Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Saw on twitter from Adam Zagoria that it sounds like the Gavitt Games may be over after next year when the contract is over. Sounds like Big Ten might when USC/UCLA arrive go to 22 league games.

Not a surprise, but a disappointment for sure. Love the big OOC games big time.

I predicted this to be the case, especially because USC/UCLA were rumored to not want to participate in a Big East - Pac 12 challenge a few years back.

As I've been saying, the Big East needs to at least be open to signing a contract with ESPN. There are some downsides for sure which need to be considered, but one potential major upside would be a challenge with the ACC.

adoraz wrote:I predicted this to be the case, especially because USC/UCLA were rumored to not want to participate in a Big East - Pac 12 challenge a few years back.

As I've been saying, the Big East needs to at least be open to signing a contract with ESPN. There are some downsides for sure which need to be considered, but one potential major upside would be a challenge with the ACC.

or even the SEC honestly. That's a pretty good conference there as well.

Great point about USC/UCLA- I had forgotten about that, but you're absolutely correct.

stever20 wrote:

adoraz wrote:I predicted this to be the case, especially because USC/UCLA were rumored to not want to participate in a Big East - Pac 12 challenge a few years back.

As I've been saying, the Big East needs to at least be open to signing a contract with ESPN. There are some downsides for sure which need to be considered, but one potential major upside would be a challenge with the ACC.

or even the SEC honestly. That's a pretty good conference there as well.

Great point about USC/UCLA- I had forgotten about that, but you're absolutely correct.

Absolutely. Top 3 challenges (in no particular order) would be ACC, SEC, and B1G. I'd think ESPN would push for an ACC or SEC challenge, and maybe we'd get more proper branding, too. No disrespect to Dave Gavitt, but the "Big East - Big 12 Battle" with most/all teams playing is much better for brand recognition, and I'd imagine ESPN would do something similar. Further, it may be less likely that a team like UConn would be poached by the ACC when they inevitably lose teams to the B1G/SEC.

I know most people on this board are very much against an ESPN reunion, but it needs to be considered. Hopefully a split ESPN/FOX package like the Big 12 is getting ready to finalize.

I think going back to ESPN would be a disaster. We would have games behind a paywall, we would be relegated to sharing scheduling with the other leagues. It would be a step down for sure. The deal with Fox is better exposure wise and game production wise. ESPN is just not as good. I think if we keep the Big XII set up that would be great. Don't really need an ACC challenge and I doubt they would do it.

redmen9194 wrote:I think going back to ESPN would be a disaster. We would have games behind a paywall, we would be relegated to sharing scheduling with the other leagues. It would be a step down for sure. The deal with Fox is better exposure wise and game production wise. ESPN is just not as good. I think if we keep the Big XII set up that would be great. Don't really need an ACC challenge and I doubt they would do it.

Agree. FOX is amazing for us as fans even if the exposure for the programs is not as great.

There would certainly be leverage with a PAC challenge (UCLA was main driving force behind a BE/PAC Challenge never materializing). If FOX wants it, it is there.

I'm not worried about replacing the high profile OOC challenge.

GW11- I agree with most of your takes, but out of all major conferences the Pac is not only the worst (by a significant margin- it was the worst before UCLA/USC left) but also will almost certainly be dead or a G5 league around the time the challenge would start. It seems pretty likely the Big Ten will poach a few more teams and then the rest (besides Washington State / Oregon State) will go to the Big XII.

Just saying if Fox offers Pac 12 and ESPN offers ACC or SEC then those options wouldn't be remotely comparable.

adoraz wrote:GW11- I agree with most of your takes, but out of all major conferences the Pac is not only the worst (by a significant margin- it was the worst before UCLA/USC left) but also will almost certainly be dead or a G5 league around the time the challenge would start. It seems pretty likely the Big Ten will poach a few more teams and then the rest (besides Washington State / Oregon State) will go to the Big XII.

Just saying if Fox offers Pac 12 and ESPN offers ACC or SEC then those options wouldn't be remotely comparable.

Agreed. The PAC might very well be on the verge of another raid if their TV rights don't match the Big 12 news today. At that point, the Four Corners (Big 12) might not even be there anymore.

Andy Katz
@TheAndyKatz
1/2 Breaking: ESPN will announce today the @B1GMBBall-@accmbb Challenge will end this week after 23 years and the @Big12Conference-@SEC Challenge will conclude in January after a 10-year run. A new ACC-SEC Challenge for men and women will start the week after Thanksgiving 2023.
7:59 AM · Nov 28, 2022

Andy Katz
@TheAndyKatz
2/2Shout out to ESPN Programming and @ESPNEvents team for decades of hard work on these challenges. New media rights agreements made it difficult to continue current structure. Opens door for a new conference challenge with
@B1GMBBall @Big12Conference to occur if mutual interest.
8:00 AM · Nov 28, 2022