Xavier AD says expanding to 12 schools within 5 years

[Dave]

And Temple is no UW-Milwaukee

[marquette]

Since you are asking, I think the oBE imploded because the representative presidents of the C7 are not sports oriented, naive, were poor collaborators, and lacked leadership. When they panicked, stabbed each other in the backs, and then voted in lesser "west of Mississippi" programs, it was the end. We are very, very, very fortunate that the FS1 timing matched our demise. Very fortunate (Lucky)... this was not a master plan.

You have offered as possibilities Detroit Mercy, Davidson, Drake, St. Bonaventure, Siena, Duquesne, Loyola, Evansville. This would be worse than Tulsa and Tulane and East Carolina. We should only expand with teams that can match the top half of our existing 10. Your list, or SLU, Dayton, VCU, Wichita State, or Richmond don't.

Val should land UConn. It fits the academic profile, has BE history, has championship history, has a NYC market presence, and adds attendance to MSG.

Detroit Mercy? Evansville? Uh, no.

Football is the issue. Football is a non-starter with the presidents. No matter how badly you want it to not be so, that's the way it is. UConn is interesting, sans football. Temple is not, even if they dropped football. Villanova covers the Philly market nicely for us, and Temple has not been the power they once were for over a decade. I would not be surprised to see them falter in the AAC and not make the NCAA this year.

As to those other schools, those are examples and nothing more. The odds of them putting the resources in that they would need to compete in the Big East are negligible. I still would rather have any of them than a football school dragging our conference down.

[marquette]

And Temple is no UW-Milwaukee

UW-Milwaukee has 1 more NCAA tournament win in the last decade than Temple.

[Dave]

And Temple is no UW-Milwaukee

UW-Milwaukee has 1 more NCAA tournament win in the last decade than Temple.

OK, a cherry picked factoid not representative of the whole of the programs. Since 2000, Temple has 8 appearances and 6 wins. UW-Milwaukee 3 appearances and 3 wins. Temple has made the last 6 NCAAs. UW-M has missed the last 7.

Temple has 7 Elite 8s or higher. UW-M: 0.

UW-M has 6 NCAA appearances in their history.

Wishing in the hoops dregs into the conference because your biggest requirement is "no football" is unfortunately in line with competence of the conference presidents. Non-FB, Jesuit programs should top the list, regardless of their hoops programs.

UConn increases our "Major" credibility. Your list is low mid-major.

[marquette]

OK, a cherry picked factoid not representative of the whole of the programs. Since 2000, Temple has 8 appearances and 6 wins. UW-Milwaukee 3 appearances and 3 wins. Temple has made the last 6 NCAAs. UW-M has missed the last 7.

Temple has 7 Elite 8s or higher. UW-M: 0.

UW-M has 6 NCAA appearances in their history.

Wishing in the hoops dregs into the conference because your biggest requirement is "no football" is unfortunately in line with competence of the conference presidents. Non-FB, Jesuit programs should top the list, regardless of their hoops programs.

UConn increases our "Major" credibility. Your list is low mid-major.

Yep, overall Temple has a much better history than UW-Milwaukee. But Temple is not the program it was 15 years ago.

My list was made up of institutions I can see the presidents looking at based on institutional fit. I left Bradley off, as noted by an earlier poster, due to oversight but they would also be a decent institutional fit. Given the obvious preference for private institutions, a few good NCAA years (think elite 8's and final 4's for the next 5 years, nothing less) MIGHT get them a SMALL amount of consideration from the presidents. The handful of schools are 1 in a million long shots, and I noted they were long shots in my post. I'm also not advocating for them to get in (not that it would matter, I have the same pull as you do in regards to the presidents), just saying they could have a (minuscule) shot based on the type of institution the presidents are looking for.

The arguments I'm making are not based solely on my opinion, although I won't deny that is a large component. They are also based on the indications that the presidents have given us. They make the decisions, their criteria are what matter. I was raised a UConn fan, it pains me to see them relegated to the AAC. I would love for them to join the Big East, but that's not going to happen. The only public institution with a chance is VCU, and I'm not convinced that the presidents are even giving them a fair shake based off them being large and public.

[TheHall]

OK, a cherry picked factoid not representative of the whole of the programs. Since 2000, Temple has 8 appearances and 6 wins. UW-Milwaukee 3 appearances and 3 wins. Temple has made the last 6 NCAAs. UW-M has missed the last 7.

Temple has 7 Elite 8s or higher. UW-M: 0.

UW-M has 6 NCAA appearances in their history.

Wishing in the hoops dregs into the conference because your biggest requirement is "no football" is unfortunately in line with competence of the conference presidents. Non-FB, Jesuit programs should top the list, regardless of their hoops programs.

UConn increases our "Major" credibility. Your list is low mid-major.

Yep, overall Temple has a much better history than UW-Milwaukee. But Temple is not the program it was 15 years ago.

My list was made up of institutions I can see the presidents looking at based on institutional fit. I left Bradley off, as noted by an earlier poster, due to oversight but they would also be a decent institutional fit. Given the obvious preference for private institutions, a few good NCAA years (think elite 8's and final 4's for the next 5 years, nothing less) MIGHT get them a SMALL amount of consideration from the presidents. The handful of schools are 1 in a million long shots, and I noted they were long shots in my post. I'm also not advocating for them to get in (not that it would matter, I have the same pull as you do in regards to the presidents), just saying they could have a (minuscule) shot based on the type of institution the presidents are looking for.

The arguments I'm making are not based solely on my opinion, although I won't deny that is a large component. They are also based on the indications that the presidents have given us. They make the decisions, their criteria are what matter. I was raised a UConn fan, it pains me to see them relegated to the AAC. I would love for them to join the Big East, but that's not going to happen. The only public institution with a chance is VCU, and I'm not convinced that the presidents are even giving them a fair shake based off them being large and public.

There's no way Fox won't be the primary decision maker on 11 & 12, not the college prez's...That's a good thing for those of us hoping Uconn's consideration comes down to capitalistic forces and not bball irrelevant factors like public or private school....that was a brilliant concept for expansion from 7-10 but now that the league is in a more stable position (an actual commish now) it's far too restrictive going forward. If it comes down to $$ then there's some chance something can be worked out.

[Bill Marsh]

If expansion is real, Fox-driven, or inevitable...so be it.

UConn will suffer greatly in the AAC and will look for an immediate out - before their living (and reduced monetary income) in a mid major conference begins to hurt their recruiting efforts. The AAC as C-USA East will kill the UConn program. If a deal can be worked, UConn should be given preference in returning to the BE. The Zags should be the 12th team - they have expressed interest, and the increase in income will more than offset the travel issues (see Creighton arguments).

#11 - UConn
#12 - Gonzaga

As a Ct season ticket holder, I can tell you that UConn is not happening any time soon.

But if UConn stayed "FB only" in the AAC, they would only be better off in the Big East (for hoops, non rev sports, and academic affiliation). So yes offer UConn as #11. There will be some chicken littles scared of a football program, but this would be a big step for the Big East.

I'd also offer Temple.

That wouldn't work. UConn would still be a flight risk for years to come, undermining the stability that the Big East presidents are seeking to achieve.

[Bill Marsh]

Chicken Little #1 checking in! No UConn with FBS football. Should they downgrade, bring them in.

Dayton and SLU, or UConn and Temple?

If we are building the best hoops conference, the choice is obvious.

Agree. The obvious choice would be Gonzaga and BYU.

[cm5yz6]

blah blah blah, can we just wait until they tell us which teams they pick?

[Dew]

blah blah blah, can we just wait until they tell us which teams they pick?

Well an AD just named 4. If we are going to speculate, which is what fans do, this seems like as good a time as any.