TheBand Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Memphis is NOT headed to the Big East http://www.whas11.com/sports/stories/08051....1032de810.html 04:04 PM EDT on Thursday, May 15, 2008 (WHAS11)A Memphis television station is reporting that the University of Memphis along with East Carolina University are in talks to join the Big East Conference. WHAS11’s Kyle Draper spoke with a conference official Thursday afternoon and was told there was no truth to the rumors. “We are not talking about expansion with any institution,” said Chuck Sullivan, Director of Communications for the Big East. Both schools currently participate in Conference USA. That is the same conference the University of Louisville was in before joining the Big East in 2005. Memphis and coach John Calipari has enjoyed much success in C-USA over the past few years, including a trip to the NCAA National Championship game this past April. Web story by Kyle Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 East Carolina? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 East Carolina? Hey, it worked for South Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmarsh Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Should of known it is a rumor since the station of the source is not in memphis its out of Louisville,ky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Run49er Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Should of known it is a rumor since the station of the source is not in memphis its out of Louisville,kyActually, the source is out of Memphis - FOX13: MyFOXMemphis.com: Tigers Could 'Upgrade' to Big East And this on East Carolina: TheWizardofOdds.com: Is East Carolina Knocking on Big East Door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Maybe a cascade of schools on the move. The Big East takes Memphis and ???, then drops Marquette and DePaul. The A-10 picks up Marquette and DePaul and drops ??? and ???. Then the A-10 goes to divisional play in b-ball with western and eastern conferences. SLU, Xavier, Dayton, Marquette, and DePaul head the western conference. ... Damn, the cat just nudged me and I woke up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STLfan Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Maybe a cascade of schools on the move. The Big East takes Memphis and ???, then drops Marquette and DePaul. The A-10 picks up Marquette and DePaul and drops ??? and ???. Then the A-10 goes to divisional play in b-ball with western and eastern conferences. SLU, Xavier, Dayton, Marquette, and DePaul head the western conference. ... Damn, the cat just nudged me and I woke up. I doubt the Big East would drop just DePaul and Marquette it will probably be all the bball only schools or none. However if they ever did we should leave the A10 and join them along with X and Dayton. Dayton, DePaul, Marquette, Saint Louis and Xavier is a good start to an eight or ten team league. We could then pick teams from the MVC and remaining A10 to get to 8 or 10 teams. Get something like this: Bradley Buttler Creighton Dayton DePaul Marquette Saint Louis Xavier Or Dayton DePaul Duquesne Marquette Saint Louis Saint Joseph's Temple Xavier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Dayton DePaul Duquesne Marquette Saint Louis Saint Joseph's Temple Xavier So, threw in one public school just for the heck of it, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I doubt the Big East would drop just DePaul and Marquette it will probably be all the bball only schools or none. However if they ever did we should leave the A10 and join them along with X and Dayton. Dayton, DePaul, Marquette, Saint Louis and Xavier is a good start to an eight or ten team league. We could then pick teams from the MVC and remaining A10 to get to 8 or 10 teams. Get something like this: Bradley Buttler Creighton Dayton DePaul Marquette Saint Louis Xavier Or Dayton DePaul Duquesne Marquette Saint Louis Saint Joseph's Temple Xavier The addition of Marquette and DePaul was done to reassure the other basketball only schools that they would not be outnumbered in a football school confererence. The football schools would much rather have added Memphis (and I guess East Carolina) than Marquette and DePaul but Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, etc. would not allow it. Hence, this shows the instability of the Big East. Deja vu - see Great Midwest, expanding to add football and become Conf USA to then break off into Big East. Football schools want more schools like Cincy and W VA rather than Marquette and DePaul. The compromise so far is that the football schools don't want to lose Georgetown, St. John's Villanova, etc. at the expense of adding more football schools. When they do, and I believe it is more a matter of time rather than if, the other basketball schools will be looking for new teams/new conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 When they do, and I believe it is more a matter of time rather than if, the other basketball schools will be looking for new teams/new conference. According to the Memphis report on Fox, and by the way is Ms. Tallent not appropriately named?, the BE football schools rec'd $18 mil for their football programs. Each of the 8 FB schools rec'd $2.25 mil. That means no BB only schools share in BE football revenue. Which. to me. says, the BE is not trimming down the BB only school count. I thought that would be the straw that broke the camel's back in the BE, ie sharing of FB revenue w/ non FB schools. But since they don't, there's really no reason to kick them to the curb. If the BE went strictly FB, they'd have a watered down BB league. And hoops is still their claim to fame and fortune. Sorry, to ruin our dreams about a hoops only conference with some real biggies involved, but the BE is here to stay it appears, and may even get bigger. Even if ND loses it's NBC deal and departs for the big 10, where it should be, the BE ain't tearing apart any time soon. This is a shame, because a hoops only school conference makes so much sense even from a $$$ point of view. No doubt, this conf would land an ESPN deal, travel costs could be greatly reduced, and the NCAA pool would grow significantly. Just don't think it's in the cards though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 When they do, and I believe it is more a matter of time rather than if, the other basketball schools will be looking for new teams/new conference. According to the Memphis report on Fox, and by the way is Ms. Tallent not appropriately named?, the BE football schools rec'd $18 mil for their football programs. Each of the 8 FB schools rec'd $2.25 mil. That means no BB only schools share in BE football revenue. Which. to me. says, the BE is not trimming down the BB only school count. I thought that would be the straw that broke the camel's back in the BE, ie sharing of FB revenue w/ non FB schools. But since they don't, there's really no reason to kick them to the curb. If the BE went strictly FB, they'd have a watered down BB league. And hoops is still their claim to fame and fortune. Sorry, to ruin our dreams about a hoops only conference with some real biggies involved, but the BE is here to stay it appears, and may even get bigger. Even if ND loses it's NBC deal and departs for the big 10, where it should be, the BE ain't tearing apart any time soon. This is a shame, because a hoops only school conference makes so much sense even from a $$$ point of view. No doubt, this conf would land an ESPN deal, travel costs could be greatly reduced, and the NCAA pool would grow significantly. Just don't think it's in the cards though. The BE also has to take into consideration of some of its more elite programs (strong in both football & bball) jumped ship recently. Already they have recently lost VA Tech, Miami and BC (who would thought ACC would have taken them). I think it is would be a blessing if Memphis and ECU go to the BE. This I think down the road would further a split between the football/bball schools with the bball only schools with eventual differences that will come up. This may eventual allow SLU to slip in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 When they do, and I believe it is more a matter of time rather than if, the other basketball schools will be looking for new teams/new conference. According to the Memphis report on Fox, and by the way is Ms. Tallent not appropriately named?, the BE football schools rec'd $18 mil for their football programs. Each of the 8 FB schools rec'd $2.25 mil. That means no BB only schools share in BE football revenue. Which. to me. says, the BE is not trimming down the BB only school count. I thought that would be the straw that broke the camel's back in the BE, ie sharing of FB revenue w/ non FB schools. But since they don't, there's really no reason to kick them to the curb. If the BE went strictly FB, they'd have a watered down BB league. And hoops is still their claim to fame and fortune. Sorry, to ruin our dreams about a hoops only conference with some real biggies involved, but the BE is here to stay it appears, and may even get bigger. Even if ND loses it's NBC deal and departs for the big 10, where it should be, the BE ain't tearing apart any time soon. This is a shame, because a hoops only school conference makes so much sense even from a $$$ point of view. No doubt, this conf would land an ESPN deal, travel costs could be greatly reduced, and the NCAA pool would grow significantly. Just don't think it's in the cards though. They will kick the BB only schools to the curb when they decide it makes financial sense to add more football teams. When they add more football teams the conference will be just too big with the basketball schools. 16 scools is really too big for a conference, but anymore would be impossible. The football schools won't actually be kicking the BB teams to the curb but will form a new conference as the basketball schools (St Johns, Nova, Providence, etc.) control the Big East name. When the football teams decide to add more schools I would be suprised if Memphis is the first school on their list. Memphis will might be part of an expansion, but a school like Central Florida would be far more important to them. New stadium, better facilities overall, much larger/growing TV market, in a very fertile recruiting area, and it would add a team close to USF that would help with travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 They will kick the BB only schools to the curb when they decide it makes financial sense to add more football teams. When they add more football teams the conference will be just too big with the basketball schools. 16 scools is really too big for a conference, but anymore would be impossible. The football schools won't actually be kicking the BB teams to the curb but will form a new conference as the basketball schools (St Johns, Nova, Providence, etc.) control the Big East name. When the football teams decide to add more schools I would be suprised if Memphis is the first school on their list. Memphis will might be part of an expansion, but a school like Central Florida would be far more important to them. New stadium, better facilities overall, much larger/growing TV market, in a very fertile recruiting area, and it would add a team close to USF that would help with travel. I agree. A split or change with another conference could easily set in motion a change in/of the BE. Absent changes by other schools/conferences, the BE does appear stable right now. Also, I am not sure that the BE will continue to get a very large number of its teams in the BB NCAA Tournament each year. No doubt that many were good and deserving and this year but.... Complaints from the 4th and 5th place teams from the A10 and MO Valley will not affect the Committee. Complaints by the 4th and 5th place teams of the Big 10, ACC and PAC10 will. These other BCS conferences will not allow 8 to 9 teams from the Big East each year. If I am correct and several "name" schools from the BE sit home each during during the Tourney, some of these schools (especially BB only schools who are most dependent upon the Tourney to support their entire athletic departmen) will start complaining and rethink their committment to the BE. How long will it take DePaul (and Marquette without Crean) to realize that being in he top 6 of the BE (to make the NCAA) is alot tougher than top 3 or 4 of other conferences. DePaul will become (if they aren't already) the Nortwestern of the BE -- a non-threatening team that the conference still wants b/c of its TV market and ability to come to Chicago to recruit while playing in front of their alumni. Nothing over the next 5 years but the BE will break up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I agree. A split or change with another conference could easily set in motion a change in/of the BE. Absent changes by other schools/conferences, the BE does appear stable right now. Also, I am not sure that the BE will continue to get a very large number of its teams in the BB NCAA Tournament each year. No doubt that many were good and deserving and this year but.... Complaints from the 4th and 5th place teams from the A10 and MO Valley will not affect the Committee. Complaints by the 4th and 5th place teams of the Big 10, ACC and PAC10 will. These other BCS conferences will not allow 8 to 9 teams from the Big East each year. If I am correct and several "name" schools from the BE sit home each during during the Tourney, some of these schools (especially BB only schools who are most dependent upon the Tourney to support their entire athletic departmen) will start complaining and rethink their committment to the BE. How long will it take DePaul (and Marquette without Crean) to realize that being in he top 6 of the BE (to make the NCAA) is alot tougher than top 3 or 4 of other conferences. DePaul will become (if they aren't already) the Nortwestern of the BE -- a non-threatening team that the conference still wants b/c of its TV market and ability to come to Chicago to recruit while playing in front of their alumni. Nothing over the next 5 years but the BE will break up. I'd agree with Brian if they add more FB schools the ECU and MU, which they'll have to in order to have a playoff, read more bucks for that. Also, should schools like Providence, St. Johns, DePaul, Seton Hall, and, possibly a Creanless MU, continue to miss NCAA bids, they might bolt saying they just can't compete. I'm sure the reason they don't now is the bucks pouring in from the NCAA filtering down to their athletic departments, plus what ever cash comes in from ESPN and other TV sources, is keeping them happy. But if it starts to get diluted, that might make them rethink their alliance. I can't see a 20 team conference, but anything's possible these days. I think they may regret not taking Memphis over DePaul or even Marquette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB73 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Yer all dreaming. A-10 sucks, MVC sucks but would be better than goddam A-10. Dont get me wrong, I hope miracle happens and we wind up with ND, DePaul, Xavier, Marquette, etc.. but by the time that happens, we will be too old to drive to Chaifetz, park, get up the steps, drive home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Yer all dreaming. A-10 sucks, MVC sucks but would be better than goddam A-10. Dont get me wrong, I hope miracle happens and we wind up with ND, DePaul, Xavier, Marquette, etc.. but by the time that happens, we will be too old to drive to Chaifetz, park, get up the steps, drive home... we arent going to talk about geography and your desire to see corn fields when you and the ten other people that travel to see games drive the station wagon through the heartland again are we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Although a little bias, this article that appeared in the So Mississippi Sun shows it is not all nirvana starting football> Time to extinguish the UAB Blazers The decision to establish a football program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was controversial from the start. Paul "Bear" Bryant, hardly an impartial observer but one with a sharp and practical mind, is said to have thought the move was foolish, and time has proven it so. In its 17 years, UAB has cost millions of dollars but never produced a championship team or even established a loyal fan base. And the drain is enormous. The UA system put more than $6 million into the UAB Athletic Department during the 2005 fiscal year; the school still posted an $88,000 deficit. Last week came the announcement that UAB lost nine football scholarships during the latest National Collegiate Athletic Association review. It also showed UAB as the second-most penalized school in the country. Enough is enough. It is high time that the UA Board of Trustees pulled the plug on UAB's football program and ended this dismal experiment. THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS Tuscaloosa, Ala Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Yer all dreaming. A-10 sucks, MVC sucks but would be better than goddam A-10. I don't understand the point. I don't think we have a poster on this board who who would not prefer to be in the BE. What do you suggest?? play as a independent?? I have not been happy with our conference affiliation since the Great MW Conference exploded (with exception of Louisville) with all those NASCAR schools and it became CUSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Tarheal. In order to understand his point, you must understand the huge ego and arrogance of the average Marquette fan who still thinks Al Maquire will come back for another run. Marquette had its nice and glory years in the 60's and 70's. For that matter, the four (4) "Great Independents" all did - Marquette, ND, Dayton and DePaul. National television every Saturday, winning seasons, sending guys into the NBA. Don Donoher at Dayton had some really good years. Ray Meyer was a legendary coach with all that talent and success. Digger Phelpps did quite well, ended UCLA's winning streak, etc and Marquette and Al Maquire won it all in '77 or '78. For those of age, who didn't watch these teams on Saturday afternoon. There were no Monday night games - or for that matter - nearly any night games on TV, no Sports Center, etc. Since then, these programs and their fans cannot come to grips with the fact these glory days are over. The Big East (backed by ESPN) changed the landscape of college basketball and schools like GTown, Seton Hall and St. Johns replaced the Great Independents in the 1980s. Now, the BCS conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Pac10) have caught up to and surpassed the BE again. The landscape keeps changing as the money shifts. 30 years of bitterness and frustration that Marquette may again be on an equal level with SLU (and behind Xavier) is so painful for these dinosaurs. All they have left are internet message boards to b*tch and moan and put other programs down in an effort to elevate themselves. Why do you think Crean left Marquette? He knows the future of Marquette basketball. So do the MU fans, down deep, but they don't want to admit it. Fantasy land is much more fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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