Big East Meetings

[Goose85]

Great article by the Orlando Sentinel on the Big East meetings.

Seems all in attendance were impressed / excited about the presentations made by NBC and CBS.

One of the more interesting things that was outlined by both NBC and CBS was "... the Big East will represent nearly 32 million television households -- twice as many as other conference in the country."

I'm sure the Big East expansion with Houston / Dallas / Orlando / Memphis was not done in a vacuum.

With the football only schools "... the league will have teams in 13 of the top 50 media markets spanning four time zones in 2013."

If these networks are looking to bid, with the Big East somewhat the last in line for a contract, I'm thinking that the Big East may very well get a deal close to as good as the ACC. If that happens, and down the road Florida State goes Big 12 (which was given the last rights less than a year ago) why would any of our teams go to the ACC?

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-21/sports/os-main-big-east-meetings-0520-20120521_1_commissioner-john-marinatto-spring-meetings-new-tv-deal

[ge1974]

Coaches want an 18 team tournament so no team is left out. Two play in-games.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/owlsinq/152626395.html

Of course, the way conference expansion talk is heating up who knows how many Big East teams they'll be in 2014. Everyone talks of the Big East being the loser with conference expansion but if I were connected to the ACC in some way, I'd be real, real worried today. More talk regarding Florida State to the Big 12 (with possibly Clemson, as IWB first reported awhile back) and also talk of Virginia Tech and NC State joining the SEC as that conference wants to get to 16 teams and have their own television network.

If the ACC loses four teams what happens to the league and Syracuse and PITT? Do they still go? Does the ACC raid the Big East again? I read today that USF may be looking for a new league. This merry-go-round isn't going to stop anytime soon and the Big Ten may be worried and start considering adding more teams to get to sixteen (Ga Tech, Maryland?, Duke?, UNC?, Virginia?). What would happen to BC, Miami, Wake Forest? When Jim Delany started this entire mess, could even HE have possibly envsioned such an earthquake in college sports?

Read this for more:
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/5/22/3036458/ncaa-conference-realignment-big-12-fsu-clemson-notre-dame-acc

[Goose85]

Hopefully the Big East will get an ACC like tv deal that will make the current members happy - willing to stay, or at least not wanting to move to the ACC.

If Florida State and Clemson leave the ACC, why is the ACC a better conference than the Big East? I think the Big East would then become a better conference, already is in basketball.

TV deal is the key to keeping things going as they are in the Big East. Who knows, if money becomes close to equal, Florida State continues to rumble about leaving, would Syracuse still want to go (as GE1974 said)?

[TheSultan]

Interesting article by Dan Wetzel, which says what I have been saying for years about Tranghese and the Big East leadership. Simply that they have been behind the thought curve in college athletics for a long time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--bowl-deal-shows-acc--big-east-were-remiss-in-not-lobbying-for-eight-team-playoff.html#more-id

I also think the ACC made a mistake with their latest expansion. They watered down their product even more, and when you are a high-revenue football school like Florida State, they don't want to share the pot with the likes of Syracuse and Pitt. VA Tech and Miami at least gave them football cred and eyeballs. Syracuse and Pitt don't accomplish either of that.

[Goose85]

I also think the ACC made a mistake with their latest expansion. They watered down their product even more, and when you are a high-revenue football school like Florida State, they don't want to share the pot with the likes of Syracuse and Pitt. VA Tech and Miami at least gave them football cred and eyeballs. Syracuse and Pitt don't accomplish either of that.

Good point Sultan - expanding needs to make financial sense.

Syracuse and Pitt very well may have cost the other ACC schools money in the tv deal they just signed, which may be a reason Fla State is considering a move.

Could the ACC have gotten pretty close to the same money without Syracuse and Pitt? My guess is yes which could have resulted in a few mil more per school. I think that is why the Big 12 schools are not all on board with expansion. New members better bring in more per year than the current membership is receiving, or else it is a poor decision.

[CaribouJim]

Luke Winn weighs in on the realignment - ouch - BE takes a huge hit - not surprising but not fun to look at:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/luke_winn/05/22/conference.rankings/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_wr_a1

[CaribouJim]

Another SI columnist on the BE - depressing:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/05/21/big-east-realignment/index.html?sct=obinsite

While blame has been tossed liberally at recently ousted commissioner John Marinatto, it isn't anyone's fault that the Big East roster is so tenuous at the moment. The market decides which schools -- and therefore which conferences -- have value, and the market has decided that the Big East's collection of schools is not worth as much as several other groups of schools. Last week's announcement of an SEC/Big 12 partnership for a postseason football game, coupled with grousing a week earlier about the amount the ACC secured in its new media rights deal, only crystallized the new order. When the BCS was created prior to the 1998 season, there were six major conferences. Now, there are four: the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. The ACC is No. 5, and the Big East is No. 6. If the Big 12 chooses to expand and a school climbs uphill from the ACC, the resulting shuffle will harm the Big East. With the exception of non-football member Notre Dame, everyone in the Big East is at the mercy of some other league. That makes it quite difficult to plan for the future.

[TheSultan]

The fact is that none of the football playing members of the Big East want to be in the conference versus any of the "big four" and the ACC. When schools are members of the BE, but looking out for their own best interests elsewhere, you simply cannot expect stability.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Here is the BE's chance to turn the tables... Get a deal equal or slightly better than the ACC and you assure that nobody from your conference will jump to the ACC. Then when the inevitable happens and FSU and/or any of the other ACC schools jump and their deal goes down (I assume there is some clause in their contract that if schools leave the ACC won't receive full value of the deal) none of the BE schools will want to jump... Suddenly the ACC becomes the weak link and not the BE. Once all those schools left over are searching for a home we can be more selective if we add at all...

Sound to simple? I know I'm dreaming... But if the BE plays the game right they might have a chance, all depends on that TV deal though.

[TheSultan]

The Big East is not going to get a better deal than the ACC's $17+ million per school. It won't even exceed the $10 million range per football school. The product just isn't that valuable. Yeah, they have teams in nice markets...Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, etc...but the BE has teams that aren't the top draws in each of those markets.

[MU_Iceman]

The Big East and ACC need to come together and think outside the box here. They need to combine forces, and make it the best damn BB league ever assembled. The kind that some network would pay even more than for football, or close to it. Syracuse, Pitt, Duke, UNC, MU, Georgetown, Villanova, Louisville,+ Others. Wow! That is some serious hoops. And it may be, in the end what saves both conferences. Some network execs would be intrigued enough to pay top dollar for that because it's "out of the box thinking", and is kind of a "F you" to all the power mongering football schools. Granted, these schools(most of them play football too), but the BB teams would be raking in so much dough, that the balance of power would have shifted at least in this instance. make BB your cash cow.

[MUAlphaBangura]

The Big East is not going to get a better deal than the ACC's $17+ million per school. It won't even exceed the $10 million range per football school. The product just isn't that valuable. Yeah, they have teams in nice markets...Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, etc...but the BE has teams that aren't the top draws in each of those markets.

Curious Sultan. Which team's in the ACC do you consider $7+ million better than the teams in the Big East? Football in the ACC is an absolute afterthought in my mind, with FSU and Miami having a great past but nothing recently. Clemson and Va Tech are decent-solid and that's about it. The rest of that league is awful. From a competitive standpoint, I think the Big East doesn't have far to go to be as good or better than tha ACC's football programs.

[TheSultan]

It has nothing to do with quality of competition, but the eyeballs that are brought to the television sets. Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson are the ones you mention, but don't forget about huge public universities like NC State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Maryland, etc. I mean, what is the Big East's best football draw? Rutgers? UConn? Louisville??? I mean, it is a bunch of privates and lightly supported public schools. I watch a lot of college football, and I cannot think of a time when I actually sat down and watched a Big East game. B10, B12, SEC all of the time. Occasional P12 and ACC. But Big East? Rarely. I doubt I am alone in that regard.

[IWB]

True, but it also wasn't that long ago when West Virginia and Louisville were ranked #3 & #4 and squared off on a Thursday night on national TV. I fully understand that is a rarity, but not like the Big East is not capable of putting together some very good teams.

I belong to a group we call "The Traveling 7". We go to different college football games every year. We have been all over the place and have been to 2/3 Big East games including the one mentioned above. (I say 2/3 because we did hit a Memphis game, but obviously they were not Big East at the time)

Great quote from in the stands at that WVU - Louisville game.....

Goose85: (to a WVU fan) "We want to get to a game at West Virgina, what is game day like?"

Louisville fan: "You don't want to go there, their fans are a$$holes."

(Shocked, Goose85 looks at the WVU fan...)

WVU fan: "Yeah, he's right, our fans are a$$holes."

At that point the T7 crossed WVU off the list.

Anyone that is still on the younger end of the spectrum, start doing this now. It is a blast to see all of the different atmospheres/traditions, and our one regret is not starting this 10-15 years earlier than we did. We have been to places like Penn State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, Va Tech, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Memphis, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss....This year we are looking at doing a double dip. We are kind of stuck with one weekend, so we are looking at either....

Friday Hawaii @ Air Force with Saturday Washington @ Colorado (Air Force and Colorado are only 90 miles apart)
or
Thursday North Carolina @ Virginia with Saturday Florida State @ Maryland (5 hours apart) 2nd leg could be Oklahoma @ West Virginia, but I explained issue above).

[CaribouJim]

Coaches want an 18 team tournament so no team is left out. Two play in-games.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/owlsinq/152626395.html

Of course, the way conference expansion talk is heating up who knows how many Big East teams they'll be in 2014. Everyone talks of the Big East being the loser with conference expansion but if I were connected to the ACC in some way, I'd be real, real worried today. More talk regarding Florida State to the Big 12 (with possibly Clemson, as IWB first reported awhile back) and also talk of Virginia Tech and NC State joining the SEC as that conference wants to get to 16 teams and have their own television network.

If the ACC loses four teams what happens to the league and Syracuse and PITT? Do they still go? Does the ACC raid the Big East again? I read today that USF may be looking for a new league. This merry-go-round isn't going to stop anytime soon and the Big Ten may be worried and start considering adding more teams to get to sixteen (Ga Tech, Maryland?, Duke?, UNC?, Virginia?). What would happen to BC, Miami, Wake Forest? When Jim Delany started this entire mess, could even HE have possibly envsioned such an earthquake in college sports?

Read this for more:
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/5/22/3036458/ncaa-conference-realignment-big-12-fsu-clemson-notre-dame-acc

CBS Sports scribe not so excited with an 18 team tourney:

08:19 AM ET 05.23 | The Big East has expansion fever, too. [Conference] athletic directors and coaches made it clear at Tuesday's league meetings in Florida that they want to continue with an all-school Big East tournament going forward. Now let me make this clear: These guys are insane. Seriously, what's the point? Who needs an 18-team league tournament? Answer: Nobody. But that's exactly what we'll get when Houston, Memphis, SMU, Temple and UCF come aboard. ... Yes, the Big East tournament could theoretically have the same amount of rounds as the main bracket of the NCAA tournament. Yippie! It'll be an event worth ignoring for two days. The motivation behind the suggested move boils down to everybody feeling like they need to be included.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/329686-big-east-creating-a-tournament-no-one-wants?eref=sihp&sct=hp_bf2_a12

I have to agree - that just seems so unwieldy - 16 was a stretch.

[Goose85]

I don't think the ACC gets the $17 mil per school for something like 9 years. Contract is really back loaded which is what upset many of the ACC folks (like, Florida State who is thinking about leaving). That is how the Big East can make a move to something close to the cash the ACC gets and stabilize. The Big East may also be NBC's last shot as the other conferences have just finished their deals.

ACC is in trouble as is the Big East. Instead of looking to poach each other, they should look to make money together (keep members happy).
You don't need a full Big East - ACC challenge (other than two games, most are just of regional interest anyway).

What they should do is select a handful of made for tv money games each year.

First two weeks of the football season, when most big time schools are playing their 'buy' games, schedule a couple of made for tv games.

Week 1 - Louisville v. Florida State - Boise State v. Virginia Tech
Week 2 - Clemson v. Cincinnati - San Diego State v. Miami

Grab the right time slot (no NFL yet) and you are talking national games and national exposure. Take the teams expected to be the best in the conference for the upcoming season.

Do the same in hoops. Not a full conference challenge (unless the Big 10 ACC challenge falls through) but made for tv games.
UNC v Louisville
Duke v Georgetown
Florida State v MU

[Goose85]

Appears there is a 5 and 10 year look in window where media rights will be reviewed. Of course the ACC thinks that is a chance to increase, but if Florida State and Clemson leave, my guess is the media rights take a hit. Clemson AD said 80% of media rights is football related - and yet they took Syracuse and Pitt.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19116453/clemson-ad-80-percent-of-new-acc-media-rights-contract-generated-by-football

[GOMU1104]

IWB...Have you ever been to Athens for a UGA game? I lived in Atlanta last year and went up to Athens for 3 games. Awesome time. I plan on trying to get back for at least one game every year.

[IWB]

No, we haven't. We vote on our trips every year, and while Athens has made the final ballot a few times, it hasn't been selected. This year the date we are looking at does have Georgia Tech at Georgia, so it will be up for consideration. We have also considered the World's Largest Cocktail party - UGA vs Florida, but it is played on a neutral site and we like the campus feel.

Scheduling is tough because a couple of the guys in our group have kids playing high school football, and I coach grade school football, so our dates are pretty limited (especially with recent WIAA changes) Often in the weeks before or weeks after our seasons, schools like UGA are often playing buy games those weeks.

[MUAlphaBangura]

It has nothing to do with quality of competition, but the eyeballs that are brought to the television sets. Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson are the ones you mention, but don't forget about huge public universities like NC State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Maryland, etc. I mean, what is the Big East's best football draw? Rutgers? UConn? Louisville??? I mean, it is a bunch of privates and lightly supported public schools. I watch a lot of college football, and I cannot think of a time when I actually sat down and watched a Big East game. B10, B12, SEC all of the time. Occasional P12 and ACC. But Big East? Rarely. I doubt I am alone in that regard.

Can't say I've willingly watched an ACC game maybe ever. To each his own I guess. Still believe some Big East programs have shown promise, to the point they could easily be as entertaining as ACC ball. I understand the public vs private thing but market share has to be a factor also.

[Markedman]

Not very good for the BE if this turns out to be true.

1 million for the non football schools? :(

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19145336/having-gambled-on-better-media-pot-big-east-facing-deal-of-its-lifetime

[TheSultan]

"The Big East can deliver inventory, especially for a network desperate to add college sports programming. I won't say their name, but their initials are N-B-C. How would a Big East game of the week leading into or following Notre Dame's game sound?"

Uh...terrible.