Conference Expansion and Realignment

[knight_rider]

The football landscape will more than likely change drastically in the next couple years! When it all plays out, how will this affect our Billikens?

NEW YORK -- Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday it remains the school's "clear preference" to maintain its football independence, but that the possibility of impending Big Ten expansion and other conference realignment may ultimately impact the school's status.

"I believe we are at a point right now where the changes could be relatively small, or they could be seismic," said Swarbrick. "What I have to do along with [university president John] Jenkins is figure out where the pieces are falling."

In town to attend the Big East basketball tournament, Swarbrick and new football coach Brian Kelly met with a small group of reporters Tuesday morning. Calling the current college landscape "as unstable as I've seen it" in 29 years as a sports executive, Swarbrick said, "You could each invent a scenario that would force our hand."

The Big Ten, to which Notre Dame turned down an invitation in 1999, announced last December that it would actively begin exploring expansion. Commissioner Jim Delany has said the league will know better by this summer whether to proceed with the process. Last week, the Chicago Tribune reported that an investment firm commissioned by the conference investigated the financial merits of five schools -- Notre Dame, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers -- and confirmed that the league's existing schools would gain revenue were the Big Ten to undergo expansion.

Numerous reports have indicated the league is exploring the possibility of adding more than one team.

Meanwhile, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said last month that his league is looking "very seriously" at potential expansion in advance of negotiations over its television contracts, which expire next year.

"You have two conferences [the Big Ten and SEC] that have separated themselves economically and you've got all the other conferences lined up for their [upcoming television] renegotiations," said Swarbrick. "The bar has been set so high, and the [current] media market is so tepid, that it creates a lot of tension."

Asked why current realignment possibilities would affect the Irish more so than other shakeups that have taken place over the past 20 years, Swarbrick mentioned several hypothetical scenarios.

"What if realignment impacted the shape of the BCS?" he said. "Also, the Big East has been a great home for us [in other sports], but if there are fundamental changes to the Big East as a result of realignment, what does that do? What if a few conferences further distinguish themselves from the field? What are the competitive ramifications of that?

"... That's why I'm spending 50 percent of my time right now talking to people [about this]."

Kelly, who came to Notre Dame from Cincinnati last December, said he appreciates Notre Dame's independence, but that he isn't well-versed on the full ramifications.

"I can tell you that it is great when you look at a schedule where you're playing teams from all over the country," he said. "But I know that we have to drill a lot deeper than that."

On Monday, Notre Dame announced the latest of several upcoming neutral-site games, a 2011 game against Maryland at FedEx Field. Last season the Irish played Washington State in San Antonio, and this fall they will face Army at Yankee Stadium. The initiative to play more "barnstorming" games began under former athletic director Kevin White (now at Duke), who lamented in 2006 that, "Over time, we've really begun to behave like a wannabe conference member. I think it was real important for us to go back to our roots and behave more like an independent."

Swarbrick reiterated Tuesday that, "while we're paying attention [to realignment], we're trying like heck to maintain our football independence. It's good for college football and it's great for Notre Dame. That's our goal."[/b]

[Cowboy]

-thanks for the article, where is it from?

-there was something last week, either on line or on radio and i can't remember where, that said the conference layout in 18 months will be radically different than today's alignment, that was someone's prediction so that $1.00 will get you a cup of coffee

-with the big10 and pac10 on the prowl, i would bet something is going to start the dominos to falling, the extent to which is the key for slu

-good thing our arrow on the bball program is headed in the right direction as if we get left behind this time i would think we are screwed for some time

[knight_rider]

The article was on si.com

[bk18]

SLU needs to land among nearby private schools like Marquette, Xavier, DePaul, Dayton.

Also if the Big East splits up football teams from non-football teams, SLU needs to land among those non-football teams. This could mean SLU and Notre Dame in the same conference.

[griffin/billiken]

SLU needs to land among nearby private schools like Marquette, Xavier, DePaul, Dayton.

Also if the Big East splits up football teams from non-football teams, SLU needs to land among those non-football teams. This could mean SLU and Notre Dame in the same conference.

This should get the talk of the mythical catholic basketball conference going again.

Perhaps something like.....

Notre Dame

Marquette

Depaul

SLU

Xavier

Dayton

Seton Hall

Villanova

Georgetown

Providence

Good times.

[MusicCityBilliken]

This should get the talk of the mythical catholic basketball conference going again.

Perhaps something like.....

Notre Dame

Marquette

Depaul

SLU

Xavier

Dayton

Seton Hall

Villanova

Georgetown

Providence

Good times.

Add St John's. Only one problem with this league, its too Catholic.

[bk18]

This should get the talk of the mythical catholic basketball conference going again.

Perhaps something like.....

Notre Dame

Marquette

Depaul

SLU

Xavier

Dayton

Seton Hall

Villanova

Georgetown

Providence

Good times.

No, There may be a lot of Catholic Universities in SLU's next conference, but that's because of COINCIDENCE.

Our emphasis should be to be with other schools from the midwest, that are private, and have respectable basketball programs.

Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Providence need to leave the list. Too far east.

Its just coincidence that almost all other midwest private schools with good basketball programs are Catholic - ie. ND, Marquette, Depaul, Dayton, Xavier.

You could even consider Creighton in the mix as well.

[davidlee]

No, There may be a lot of Catholic Universities in SLU's next conference, but that's because of COINCIDENCE.

Our emphasis should be to be with other schools from the midwest, that are private, and have respectable basketball programs.

Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Providence need to leave the list. Too far east.

Its just coincidence that almost all other midwest private schools with good basketball programs are Catholic - ie. ND, Marquette, Depaul, Dayton, Xavier.

You could even consider Creighton in the mix as well.

Don't forget St. John's

[davidlee]

sorry I didn't see the previous reply about St. John's

[slu72]

Add St John's. Only one problem with this league, its too Catholic.

What about St. Joes?

[slu72]

If the A-10 is smart and planning for the future, they should be ready to pickup the pieces when the bombs start falling, and they will fall. I've a friend who's connected to Ohio St. athletics and he says Big 10 will expand because of their TV network and might even go to 14 teams. They'd prefer ND be one of them of course. As for ND, the big thing is how quickly can Kelly make that program relevant again on a national basis. If not, NBC's deal with them might go by the wayside. When ND says "we like our FB independence" they really mean we like keeping all them NBC bucks for ourselves. But if those bucks aren't there, then ND FB's going to have to find a home somewhere. No doubt any conference would love to have them. This is going to be fun to watch and see where it all shakes out. Message for SLU (and RM), now is not the time to be thinking about jumping to the MVC.

[Iggy]

Butler would also be a nice addition. They've got to be tired of not playing any competition.

[jjray]

Butler would also be a nice addition. They've got to be tired of not playing any competition.

If ND goes to the Big 10 and Temple takes their place in the Big East, Butler would be a nice replacement. I think it helps the SLU travel problem if Butler joins the league.

[Iggy]

Also, isn't Drake private? If you're going to steal Creighton, you may as well take Drake with them.

[slu72]

Also, isn't Drake private? If you're going to steal Creighton, you may as well take Drake with them.

Bradley as well?

[Iggy]

OK

SLU

Dayton

Xavier

Marquette

DePaul

Creighton

Drake

Bradley

Butler

9 teams. Play everyone twice (16 games). Last place misses the conference tournament played at a neutral site (Kansas City?)

If you get Notre Dame to join...even better.

[MB73]

You are all dreaming...

[billiken_roy]

the only chance of getting notre dame to join the dream papal conference would be for notre dame to stay independent in football. however, i believe the dominos will only fall when notre dame decides to join a conference for football. so notre dame will never be part of the papal conference imo.

everyday there is another article about the rumors of the pac 10 and big ten adding teams. for someone to think it (a conference shuffle) just isnt going to happen imo is not facing reality. now whether it will lead to a new midwest basketball conference i dont know. but it will be the best chance of something happening if the pac 10 and/or the big ten indeed decide to pull the lever.

[slu72]

Bradley as well?

The big question in all of this conference realignment, besides ND's FB future, is what does it mean for the Big East? Should the Big 10 raid the BE for a FB school, I think they'd simply offer Temple the opening. Then nothing much happens. Now if they take 3 to make a 14 game conference, then the BE's got some real shuffling to do. They'd be left w/ a 5 team FB conference and that dog won't hunt. But bottom line, I'm not getting my hopes up for any future w/ the Big East schools. If they lose 3 FB schools, they'll somehow struggle on, albeit they may be somewhat smaller and very insignificant in FB. Our best hope is for X, SLU, Dayton, and maybe Duquense to start a new conference of MW private schools where we try and woo MU and DePaul away from the BE. Butler from the Horizon. And Creighton from the MVC. I know DePaul gets some $$ from the big east but they can't be real pleased about their situation. MU likes it because they continue to do well in it, but give them a bad year or two and they may feel differently as well. These two schools are doing a lot more travelling than we are to play their scheds. A conference of X, UD, SLU, DePaul, MU, Butler, Creighton, and 4 more would be pretty good conference. Not sure though Butler would want to pull out of the Horizon as they pretty much dominate it and virtually guaranteed a dance bid every year.

[Pistol]

the only chance of getting notre dame to join the dream papal conference would be for notre dame to stay independent in football. however, i believe the dominos will only fall when notre dame decides to join a conference for football. so notre dame will never be part of the papal conference imo.

everyday there is another article about the rumors of the pac 10 and big ten adding teams. for someone to think it (a conference shuffle) just isnt going to happen imo is not facing reality. now whether it will lead to a new midwest basketball conference i dont know. but it will be the best chance of something happening if the pac 10 and/or the big ten indeed decide to pull the lever.

Unless Kelly immediately returns Notre Dame to its glory days, that NBC contract isn't going to last forever and ND is going to have to face the music by joining a conference. Once that happens, some dominoes are going to fall and the A10 is a prime conference for breaking up, just like CUSA was (how do we always wind up in these?). The perfect balance in the Big East right now would also be shaken because they'd gain a 9th for football or lose one of 16 for basketball.

It could happen sooner if any of these Big Ten or Pac 10 expansion talks come to fruition, which would probably be before anything happens with ND. The more and more we see these articles, the more realistic and imminent they all seem. Let's face it, if BCS conferences have a chance to make more money, they're going to do whatever they can to make it happen.

I agree, Roy, that whether a new conference springs out of this, it's impossible to tell at this point. Whatever happens, it's going to be interesting.

[cheeseman]

Also, isn't Drake private? If you're going to steal Creighton, you may as well take Drake with them.

Gee if you are going take Drake just because they are private why not Detroit Mercy and Oral Roberts and Loyola of Chicago, and ... See my point - we don't need to take a school because they are private we need to get in a league with basketball powers Period!

[cheeseman]

The big question in all of this conference realignment, besides ND's FB future, is what does it mean for the Big East? Should the Big 10 raid the BE for a FB school, I think they'd simply offer Temple the opening. Then nothing much happens. Now if they take 3 to make a 14 game conference, then the BE's got some real shuffling to do. They'd be left w/ a 5 team FB conference and that dog won't hunt. But bottom line, I'm not getting my hopes up for any future w/ the Big East schools. If they lose 3 FB schools, they'll somehow struggle on, albeit they may be somewhat smaller and very insignificant in FB. Our best hope is for X, SLU, Dayton, and maybe Duquense to start a new conference of MW private schools where we try and woo MU and DePaul away from the BE. Butler from the Horizon. And Creighton from the MVC. I know DePaul gets some $$ from the big east but they can't be real pleased about their situation. MU likes it because they continue to do well in it, but give them a bad year or two and they may feel differently as well. These two schools are doing a lot more travelling than we are to play their scheds. A conference of X, UD, SLU, DePaul, MU, Butler, Creighton, and 4 more would be pretty good conference. Not sure though Butler would want to pull out of the Horizon as they pretty much dominate it and virtually guaranteed a dance bid every year.

How many teams does the ACC have - I don't think they have 12. 12 seems to be the key number when it comes to football so they can qualify for holding a championship playoff game - the NCAA requires 12 teams to do that. Why is this important? Well, I think the NCAA is going to go to some kind of a bastardized playoff system eventually and they will do so by first having the power conf. have a playoff game to determine the league champion which then automatically gives the NCAA a beginning of a playoff format - the rest will be worked out later My point is that the ACC would have to expand along with all the other power conf to do this and I think the BE would lose more football teams to the ACC. This idea of Temple going to the BE for football may be moot - they may end up in the ACC. The BE will cease to exist as we know it now but something will rise in its place the questions are will we be part of it or part of a new conf made up of some A10 and BE schools. The A10 can survive but they would have to pick up some lower tiered Eastern schools.

[cheeseman]

Unless Kelly immediately returns Notre Dame to its glory days, that NBC contract isn't going to last forever and ND is going to have to face the music by joining a conference. Once that happens, some dominoes are going to fall and the A10 is a prime conference for breaking up, just like CUSA was (how do we always wind up in these?). The perfect balance in the Big East right now would also be shaken because they'd gain a 9th for football or lose one of 16 for basketball.

It could happen sooner if any of these Big Ten or Pac 10 expansion talks come to fruition, which would probably be before anything happens with ND. The more and more we see these articles, the more realistic and imminent they all seem. Let's face it, if BCS conferences have a chance to make more money, they're going to do whatever they can to make it happen.

I agree, Roy, that whether a new conference springs out of this, it's impossible to tell at this point. Whatever happens, it's going to be interesting.

Which is why SLU needs to be a mover and shaker not a bystander hoping somebody comes to them.

[brianstl]

Unless Kelly immediately returns Notre Dame to its glory days, that NBC contract isn't going to last forever and ND is going to have to face the music by joining a conference. Once that happens, some dominoes are going to fall and the A10 is a prime conference for breaking up, just like CUSA was (how do we always wind up in these?). The perfect balance in the Big East right now would also be shaken because they'd gain a 9th for football or lose one of 16 for basketball.

It could happen sooner if any of these Big Ten or Pac 10 expansion talks come to fruition, which would probably be before anything happens with ND. The more and more we see these articles, the more realistic and imminent they all seem. Let's face it, if BCS conferences have a chance to make more money, they're going to do whatever they can to make it happen.

I agree, Roy, that whether a new conference springs out of this, it's impossible to tell at this point. Whatever happens, it's going to be interesting.

Notre Dame has a contract until 2016 with NBC.

ND may be forced to make a move to protect itself when it comes to its other sports.

[Pistol]

Which is why SLU needs to be a mover and shaker not a bystander hoping somebody comes to them.

Yep. And it looks like our program is on the rise at a good time. If we build on what we've done this year, we'll be an attractive get for a conference looking for a non-football school. The commitment shown by building a new arena and paying a coach seven figures has to look great.