MSG and BIG EAST extend contract

[ecasadoSBU]

Was at the game at the Garden yesterday vs. Princeton. It's our home...it brought a big smile to my face to read the news about the extension while on the train en route to the Garden. I'm probably biased since I grew up about an hour away so it's like our local shrine for concerts, sports, etc. but glad to see others from all over the country think it's special too. You see where the Jets and Giants play...they show an aerial view of the skyline but it's not real NY. You can't get any closer to being in the middle of the universe than MSG right in the heart of the biggest city in the nation. It's just different. I've always said we absolutely need to keep the Garden to keep our prestige associated with our conference and it will only help our next TV deal. If SJ is playing well in conference, MSG is going to be nuts for the BET this year.

I'm already going nuts. I can't wait to walk into that building come March!

[GumbyDamnit!]

The thing that makes the Big East different from everyone else is the same thing that made us different in the early years. We have an identity. We started as a group of northeastern college basketball programs known for coaches with character, an urban edge, very physical play and playing our tournament in a place where no one else did, every year - MSG. With the establishment of football and massive expansion that took place we lost that identity to an extent because it was not us against them. It became us against us against them. With the latest formation of the league, we have an identity again that separates us from the rest. We are a basketball conference. Basketball is what we do. No football to muck up our primary sport. We are Eastern and Mid-Western. A marriage of two great basketball regions. We are private institutions, mostly Catholic, with shared values across the board. We play our tournament at the Garden, every year, same week as we have for the last 35 years. And part of that identity is also being on Fox rather than ESPN. We are ten schools - a tight fist. The other leagues no longer have an identity. The ACC is no longer a Tobacco Road southern league of like institutions. The Big Ten was a Mid-West League - but their efforts to get into New York shows their want to be something they are not. We do not need to add any schools at all - not one. Remember how there was no way we were going to keep the Garden without Pitt, UConn and Cuse? Remember how we would get a TV contract that would pay less than the A-10 and have our games played at 3:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning? Remember how small Catholic schools without big time football could no longer complete for a national championship in basketball? Where is Jay Bilas this morning talking about the Big East at MSG? How many articles, tweets, interviews, etc., has he done where he said the ACC will be at the Garden because it's where they belong? Apparently the Garden doesn't think so. We are all good folks.

Good post.

[paulxu]

I think MSG looked at this year and saw 3,500 more butts in the seats when the BE is there vs the Big 10.

Thinking it was an anomaly,(as the Big 10 played a week earlier) they looked at last years Big 10 championship game: 12,902

Thinking that was an anomaly (as they were playing in Washington DC) they looked at the 2016 championship game attendance in Indianapolis: 16,429.

Then they stopped looking.

[Hall2012]

Still waiting for Stever to come on here and tell us why this is horrible for us lol.

Seriously though, I love this - both for the Big East and for Seton Hall. MSG is part of this league's identity and hosting the tournament anywhere else would just feel wrong. As for Seton Hall, the Pirates have effectively turned this place into a second home court, having gone 9-3 there since 2016 including massive wins over #5 Xavier, #3 Villanova, #16 South Carolina, #22 Texas Tech, and most recently #9 Kentucky. It's exciting to know the Pirates will have the opportunity to continue playing big games here for a long time.

[stever20]

Still waiting for Stever to come on here and tell us why this is horrible for us lol.

Seriously though, I love this - both for the Big East and for Seton Hall. MSG is part of this league's identity and hosting the tournament anywhere else would just feel wrong. As for Seton Hall, the Pirates have effectively turned this place into a second home court, having gone 9-3 there since 2016 including massive wins over #5 Xavier, #3 Villanova, #16 South Carolina, #22 Texas Tech, and most recently #9 Kentucky. It's exciting to know the Pirates will have the opportunity to continue playing big games here for a long time.

It's horrible for the Big East because hotel rates in March in New York are way to high and also eliminates the chance to move the tourney around to other cities. [/sarcasm]

It's a huge deal obviously .

[gtmoBlue]

If the pirates r lucky they'll have the chance to play Creighton in the BET Championship game.

[kayako]

Still waiting for Stever to come on here and tell us why this is horrible for us lol.

The thing is, it's essentially a 2 year extension. It's a telling sign that MSG people are still open to a different arrangement in the future involving B1G and ACC.

[Hall2012]

Still waiting for Stever to come on here and tell us why this is horrible for us lol.

Seriously though, I love this - both for the Big East and for Seton Hall. MSG is part of this league's identity and hosting the tournament anywhere else would just feel wrong. As for Seton Hall, the Pirates have effectively turned this place into a second home court, having gone 9-3 there since 2016 including massive wins over #5 Xavier, #3 Villanova, #16 South Carolina, #22 Texas Tech, and most recently #9 Kentucky. It's exciting to know the Pirates will have the opportunity to continue playing big games here for a long time.

It's horrible for the Big East because hotel rates in March in New York are way to high and also eliminates the chance to move the tourney around to other cities. [/sarcasm]

It's a huge deal obviously .

Thanks Stever! Btw, I saw your question on the other board questioning how SHU didn't get called for a flagrant 1 late against Kentucky. It wasn't worth creating an account just to respond, but I'll offer my speculation here.

Either A. It was to make up for a ref tripping McKnight on a fast break just before and thus robbing SHU of a very likely 2 points.

Or B. The foul actually should have been a block on the Kentucky player who slid in front of Rhoden while he was already in the air. Since they can't call a new foul via replay, the best decision in the spirit of the game was to cancel it out down to a common foul and let the players decide the game rather than effectively end it at that moment.

[gtmoBlue]

Nothing can quiet expansion talk. It is the true constant in a sea of complacency.

For those with UConn fixations. Gonzaga is a true fit, travel be damned.

[Irishdawg]

Nothing can quiet expansion talk. It is the true constant in a sea of complacency.

For those with UConn fixations. Gonzaga is a true fit, travel be damned.

Yeah, I was thinking about it when Gonzaga was playing Creighton how awesome it would be to have them in the league. Sure, the travel for them would suck, but for most Big East schools it'd be one trip out West each year, and if you think about it, they already are willing to fly all over the country for games. UConn would be fine with me to add, but Gonzaga would be an even better get IMO because the University's profile already fits in the Big East, and it would benefit both sides, and we wouldn't have to worry about Gonzaga wanting to jump to a P5 league eventually.