Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[Michael in Raleigh]

For what it's worth, I watched the Nova game on Saturday at a bar with a BC booster who was very unhappy with life in the ACC.

He says he thinks he's probably in the minority, but he doesn't see any way that BC will ever be able to compete in the upper echelon of either football or men's basketball. Says the other boosters are fooling themselves into thinking that they're just "the right hire away" from competing with Florida State or Clemson in football. Thinks they've unwittingly signed up for decades and decades of beatings on the football field and on the basketball court.

He said he was very jealous of The Big East. He says that's the kind of conference that he wishes BC was in - one where there were a bunch of schools that were roughly the same size with similar backgrounds and resources. Said if he was the AD at BC, he'd leave the ACC in a heartbeat for a conference that included Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers, UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, and one or two other schools.

I think BC is not as bad off as everyone says they are. Duke was arguably the worst football progra m in the country a decade ago. Now they're a bowl regular and have even won a division championship. Also, BC was very competitive in the ACC at the beginning of their ACC tenure. The dicference was that they had Tom O'Brien and later Jeff Jagodzinski as coaches.

Meanwhkle, hoops was also competetive at the beginning of its ACC tenure. Coaching really does make a huge difference. Look how much coaching has made a difference at Providence and Seton Hall after years of struggling (maybe not as bad as BC, but still).

[GoldenWarrior11]

I personally think the struggles that BC is currently facing goes deeper than coaching. Part of the problem that BC has faced, which probably wasn't really examined when they left the Big East in 2005, is that they separated from their Northeastern counterparts - which, in turn, had a negative impact on recruiting. Instead of consistently playing Syracuse, UConn, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Villanova, St. Johns, Georgetown, Providence and Seton Hall in football and basketball in their NE corridor, they moved into a conference that was more coastal-based - with Virginia, UNC, Duke, NC State, Wake, Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech. They achieved their goal in becoming THE New England presence in the ACC, but, in reality, in isolated and separated themselves geographically and regionally. Why would any high school recruits leave Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina to go up to the north? It's a constant uphill battle in that regard.

For basketball, BC would be much better off in the Big East - as it would allow much better regional and geographical rivals. However, for football purposes, they are just fine in the ACC. They get more money, more year-round exposure and, most importantly, guaranteed bowl tie-ins for football.

[TBC Alum]

I will repeat what I've said before - the conference is in a great place right and there is little or no incentive to add members right now. We are buyers in a buyer's market and no new potential member has made a strong case.

Yes, we need to monitor realignment and be ready to react. I used to think that the consolidation of the FB-5 to the 4x16 would be the major change. Now I look at the overall sustainability of major college football (like this BC discussion) as potentially the driving force.

In the future, conference affiliation in football may be drastically different than basketball and other sports.

[JPSchmack]

Wichita State would be a terrible addition for you.

You're plenty strong as it is. Add 1-2-3 programs from markets you can win, who are private schools and fit the identity, and you'd get 2016 Creighton & Marquette in the dance/at least discussion.

It's maddening to me that people don't understand how this works. It's like a basketball coach that only recruits shooting guards: There's only one basketball, they can't all be the starting SG. You need someone to set screens and rebound for you!

[Xudash]

I will repeat what I've said before - the conference is in a great place right and there is little or no incentive to add members right now. We are buyers in a buyer's market and no new potential member has made a strong case.

Yes, we need to monitor realignment and be ready to react. I used to think that the consolidation of the FB-5 to the 4x16 would be the major change. Now I look at the overall sustainability of major college football (like this BC discussion) as potentially the driving force.

In the future, conference affiliation in football may be drastically different than basketball and other sports.

There actually is ZERO incentive to add new members now. Nova delivered a badly needed and key piece: strengthened conference credibility by punching through to the Final Four. This year's conference tournament at MSG was a truly smashing success. Multiple ranked teams, a #1 ranked team, 2 Top 5/10 ranked teams and all that provided perception-wise throughout the regular season. Viewership is trending up. Loving the ten teams and the Round Robin format. It's all working, and very nicely.

We are in a buyers market, but with nothing worth buying presently. We certainly aren't going to do something amazingly stupid like dilute the conference with sub-par teams. Thank God for the Presidents and Val Ackerman. Nothing is a given anyway, especially when it comes to the notion of adding teams to attempt to increase NCAA bids.

The only program that has any kind of cache is Gonzaga, and it's just too far away.

[Wizard of Westroads]

^^^^^ Truth.

[anXUfan]

I also agree completely with Xudash.

[DudeAnon]

Wichita State would be a terrible addition for you.

You're plenty strong as it is. Add 1-2-3 programs from markets you can win, who are private schools and fit the identity, and you'd get 2016 Creighton & Marquette in the dance/at least discussion.

It's maddening to me that people don't understand how this works. It's like a basketball coach that only recruits shooting guards: There's only one basketball, they can't all be the starting SG. You need someone to set screens and rebound for you!

JP, the committee has proven yet again that brand matters more than metrics. How else does Syracuse with a 70 rpi get in over St. Bonaventure with a 29 RPI? Unless there is a program that elevates the brand, all we would do is dilute it by expanding.

[BEwannabe]

For what it's worth, I watched the Nova game on Saturday at a bar with a BC booster who was very unhappy with life in the ACC.

He says he thinks he's probably in the minority, but he doesn't see any way that BC will ever be able to compete in the upper echelon of either football or men's basketball. Says the other boosters are fooling themselves into thinking that they're just "the right hire away" from competing with Florida State or Clemson in football. Thinks they've unwittingly signed up for decades and decades of beatings on the football field and on the basketball court.

He said he was very jealous of The Big East. He says that's the kind of conference that he wishes BC was in - one where there were a bunch of schools that were roughly the same size with similar backgrounds and resources. Said if he was the AD at BC, he'd leave the ACC in a heartbeat for a conference that included Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers, UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, and one or two other schools.

I think BC is not as bad off as everyone says they are.

BC isn't giving up football and they're not leaving ACC. BC is rolling in cash, 2.2B endowment, they charge 60,000+ per year and give very few merit scholarships.

[Burrito]

Reading the post, he wasn't saying BC should drop football and join the Big East. He was in favor of BC being in a conference with other mediocre northern football schools (Pittsburgh, Syracuse, UConn, Temple). Obviously BC isn't leaving the ACC. They are cashing +$20 million checks each year. It's not great for fans though as the school is a bottom feeder in basketball and not much better in a weak football conference. I wouldn't want BC in the Big East. They're horrible.