
Syracuse
Pittsburgh
Temple

They could have still invited schools like Louisville, Cincinnati, and maybe a couple more.

It would have been an interesting counterbalance to the ACC of that time.

It could probably have been East Carolina for football only. Most people forget Louisville played in an old baseball stadium and Cincinnati was really bad in football. ECU football wasn’t that far from West Virginia and Virginia Tech back then.

While that would have been nice, and definitely would have netted more loot than the initial media deal we walked into, I'm pretty happy with our current conference makeup. Southeast>Northeast from a viewership perspective, and apart from Miami and VT (most of the time), the current AAC has been as good or better on the field.
07-21-2021 10:53 AM
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Fighting Muskie Offline
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Post: #29
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 07:30 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 10:37 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...t-football

Good article, and as someone whose school went through those torturous days 10 years ago, I think it is pretty much spot-on.

One thing I never understood back then was the uproar over Villanova football. That seemed to tear at the conference, was a huge bone of contention in the years leading right up to the 2011 collapse. Never understood then or now why it rankled so many. As a USF fan, it seemed like a Northeast Inside Baseball kind of thing. I remember when debate raged about it on the old Big East forum. I loved to mix it up on all the controversial issues, but that one I sat out. I couldn't care less whether Villanova developed a D1 football program and joined or not. But boy everybody else sure did.

The other is why we turned down the ESPN deal in March 2011. That deal would have put us on a par with the ACC in terms of money, and made it much harder for the ACC to lure teams away a few months later. Not saying they couldn't have done it anyway, but it would have vastly increased our chances of survival, IMO.

I lament the loss of Big East football. Between 2005 - 2012 the conference had a tight-knit, us against the world football conference that was great fun to be a part of. Things have not been the same for us since. For USF, it was a disaster we have yet to recover from.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that rejected ESPN tv deal slated to put the Big East close to par with the ACC’s old deal? Wasn’t the ACC up for renewal soon again and likely to see an increase?
07-21-2021 11:14 AM
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ken d Offline
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Post: #30
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
I believe the beginning of the end of the Big East was the beginning of the Big East.

And I put most of the blame on Joe Paterno. He wanted to be in an eastern conference with all sports except football. He knew Penn State could dominate northeast football, but they were mediocre at best in the other sports.

If, instead, he had been forward thinking enough to propose an east coast (not just northeast) all sports conference, this is what was available to him in 1981. All these were football independents at the time (1981 AP ranks that year).

Penn State (#3)
Pitt (#4)
Miami (#8)
West Virginia (#17)
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse

At that point there were no D-I conferences with more than 10 members. There were 8 conferences we would think of as major today. The ACC stood at 7, soon to be 8 with the addition of Georgia Tech. The Big 8 was aptly named, as were the Big Ten and PAC 10. The SEC had 10 members, while the Southwest and WAC had nine each.

I believe that conference would have been the competitive equal of any in the country, its chances of holding together for the long run would have been excellent, and the evolution of the Bowl Alliance and BCS radically different than it turned out.
07-21-2021 11:18 AM
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bill dazzle Offline
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Post: #31
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
Having both Cincinnati and DePaul in the Big East from 2005 to 2013 provided me lots of enjoyment. I probably enjoyed following the league more so during that span than I did following the SEC (home to my beloved Vanderbilt University).

I've posted many times on this board that having the following seven universities "sharing" a league(s) back in the day felt "right": Cincy, Dayton, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis and Saint Louis. Each is located in a large city within the same general area of the nation and each plays at the highest level of hoops. And the seven share lots of history. As someone with personal/family connections to UC, DU, UL, and UM, I miss those days.
07-21-2021 12:01 PM
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random asian guy Offline
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Post: #32
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 10:23 AM)schmolik Wrote:  What if game: What if the Big 12 had taken Louisville instead of West Virginia? The ACC accepted Louisville and their poor academics but West Virginia's academic rankings are even worse. I know some of the ACC fans at these boards think UConn is a swear word but maybe Connecticut is in the ACC right now and WV is stuck in the AAC? Or maybe Cincinnati is in the ACC instead of UConn and Louisville? Maybe the Big 12 decides to add WVa as #11 and Cincy as #12? Could UConn have been the biggest loser when West Virginia was chosen by the Big 12?

UConn would not have been selected. The ACC was in panic mode and would not invite a school without football brand. In my opinion, it would be either WVU or Cincy. Most likely WVU, and it was probably WVU’s last real chance. See the below thread.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-874724.html
07-21-2021 12:07 PM
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random asian guy Offline
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Post: #33
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 07:30 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 10:37 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...t-football

The other is why we turned down the ESPN deal in March 2011. That deal would have put us on a par with the ACC in terms of money, and made it much harder for the ACC to lure teams away a few months later. Not saying they couldn't have done it anyway, but it would have vastly increased our chances of survival, IMO.

If the Big East took that ESPN offer, the ESPN would have less incentive to move Cuse and Pitt to the ACC. The ACC most likely won’t extend an offer to these schools without additional ESPN money.

The Big East would have added TCU as the 9th member as planned.

Still it’s unclear whether the Big East would have remained as a power conference in the playoff era as the Big East was never affiliated with contract bowls.
07-21-2021 12:15 PM
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Erictelevision Offline
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Post: #34
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
Bill: that IS a great conference! However, none of them play FBS, so according to most posters here, may as well not exist.
07-21-2021 12:45 PM
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ken d Offline
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Post: #35
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 11:18 AM)ken d Wrote:  I believe the beginning of the end of the Big East was the beginning of the Big East.

And I put most of the blame on Joe Paterno. He wanted to be in an eastern conference with all sports except football. He knew Penn State could dominate northeast football, but they were mediocre at best in the other sports.

If, instead, he had been forward thinking enough to propose an east coast (not just northeast) all sports conference, this is what was available to him in 1981. All these were football independents at the time (1981 AP ranks that year).

Penn State (#3)
Pitt (#4)
Miami (#8)
West Virginia (#17)
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse

At that point there were no D-I conferences with more than 10 members. There were 8 conferences we would think of as major today. The ACC stood at 7, soon to be 8 with the addition of Georgia Tech. The Big 8 was aptly named, as were the Big Ten and PAC 10. The SEC had 10 members, while the Southwest and WAC had nine each.

I believe that conference would have been the competitive equal of any in the country, its chances of holding together for the long run would have been excellent, and the evolution of the Bowl Alliance and BCS radically different than it turned out.

If Pitt, Syracuse and Boston College had committed to forming such a conference in 1979, would the Big East have still formed? And if it did, would it have been successful?
07-21-2021 12:56 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #36
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 11:14 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  
(07-21-2021 07:30 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(07-20-2021 10:37 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...t-football

Good article, and as someone whose school went through those torturous days 10 years ago, I think it is pretty much spot-on.

One thing I never understood back then was the uproar over Villanova football. That seemed to tear at the conference, was a huge bone of contention in the years leading right up to the 2011 collapse. Never understood then or now why it rankled so many. As a USF fan, it seemed like a Northeast Inside Baseball kind of thing. I remember when debate raged about it on the old Big East forum. I loved to mix it up on all the controversial issues, but that one I sat out. I couldn't care less whether Villanova developed a D1 football program and joined or not. But boy everybody else sure did.

The other is why we turned down the ESPN deal in March 2011. That deal would have put us on a par with the ACC in terms of money, and made it much harder for the ACC to lure teams away a few months later. Not saying they couldn't have done it anyway, but it would have vastly increased our chances of survival, IMO.

I lament the loss of Big East football. Between 2005 - 2012 the conference had a tight-knit, us against the world football conference that was great fun to be a part of. Things have not been the same for us since. For USF, it was a disaster we have yet to recover from.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that rejected ESPN tv deal slated to put the Big East close to par with the ACC’s old deal? Wasn’t the ACC up for renewal soon again and likely to see an increase?

My recollection was that the ACC had just signed a deal with ESPN a few months earlier, in 2010. So the Big East would have been on par with them for a long while.
07-21-2021 01:16 PM
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Post: #37
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 12:56 PM)ken d Wrote:  
(07-21-2021 11:18 AM)ken d Wrote:  I believe the beginning of the end of the Big East was the beginning of the Big East.

And I put most of the blame on Joe Paterno. He wanted to be in an eastern conference with all sports except football. He knew Penn State could dominate northeast football, but they were mediocre at best in the other sports.

If, instead, he had been forward thinking enough to propose an east coast (not just northeast) all sports conference, this is what was available to him in 1981. All these were football independents at the time (1981 AP ranks that year).

Penn State (#3)
Pitt (#4)
Miami (#8)
West Virginia (#17)
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse

At that point there were no D-I conferences with more than 10 members. There were 8 conferences we would think of as major today. The ACC stood at 7, soon to be 8 with the addition of Georgia Tech. The Big 8 was aptly named, as were the Big Ten and PAC 10. The SEC had 10 members, while the Southwest and WAC had nine each.

I believe that conference would have been the competitive equal of any in the country, its chances of holding together for the long run would have been excellent, and the evolution of the Bowl Alliance and BCS radically different than it turned out.

If Pitt, Syracuse and Boston College had committed to forming such a conference in 1979, would the Big East have still formed? And if it did, would it have been successful?

If Ken D’s conference forms, there’s most definitely still a Big East and it’s still wildly successful. Georgetown, Villanova, and St John’s we’re still capable of anchoring an awesome basketball conference. They’d simply turn to the A-10 to fill in their holes.

If the Ken D conference forms, I think we have to ask ourselves whether or not the Ken D Conference (10) and the SEC (10) end up pulling away ACC (8) schools in the early 90s? (This is all dependent on Penn St/Florida St/Miami staying committed to the conference they founded together)
07-21-2021 01:37 PM
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Post: #38
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 11:18 AM)ken d Wrote:  I believe the beginning of the end of the Big East was the beginning of the Big East.

And I put most of the blame on Joe Paterno. He wanted to be in an eastern conference with all sports except football. He knew Penn State could dominate northeast football, but they were mediocre at best in the other sports.

If, instead, he had been forward thinking enough to propose an east coast (not just northeast) all sports conference, this is what was available to him in 1981. All these were football independents at the time (1981 AP ranks that year).

Penn State (#3)
Pitt (#4)
Miami (#8)
West Virginia (#17)
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse

At that point there were no D-I conferences with more than 10 members. There were 8 conferences we would think of as major today. The ACC stood at 7, soon to be 8 with the addition of Georgia Tech. The Big 8 was aptly named, as were the Big Ten and PAC 10. The SEC had 10 members, while the Southwest and WAC had nine each.

I believe that conference would have been the competitive equal of any in the country, its chances of holding together for the long run would have been excellent, and the evolution of the Bowl Alliance and BCS radically different than it turned out.

IIRC the issue wasn't that Paterno didn't want to have PSU in a league with the other Big East teams. For the most part he was playing them every year any way. He wanted to have 2 for 1 deals with most of the teams and not the standard home and home you would have with conference mates.
07-21-2021 02:27 PM
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Post: #39
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
The Ken D conference was never going to work. Too many cultural obstacles back then that wouldn't allow people to think progressively. South Carolina playing Boston College yearly? Yeah right.

Plus, Bobby Bowden—sorry to hear he's not doing well—wouldn't have gone for a schedule like that. Just look at who they used to play. With risk of calling my favorite conference ripe for the picking, that was one of its charms to him, and why he was easily able convince the FSU honchos to move there.

Another thing, there is evidence of a Penn State-led eastern conference going back to the mid-70's.
07-21-2021 02:28 PM
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esayem Offline
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Post: #40
RE: ESPN: Realignment Revisited - the beginning of the end for Big East football
(07-21-2021 02:27 PM)UpStreamRedTeam Wrote:  
(07-21-2021 11:18 AM)ken d Wrote:  I believe the beginning of the end of the Big East was the beginning of the Big East.

And I put most of the blame on Joe Paterno. He wanted to be in an eastern conference with all sports except football. He knew Penn State could dominate northeast football, but they were mediocre at best in the other sports.

If, instead, he had been forward thinking enough to propose an east coast (not just northeast) all sports conference, this is what was available to him in 1981. All these were football independents at the time (1981 AP ranks that year).

Penn State (#3)
Pitt (#4)
Miami (#8)
West Virginia (#17)
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse

At that point there were no D-I conferences with more than 10 members. There were 8 conferences we would think of as major today. The ACC stood at 7, soon to be 8 with the addition of Georgia Tech. The Big 8 was aptly named, as were the Big Ten and PAC 10. The SEC had 10 members, while the Southwest and WAC had nine each.

I believe that conference would have been the competitive equal of any in the country, its chances of holding together for the long run would have been excellent, and the evolution of the Bowl Alliance and BCS radically different than it turned out.

IIRC the issue wasn't that Paterno didn't want to have PSU in a league with the other Big East teams. For the most part he was playing them every year any way. He wanted to have 2 for 1 deals with most of the teams and not the standard home and home you would have with conference mates.

I think it had to do more with money distribution. He wanted an even split for basketball, but not for football. The scheduling thing came in the late 80's when the Syracuse series ended. Sort of a payback, we don't need you like you need us kind of thing.
07-21-2021 02:30 PM
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