I swear, some time soon I will get to the actual games. Maybe even talk about ND before Saturday. Yet I can’t turn away from Conference Expansiopocolypse stuff. I’m just too invested.
The Big East football programs had a little get together at a hotel in NYC. Henry Kissinger happened to be in the same hotel. You really can’t make this stuff up.
Speaking of stuff you can’t make up. This was the full text of the Big East Conference statement after the meeting.
Our membership met this evening and we are committed as a conference to recruit top level BCS caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions. We have been approached by a number of such institutions and will pursue all of our options to make the BIG EAST Conference stronger than it has ever been in both basketball and football.
What a reaffirming and warm statement. But…
Curiously absent from the league statement is the specific wording that all of the schools were committed to the league.
Not really. (By the way, check out the story just for the punchdrunk picture of Marinatto. I want some photoshopped submissions based on that picture. Please!)
This was a meeting of all seven school presidents and ADs. Well, not quite. UConn has no AD, and their President had other commitments outside of conference survival. UConn Pres. Susan Herbst just issued a statement on Facebook.
“The past several days have magnified the period of instability that exists today in the world of college athletics. I want to say thank you to all of our loyal supporters and fans of UConn and our athletic programs for their patience during this time.
“Please know that we will always do what is in the best interests for the University of Connecticut.
“We remain committed to our ideals and principals in intercollegiate athletics and will continue to achieve excellence academically and athletically.”
Two words missing completely from this statement: “Big” and “East.” Everyone feeling the commitment? No? Not a surprise.
One official in the Big East who requested anonymity said that was not an accurate assessment of the sentiment in the room. The official said league schools are committed to recruiting more schools but did not make any pledge to remaining in the league until it’s clear what the league will look like.
The official also said about four or five of the Big East schools are committed to keeping the league together, but the other two or three need to know where the league is headed before a firm commitment is made.
Yeah. That seems to be the right POV.
About that direction, status quo is a big part of it.
Marinatto also said, “We had a conference call with nonfootball playing members yesterday and all of them unanimously supported their football brethren in order to move the conference forward with the same structure it’s been.”
That’s right, “same structure.” No split. That would be bad for Providence. Teams are bailing for the exit and they aren’t going to change anything. On the Banks (Rutgers) as you would expect is taking this news in a calm, measured manner.
How about those future members?
…the Big East was in the final stages of acquiring Navy as a football-only member.
No official invitation was extended by the league, but both parties had extensive discussions about Navy joining the league in football only and it very well could have happened in the next couple of weeks, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com. Besides Navy, the Big East also was targeting Air Force and league sources felt confident both schools would have been Big East members, perhaps within the next year – that is until Pitt and Syracuse announced they were leaving for the ACC.
Navy and Air Force as football only members? Because football only members worked so well back in the 90s. It didn’t breed hostility and other divisions at all. Speaking of the 90s (oh, you know it is coming):
There has been “mutual interest” between the Big East football conference and Temple, “maybe more intense recently,” a source said Tuesday just before officials from schools that play Big East football met in New York.
Oh, it gets better. ECU as usual wants to know it’s available and willing (as usual).
[NY Times Reporter, Pete] Thamel tweeted that the East Carolina has applied for the Big East and is not shy about it. ECU noted that it “copied about 50 people on the e-mail.”
Maybe Marinatto wasn’t joking when he suggested that the Big East might play their tournament in Greensboro someday.
With WVU shut out of both the SEC and ACC at this time, the only other Big East football team with a possible out is Louisville. The Big 12 is surviving for another day. Maybe up to 5 years. They will likely go after BYU first, but failing that Louisville is still a possibility. Card Chronicle sets out the simple choice.
As far as Louisville is concerned, it appears there are now just two options: 1) A slightly weakened Big East or 2) A pretty strong (in both sports) Big 12.
Neither is a great option, but at least they might have a choice.
Finally, Nunes Magician (Syracuse) is a little tired of the talk of backstabbing and betrayal for leaving the Big East. Points out the reality.
– they are being treated as the eastern stepchild, JoePa has urged the B10 to bring in a sister team but has been given a deaf ear
– while the B10 has a very attractive TV contract, the ACC’s contract is nothing to sneeze at … and if PSU commits, the ACC has the leverage to renegotiate an even better deal (and if somehow PSU & ND comes as a package, then the sky is the limit)
– PSU football recruiting should get better – note while they do well in the midwest, they do not do well in the fertile areas Florida and Georgia. This would change if tey join the ACC
– their basketball recruiting will definetly get better. They actually might be able to get a few blue chips from NJ/NYC, Baltimore and DC.
– their athletic travel budget will decrease. Yes,tey would still have to travel to FL (nstead of Iowa, Nebraska, Minn and Wisc) but overall, there would be less traveling .. Pitt, Maryland, Cuse, BC and UVA are minor trips compared to many they are currently taking
– JoePa actually hinted about it yesterday although he may have been postioning an argment for the B10 to seriously consider Rutgers
Again, it’s a long shot but not completely out of the question
In football, I don’t see how they keep the BCS bid unless the keep WVU….and they might not even if WVU stays…
But I have ZERO regrets with this move by Pitt to the ACC. I’ve said all along that a BE- ACC merger was my hope and that is essentially what we have, just not in name.
I’m also glad that the ACC seems patient enough to wait for school’s 15 & 16. No need to rush for Rutgers & UCONN even though that would free up Pitt to leave earlier. I prefer waiting to see if we can land ND – but only if they come in as equal football partners, not the agreement they had with the BE. Pitt & ND playing yearly in the “ACC NORTH” has instant tradition and rivalry tradition written all over it. (just a little bit better than the river city trophy whatever it was called)
But I am also glad that Pitt will be (as of now) the primary ACC recruiter and school in the Ohio, WV, PA, NJ area. That’s not something I would want to give up easily.
The only thing better might be the look on Paterno’s face. It might just push him over the edge…
Don’t know the other guy but considering he’s in Providence, who knows who’s feeding him the info. Did Brett confirm it or just say it was being reported?
While unlikely, I have no proof other than your opinions that ND & PS are definitely out of the question. I agree with you that it is unlikely, but not that it is only a dream land.
As many others have posted here, Paterno’s nearing the end, PS is the eastern stepchild of the Big 10. They have no rival, long travel and a completely different culture. Beiing in the Big 10 has helped OSU & Michigan to recruit in PA more than it has helped Penn Sate.
Either way, there’s no need to hurry. I don’t think anyone else is in a hurry to land UCONN or Rutgers… Go for a big fish while we can…
12. If the SEC winds up with West Virginia,
you’ll know it had to go the fallback route.
West Virginia has approached the ACC and the SEC. The ACC has apparently chosen four schools over WVU: Pitt, Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers. The Big Ten was rumored to be looking East and South toward Maryland, UConn, Rutgers and Georgia Tech last year. Never were the Mountaineers mentioned.
We’ve already explained why — small state, so-so academic reputation, small television markets.
If the ACC took four teams from the Big East and chose not to pursue West Virginia, how could the SEC go for the Mountaineers without looking like an inferior league to the ACC?
Now, if the SEC raids the ACC and makes off with team or three, then you’ll know that the SEC is indeed as big and bad as so many fans claim on messageboards and talk radio shows. If the SEC grabs coveted, big name schools, you’ll know that Slive was right all along about getting to 16 schools in 15 minutes. You’ll know that the SEC is indeed a very attractive destination.
Oh and btw,.,…If ESPN wants us & Cuse in the ACC earlier than 27 months, they’ll just pick up the phone and call that fool Marinatto and lay down the law.
Because…..guess what….the BIgEast TV contract renews in 2012 and the ACC has to renegotiate their TV contract as well. And Big DADDY ESPN is the one handing out……’spending money’.
Case closed !
Comment by melvinbennett 09.21.11 @ 4:41 pm
Athletically they don’t add much.
TV wise, their value is for Cable subscribers, but wait a minute, the ACC doesn’t have an ACC network.
Rutgers has little value on regular TV since I’m not thinking they’re a ratings juggernaut(am I missing something here), as they are hardly, if at all on TV on a Regional basis, let alone a National basis. And are New Jerseyans really going to watch UNC vs. Clemson.
If a school brings little to no value, it’s only another mouth to feed.
You guys are going to enjoy the October & November road games down here. The weather is usually the years best. September can be very warm, but this year it has been very pleasant.
And the ACC cheerleaders are Head & Shoulders over the BigEast gals. No question about that.
No problem – no offense taken. If I were betting I would bet you are are right and ND is just playing others for down the road. And as I posted, I have mixed feelings on adding Penn State.
HOWEVER, I just don’t think UCONN & Rutgers really offer that much in regards to ratings, rivals or recruiting. At least not for football. I’m not opposed to them. I just don’t see any reason to rush to add them before you swing for the fences. I like Pitt’s position in the current ACC as far as recruting goes. I bet there are a lot of players in PA, OH, WV & NJ who would love to play against the likes of Miami and FSU. We will lose some of these guys to the other ACC schools, but I think we can clean up against whatever is left of the BE – our tradtional recruiting battles.
So hopefully they can decide soon how they are going to replenish the conference, because the sooner that is done the sooner we can move on.
One of the big problems with the ESPN article is that it fails to mention that 10 other teams inquired about entry into the ACC.
If you are Pitt fan how would you have felt on Saturday if they said UConn and Syracuse were leaving for the ACC?
How would you feel right now if they rumored that Rutgers and Lousiville were the next to go?
The fact remains you can suggest the Pitt administration jumped the gun and may have a point.
But it’s not like they upped and left without warning and it’s not like they were the only one inquiring about dancing.
They did what they had to. Unlike the Big East, Pitt was proactive and didn’t become a victim.
I applaud them for that.
DaveD
Frankly don’t care if we wallow in football or go backward in hoops.
I doubt either one, but, Louis, one thing you need to remember………………
We’re in the ACC baby!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!
ACC-ACC-ACC-ACC-ACC!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The truth of the matter is that everything is speculation at this point. Nobody knows how Pitt will do in the ACC. BC has pretty much $#%& the bed while VT has held firm on football and steadily bettered their basketball team. Those jokers on ESPN really have no idea how Pitt will do in the ACC. I’m just glad we are in a safer place now. This is real money we are talking about. Its not all pretend. Pitt will be able to use that money to better their facilities and help real students. Huge win.
We would’ve stayed in the BE if it weren’t for that idiot.
Kinda sounds like we were foreced to go to this ACC.
Not a good way to start IMHO…gotta say this is the place we wanna be. Big East is a good conferene and all but the ACC is where it’s at.
Enough can be said by others…the administration needs to look forward.
DaveD
It’s all very positive. Let’s give the guy some views and show him we appreciate his positive stance on PITT. And the Panther mascot!
link to youtube.com