Imagine the Big East, Coast to Coast NYTimes Article

[gosports1]

so the writer suggests a school in every time zone..so for the mountain zone that would be...???? byu plays fb so they are out. that leaves?......Denver?

Wait, why is BYU out? Its not like they're getting into a major conference for football anytime soon (word is the Big XII his going east, working out the Sunday rule is too much and they need to bridge the WVU gap with Cincy and another eastern team first).

IMO they are still a risk as long as they have FB. they may not be able to maintain being independent. if bhey have to join a FB conference whether its the B12 or MWC I would think bringing all their sports would be a must

[gosports1]

If UCONN aint coming, Gonzaga and BYU would be the best options imo.

if the BE were to have "an arrangement" with any school to play 4 or 5 members id rather it be with UConn or even Memphis than Gonzaga

[Xudash]

Just because we all like the Gonzaga (and St. Mary's?) basketball programs and would love to see them playing our teams regularly does not mean that this idea makes sense from anything other than a bball fan perspective. The reality is that travel costs across 10-15 sports and the impact on the lives of the athletes (particularly the Zag and Gael students who'd be living half a week at their schools and half a week several time zones away for most of their seasons), make this idea totally impractical. If there's a lesson about expansion we should have all learned by now, it's that the recent waves of expansion driven by football media markets has destroyed many fine rivalries and once-proud conferences, with no particular benefit to anyone other than to a very few schools who have managed to "trade up" -- including Butler, Xavier, and Creighton. We're in a great place at present - the Big East is stable with 5 mid-western and 5 east coast schools who share a common educational and athletics orientation. We're in a great collection of media markets and recruiting areas, and there's a nice framework of new rivalries developing. Why mess with that? Three years ago I wondered why we stopped at 10 members and when we'd go to 12. But now I hope we either stay at 10 or grudgingly go to 12 - St. Louis and Boston College being the best "fits" out there - but do that ONLY IF Fox or some other network wants to throw silly money at us to do so. If it ain't broke..., indeed!

+1.

Excellent post all the way through, but the point about the TV money drives the entire bus. All of this - the idea of adding any program - is DOA unless the media package money is trued-up to make it revenue neutral to the existing schools.

Is that a practicable way of looking at it? Absolutely, because the Big East conference as presently structured is trending in the right direction with respect to all its key metrics.

It's really very simple: if we add, then we add teams based on our media rights package staying the same per school or getting better AND based on the notion that we would be adding equally strong or stronger programs, not mid-majors from the A10 or anywhere else.

[Burrito]

The Big East should stay at 10.

Gonzaga's coach was recently ripping the WCC.
“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” he said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said, “and if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

[stever20]

The Big East should stay at 10.

Gonzaga's coach was recently ripping the WCC.
“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” he said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said, “and if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

yep. It's why St Mary's missed the tourney this year. 6 sub 200 teams, with a team 68 spots worse than Tulane for gosh sakes.

[Jet915]

The Big East should stay at 10.

Gonzaga's coach was recently ripping the WCC.
“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” he said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said, “and if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

Calling at the other teams, love it cause it's true.

[Xudash]

The Big East should stay at 10.

Gonzaga's coach was recently ripping the WCC.
“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” he said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said, “and if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

Every word of that; every one of his words perfectly describes the A10. It frustrated the hell out of us for years.

And he is spot on for making that statement.

[NJRedman]

The Big East should stay at 10.

Gonzaga's coach was recently ripping the WCC.
“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” he said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said, “and if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

WCC/Big West/WAC merger of the best schools?

[TheDon]

The Big East is damn near perfect as is. I would hate to be any of you poster's wives. Always looking for something better.

[NJRedman]

The Big East is damn near perfect as is. I would hate to be any of you poster's wives. Always looking for something better.

Yeah except we aren't. If we were pining for the ACC then yes, your analogy would be correct. We're more like the wife who wants a new dog or wants a new baby. I don't see anything wrong with wanting to improve the marriage and bring a new member into the family.