Imagine the Big East, Coast to Coast NYTimes Article

[mpwalsh8]

If we had 2 of Dayton, Gonzaga, or VCU the last 3 years we would've been averaging 7 teams a year in the tournament. That alone is enough reason to expand. Syracuse is a perfect example- they got to the Final Four and were the last team in for the ACC. Having a bunch of teams helps. I'm not saying we should expand to 15, because there aren't enough good candidates to do that anyways, but if we could start sending 7-8 teams a year that'd really cement our place as one of the best conferences.

Nova is doing fantastic in the tournament, but next year may not go as well with some teams likely taking a big step back (Seton Hall if Whitehead leaves, Butler, Providence). It's possible that Nova and Xavier will be the only sure bets to make the tournament heading into the season. It would be great to have depth by adding teams that make the tournament every year.

You don't know that because Gonzaga, Dayton, and VCU would have had completely different schedules there is no way to predict what would have happened relative to the tournament. IMHO, sending 5-3 teams with 2-3 doing well (doing well equates to Sweet 16 or better) is what the 10 team BigEast can and should do. The true round robin is worth far more than diluting the league.

[stever20]

the thing is to a general fan, the number of teams matters. Big East getting 5 in with 10 better than ACC with 7 of 15- but general fans just don't see it that way.

Also look last 3 years vs 1st 3 years- last 3 years average was 2.0 1st 3 3.33. So it has been a bit worse.

[ArmyVet]

the thing is to a general fan, the number of teams matters. Big East getting 5 in with 10 better than ACC with 7 of 15- but general fans just don't see it that way.

Also look last 3 years vs 1st 3 years- last 3 years average was 2.0 1st 3 3.33. So it has been a bit worse.

Why are we focused on comparing the Big East to the ACC? If you choose to compare vs SEC or PAC 12, the reality is that clearly favors the BE. The goal isn't necessarily to be the best league every year but to be among the best leagues in college hoops and the Big East has clearly demonstrated that they are.

[stever20]

the thing is to a general fan, the number of teams matters. Big East getting 5 in with 10 better than ACC with 7 of 15- but general fans just don't see it that way.

Also look last 3 years vs 1st 3 years- last 3 years average was 2.0 1st 3 3.33. So it has been a bit worse.

Why are we focused on comparing the Big East to the ACC? If you choose to compare vs SEC or PAC 12, the reality is that clearly favors the BE. The goal isn't necessarily to be the best league every year but to be among the best leagues in college hoops and the Big East has clearly demonstrated that they are.

Pac 12 also got 7 teams in- as did the Big 12 and Big Ten....

[billyjack]

the thing is to a general fan, the number of teams matters. Big East getting 5 in with 10 better than ACC with 7 of 15- but general fans just don't see it that way.

Also look last 3 years vs 1st 3 years- last 3 years average was 2.0 1st 3 3.33. So it has been a bit worse.

Why are we focused on comparing the Big East to the ACC? If you choose to compare vs SEC or PAC 12, the reality is that clearly favors the BE. The goal isn't necessarily to be the best league every year but to be among the best leagues in college hoops and the Big East has clearly demonstrated that they are.

Great post.
Actually, this is progress... the Big East being is compared to the ACC... and we're competing to regularly be among the top 1-2-3-4 conferences.

[Bill Marsh]

I always chuckle when I see St. Mary's thrown into a discussion of expansion candidates. In addition to the fact that they are on the wrong side of The Bay and at a distance from any bridge,they don't draw flies. Judge for yourself. Here's their average home attendance this year, a season in which they've had a good team:

2612

To the extent that it reflects interest in this program, they are not a Big East caliber program. Heck, they'd have trouble attracting attention from the A10. Like most of the WCAC, they're more like the MAAC. Any interest in Iona or Manhattan?

[GumbyDamnit!]

Why are we focused on comparing the Big East to the ACC? If you choose to compare vs SEC or PAC 12, the reality is that clearly favors the BE. The goal isn't necessarily to be the best league every year but to be among the best leagues in college hoops and the Big East has clearly demonstrated that they are.

Pac 12 also got 7 teams in- as did the Big 12 and Big Ten....

You can't compare the BE to the B1G or ACC. They have much larger conferences. You have to look at % of teams that make it. Because for how nice it is to be the B1G with all their teams they are still slicing up the tourney credit pie equally among 14 teams. So 14 credits earned this year = 1.0 credits per team. While each BE program will get at least 1.2 credits per team. pac 12 is less than 1 per team even though they got 7 in. Pretty poor showing. Our path to increased revenues from our BB programs is to get teams in and get them deep. Expanding doesn't guarantee that and it does take away from the RR format which I love.

Also Stever something tells me that had the BE done what the Pac had done (7 in and then flop) you'd be lecturing us on how bad that looked on a national level and not propping up the 7 invites as anything special. Just a hunch.

[gosports1]

I always chuckle when I see St. Mary's thrown into a discussion of expansion candidates. In addition to the fact that they are on the wrong sided The Bay and at a distance from any bridge,they don't draw flies. Judge for yourself. Here's their average home attendance this year, a season in which they've had a good team:

2612

To the extent that it reflects interest in this program, they are not a Big East caliber program. Heck, they'd have trouble attracting attention from the A10. Like most of the WCAC, they're more like the MAAC. Any interest in Iona or Manhattan?

it is amazing. I had a "discussion" on the other board about expansion candidate BU. Yes, that BU as in Boston University. First he claimed they would be good for the BE that somehow morphed into BU being a fit for the B1G!
he was actually calling me dense for not seeing that BU is a great choice. he was serious too it wasn't an april fools joke

[FenwayFriar]

I always chuckle when I see St. Mary's thrown into a discussion of expansion candidates. In addition to the fact that they are on the wrong sided The Bay and at a distance from any bridge,they don't draw flies. Judge for yourself. Here's their average home attendance this year, a season in which they've had a good team:

2612

To the extent that it reflects interest in this program, they are not a Big East caliber program. Heck, they'd have trouble attracting attention from the A10. Like most of the WCAC, they're more like the MAAC. Any interest in Iona or Manhattan?

it is amazing. I had a "discussion" on the other board about expansion candidate BU. Yes, that BU as in Boston University. First he claimed they would be good for the BE that somehow morphed into BU being a fit for the B1G!
he was actually calling me dense for not seeing that BU is a great choice. he was serious too it wasn't an april fools joke

As someone who loves in Boston I find this legit insulting. No one can be that clueless right?

[lolhoya]

When people say that adding teams will "water down" or "dilute" the league, I hope you mean the brand and not the actual performance. Because most of the teams under consideration would make the league even better on the court.

Let's use KenPom because it's the best metric for how good teams actually are and because it's not affected by schedule/conference the way a metric like RPI is.

So far in the three years of the new conference, we've got:
Big East KenPom
Average = 70
Median = 55

Now let's take a look at some of the candidate schools going back the last 9 years. I am choosing that number for no particular reason except that it's a relatively long time period and easy to calculate median.

VCU KenPom
Average = 37
Median = 38

Dayton KenPom
Average = 58
Median = 63

Gonzaga KenPom
Average = 22
Median = 20

Wichita St KenPom
Average = 48
Median = 17

There are lots of reasons to not want to expand right now. On court performance really isn't one of them unless you are talking about adding SLU or one of the long shots.