If you could make 1 change to the big east, what would it be

[Bill Marsh]

I personally would not schedule Notre Dame-they were a pain in the A$$ for the Big East and they could have stabilized the conference by joining their FB team with the rest.

They were the best friend the C7 had. The football schools of the Big East could never get their act together at any point in the past 30 years. Blaming Notre Dame ignores all of the other problems those schools had. Frankly, I'm glad that the the football schools left. The Catholic basketball-first schools are better off without them.

[Bill Marsh]

BYU would make sense only if the game were played in Provo. They wouldn't do much to help local attendance.

Couldn't be further from the truth. BYU is an incredible traveling road team. They'd show up in droves no matter where it's played. Without looking up the numbers (if they're even available) I'd be shocked if any of the 10 BE schools had higher road support.

Their last trip to Omaha they had 3k+ easy.

Thanks for the insight.

[Michael in Raleigh]

The 1 change I would make has nothing to do with the membership roster or an interconference challenge.

My change would be to improve the conference's communication, and efficiency.

It appears that when the Catholic 7 decided, once and for all, to depart from the old Big East, they did so with a tremendous desire to distinguish themselves from the old league as much as possible. A good thing, IMO, was that basketball had to be the central sport driving the decisions for the league. I hope, though, that the mandate for the league to be basketball-driven does not equate with being anti-football. In other words, if Memphis, Cincinnati, or UConn are ever on the table, assuming those schools could have suitable long-term homes for football only, I would hope the Big East would consider adding them.

More importantly, I get the impression that the C7, and by extension, the three additions, are trying so hard to distinguish themselves as a new, different league unlike the old Big East that they're making mistakes along the way. I'm not talking awful, conference-killing mistakes, just problems that don't have to be there. For instance, in the old league, as in most other conferences, the presidents get the ultimate say-so in conference decisions, but the presidents surround themselves with advisors and consult very closely with their athletic directors. In the new league, AD's have often been kept in the dark about plans for the league (such as the process for choosing the commissioner). Maybe the presidents were so frustrated from having to make compromises they didn't feel comfortable making that they decided, with this fresh new start, they should run the league secretively. The problem with being so secretive, though, is that it leaves fans in the dark. It's like pulling teeth to find news for the league, whereas the other power conferences make sure they're maintaining adequate publicity. Furthermore, I fail to see how healthy it is for a president-AD relationship to keep the AD's in the dark. The lack of input from the AD's may well have caused the decision for a commissioner to be delayed until the eleventh hour. This caused Ackerman, who already would have faced an uphill climb in creating this startup league had she started in May or April, to be even further behind. There still is no office. There still is no website. Even the facebook and twitter pages scarcely have significant new information. So, indeed, before concerning itself with other matters, the league (and the presidents behind it) needs to improve communication within the league, especially with the AD's, and with the public.

[Jet915]

Agree, the fact that it's been 7 weeks since the official launch of the Big East and official regular season Big East play starts today and there is still no website!?!?! That's a joke.

[billyjack]

Michael--
Are the presidents and AD's really not getting along or not communicating? At PC, Father Shanley and AD Bob Driscoll have a great relationship, and I can't imagine that Driscoll is being left in the dark. The conference's transition has been very seamless and really amazing.

As all of us discussed recently, the Big East during the last nine months has had the smoothest, most successful transition in the history of athletics. There was a checklist of about 25 things on our wish list, and each item has been handled successfully. Well, ok, the website isn't ready yet... no biggie. Intangibles are working out perfectly-- even our New Year's Eve kickoff was designed perfectly, especially compared to the other conferences schedules that were just released.

As far as "secrecy" within the league and not sharing information with the press-- the C-7 at least came from a league where the "new schools" (the football schools from '92 onward) couldn't keep their mouths shut. Oliver Luck at West Virginia, for example, devours microphones for lunch... the dude wouldn't shut up... I think there was a specific instruction between the 7 and then 10 of us to keep things close to the vest and take care of the assignments at hand.

Our success is shown by the fact that none of the talking heads criticize us anymore-- not Jerseyguy, not ESPN anymore (they just ignore us rather than trying to attack anymore), no one... our recruiting is fantastic, our fanbases are enthusiastic, our teams are excellent, we have the best, most balanced conference that is devoted to great basketball, and we are in the largest markets with great hoops tradition, and we went back to our roots and our traditions... perfect...

[billyjack]

Agree, the fact that it's been 7 weeks since the official launch of the Big East and official regular season Big East play starts today and there is still no website!?!?! That's a joke.

Just my opinion, but I'd rather wait for a new cutting-edge website that will end up being a model for other conferences, than throw a typical, standard boilerplate, run of the mill one together.

[BillikensWin]

From the June 30 article in the Omaha paper, it looks like everything has been done in secrecy.

Which makes sense if there were schools talking about things they shouldn't have been publicly.

[Jet915]

Agree, the fact that it's been 7 weeks since the official launch of the Big East and official regular season Big East play starts today and there is still no website!?!?! That's a joke.

Just my opinion, but I'd rather wait for a new cutting-edge website that will end up being a model for other conferences, than throw a typical, standard boilerplate, run of the mill one together.

Well, you are assuming it's going to be "cutting-edge"....I guess we'll see eventually. Hopefully before basketball season starts!

[SJU87]

The 1 change I would make has nothing to do with the membership roster or an interconference challenge.

My change would be to improve the conference's communication, and efficiency.

It appears that when the Catholic 7 decided, once and for all, to depart from the old Big East, they did so with a tremendous desire to distinguish themselves from the old league as much as possible. A good thing, IMO, was that basketball had to be the central sport driving the decisions for the league. I hope, though, that the mandate for the league to be basketball-driven does not equate with being anti-football. In other words, if Memphis, Cincinnati, or UConn are ever on the table, assuming those schools could have suitable long-term homes for football only, I would hope the Big East would consider adding them.

More importantly, I get the impression that the C7, and by extension, the three additions, are trying so hard to distinguish themselves as a new, different league unlike the old Big East that they're making mistakes along the way. I'm not talking awful, conference-killing mistakes, just problems that don't have to be there. For instance, in the old league, as in most other conferences, the presidents get the ultimate say-so in conference decisions, but the presidents surround themselves with advisors and consult very closely with their athletic directors. In the new league, AD's have often been kept in the dark about plans for the league (such as the process for choosing the commissioner). Maybe the presidents were so frustrated from having to make compromises they didn't feel comfortable making that they decided, with this fresh new start, they should run the league secretively. The problem with being so secretive, though, is that it leaves fans in the dark. It's like pulling teeth to find news for the league, whereas the other power conferences make sure they're maintaining adequate publicity. Furthermore, I fail to see how healthy it is for a president-AD relationship to keep the AD's in the dark. The lack of input from the AD's may well have caused the decision for a commissioner to be delayed until the eleventh hour. This caused Ackerman, who already would have faced an uphill climb in creating this startup league had she started in May or April, to be even further behind. There still is no office. There still is no website. Even the facebook and twitter pages scarcely have significant new information. So, indeed, before concerning itself with other matters, the league (and the presidents behind it) needs to improve communication within the league, especially with the AD's, and with the public.

Your right, the new Big East should consider letting in some football schools. Memphis and Temple will be begging the Big East to let them in when they realize their football programs aren't good enough for the major conferences. UCONN and Cincinnati will either go to the ACC or Big 10. Memphis and Temple will join on our terms , not theirs. These 2 schools are way better then Dayton and St. Louis and I get the feeling the Big East is waiting to see what happens with football before they expand. Makes all the sense in the world.
The new Big East can't take chances with mid major schools hoping they become better. They have to add established programs to be competitive with the ACC. I've been a Big East fan since 1985 and I'd hate to see this great league get watered down with mid major schools.

[DanofXav76]

I'm not sure how Villanova would feel about adding another Philly school with Temple?