gister Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Apparently in a speech last night, the Syracuse coach made these comments which were summarized on the Syracuse board. So this is a summary of what he said as provided by someone who was there. ....About the new big east, Louisville and Cincy are coming. they'll play in a 16 team league for a bit, then split off. Nothing earthshattering but hearing it from him has alot of weight. Summarized why Miami and VT are in the ACC. Ripped on VT for being real loyal (sarcasm) said that they said they wouldn't go to the ACC on fri afternoon, got the invite Fri evening and were in Sat morning... While this is nothing new, coming from someone on the inside, this is not very encouraging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 That is not very encouraging news at all. However, I would like to see what Boeheim actually said...did he say Louisville and Cincy WILL be coming or something like they are our top two choices and we will offer soon? Big difference between the two of them. A fan's summary can be bias and maybe he just heard what he wanted to. At least thats what i'm hoping as I would not like to see these teams leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 I think it is fairly certain that DePaul, Marquette, Cincy, and Louisville are gone. Tulane, Houston, UAB, and TCU appear to have found new homes. In short, CUSA will not exist in two years. What happens to the rest of us? When Boeheim explained that the 16 team league will eventually split, I assume he means there will be a new 8 team basketball league and a new 8 team football league once current Big East contractual obligations expire. Should we consider going independent until the split and hope to be included when it happens? Should we take the lead in forming a new conference? Should we lobby to join the A-10? Should we concede mid-major status and join the Horizon or Mo Valley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Marquette and DePaul are gone. The Big East may take Xavier and Dayton or other teams from the A-10 before Marquette & DePaul. I think SLU should try to stay w/ either of these pairs that is left out of the Big East. If Marquette & DePaul go, then try to get in the A-10. If A-10 teams go, then stay w/ Marquette & DePaul in CUSA or maybe look at a new midwest league formed around SLU, Marquette & DePaul. If none of this works then look at other leagues like MVC or Horizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 First off our strategy should be to field the best team that we can. Marquette would not have been considered five years ago. Make the basketball team a hot commodity. Second, if the Big East splits into two 8 team conferences, my guess is that the 8 team conferences will grow to 12 teams in 3-5 years. So any strategy needs to flexible enough to consider membership in the Big East at that time. The lure of money is such that the pressure is on conferences to grow in size, I also see future pressures placed on teams to join conferences with schools of similar mission and academic standing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted September 5, 2003 Author Share Posted September 5, 2003 As far as the exact words, all I have is this person's summary. Here is the link. http://syracuse.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid...1823559&style=1 As mentioned in a post above, the Atlantic-10 seems to be pretty shaky as well. So the basketball only schools might come from the A-10 rather than C-USA. If C-USA can hang onto Marquette and DePaul, then SLU should stay put for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Actually, I find these comments somewhat encouraging. Why would Marquette and DePaul wish to go to the Big East if they knew it split up shortly? The basketball only side of the league is not all that impressive. Also, when the 8 basketball schools inevitably split, they will have to add 2-4 teams and several of those teams would have to be geographically closer to Marquette and DePaul (if they are indeed part of a 16 team Big East). Remember, nobody has got this whole conference realignment thing right ahead of time. It's had more twists than a pretzel. I really expect another twist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Marquette and DePaul want to be with Notre Dame (apparently more than they want to be with SLU; "sniff, sniff"). They used to have home and away arrangements as independents. And don't forget that Marquette cracked first as an independent and joined the MCC. In fact SLU's final year in the MCC does not look so bad in retrospect (particularly when you flip Loyola and DePaul): MCC 90-91 Xavier Butler Saint Louis Dayton Evansville Marquette Loyola Detroit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 It is likely that Marquette/DePaul and Xavier/Dayton are selling themselves as a package to be the two basketball expansions. I would agree that Marquette/DePaul is the frontrunner but also agree it is far from a done deal. The Boston Globe reported that Bigger East wanted Marquette/Xavier ideally but they probably won't come that way. But given Boeheim's comments the 16 team behemoth may be a transitional thing so keeping a good profile will be important in the long run. There are a few battles ahead (the ACC will likely want another team which will undoubtedly tip dominoes into the mess). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Cincy. No way Cincy will let them join the Big East. They kept X out of the Great Midwest and CUSA when Xavier wanted in. I have to think Cincy played a role in Dayton not getting into CUSA as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 If this is true than What I would see is the New Big east playing one or two years then adding more football school and the Basketball schools going to a 10 or twelve team league. What is left of CUSA may very well supply those additional football and basketball teams. Thus no one loses automatic bids etc..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Cincinnati will be appying for membership in the Bigger East, so they won't be in position to make demands about what other teams the Big East invites to join. If they were already a full-fledged member, they might have *some* influence, but they aren't. If the Big East wants to invite Cincy, Louisville, Dayton, and Xavier, after evaluating the options, why would Cincy say, "no"? The difference in Cincinnati's keeping Xavier out of the Great Midwest and Conference USA is that they were part of FORMING the conference and were the prime attraction. Not so in the Big East. Furthermore, if the football schools still intend to split from the non-football schools, Xavier wouldn't be in the same conference as Cincinnati for long. They already play each other every year as it is, and the new conference makeup would probably divide the conference into divisions based on football or not, so Cincinnati would still play Xavier just one time per year. I don't see the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 maybe cincy is stupid enough to declare, "it's either us or them" and stays in c-usa with us lowly billikens. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 That is correct. We have to make our team as good as possible and the new arena and decent fan support for it would also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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