Big East Catholic Schools Getting Restless

[thefish7]

What about A10 v2.1:

East
Duquesne
George Washington
LaSalle
Richmond
St Bonnie (or try to poach George Mason)
St Joe's
VCU

West
Bradley
Butler
Detroit
Drake
Creighton
Wichita St
Pick-em from Evansville, Loyola-IL, Valpo, Wright St (or SLU if they didn't join Catholic League for some reason).

Play a h/h each season in division, and an alternating game out of divison for 19 conference games each season without travel that's too destructive. Could also drop a team in each division (St Bonnie, or the pick-em unless it's SLU) and have a 17 game conference schedule. That would be a sweet conference.

[Indy_BB]

Xavier and Butler have been widely known to be the Big East privates first choices when this comes to pass. This was discussed more than a year ago on a conference call that was leaked all over the place (specifically on Marquette, Georgetowm, and Providence message boards)

Its about basketball cache and staying relevant for rights packages. Being Catholic (or even private) is secondary to having weight

[Bravesfan]

What about A10 v2.1:

East
Duquesne
George Washington
LaSalle
Richmond
St Bonnie (or try to poach George Mason)
St Joe's
VCU

West
Bradley
Butler
Detroit
Drake
Creighton
Wichita St
Pick-em from Evansville, Loyola-IL, Valpo, Wright St (or SLU if they didn't join Catholic League for some reason).

Play a h/h each season in division, and an alternating game out of divison for 19 conference games each season without travel that's too destructive. Could also drop a team in each division (St Bonnie, or the pick-em unless it's SLU) and have a 17 game conference schedule. That would be a sweet conference.

This would be a very solid conference. Let the domino falling begin!

[thefish7]

Xavier and Butler have been widely known to be the Big East privates first choices when this comes to pass. This was discussed more than a year ago on a conference call that was leaked all over the place (specifically on Marquette, Georgetowm, and Providence message boards)

Its about basketball cache and staying relevant for rights packages. Being Catholic (or even private) is secondary to having weight

Yeah I can see that, especially where Butler is concerned. That said, Xavier is going to want Dayton I think. It's a huge rivalry for them, and Dayton is no slouch... Also, though, not like there's some magic barrier at 10 teams, so they could easily target all three.

[SFP]

Lets not get out of hand. The reason the Catholic schools are protesting is two fold. One the distance they will have to travel for all sports $$$ and second the perceived and real dilution of the Big East brand which also adds up to less $$$. I'm sure their AD's communicate with each other on a routine basis and decided as group they would have more leverage. I'm not betting they are after a Catholic school only basketball league. They will take into consideration distance, branding and TV market in formulating their next steps. Their best bet in order to create a dynamic and stable league is to create a 2 divisional 16 team conference. They will most probably look at branding, TV market and impact on overhead to their respective athletic department. I still see an east coast and mid-west division as the ideal situation. The question for us is, does BU may that cut? I have to believe CU, Butler, Xavier and SLU will along with Depaul and Marquette which leaves two slots for the mid-west.

Who would be vying for those slots?:
Detroit - brings a large TV market
Dayton - Catholic school but shared TV market with Xavier
Drake - Academic reputation decent TV market but not dynamic
BU - Academic reputation Ok TV market dynamic fan base
Valpo- Academic reputation not much more

There are other schools in the mix but for one reason or the other I left off. This will be a private school conference and it will be looking to build an academic foundation/brand around it. You can bet on that.

I'm going to give Detroit an edge due to TV market and the last slot is up for grabs and that is why BU needs to be proactive because its margin for error is very slim.

[TheAsianSensation]

I'd say not to get out of hand too, but now the A-10 is talking about becoming the A-21:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8736716/atlantic-10-open-adding-big-east-basketball-schools-creating-21-team-conference-source

Now that's one way to keep the Valley untouched.

[SFP]

I'd say not to get out of hand too, but now the A-10 is talking about becoming the A-21:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8736716/atlantic-10-open-adding-big-east-basketball-schools-creating-21-team-conference-source

Now that's one way to keep the Valley untouched.

That would be ideal for The A-10 but not for those Catholic schools. Starting from scratch is sometimes your best bet. If I'm The A-10 I'd be proactive as well in building that out. Too bad The MVC was not when it had their chance.

[stevebu91]

I hope someone at BU is making a few phone calls with the other larger private schools in the MVC and having discussions with a few outside of conference schools.

Wow, realignment comes quick...sometimes overnight....

Please help....Is BU even remotely prepared for this? Could they make a decision, if necessary, within 2 or 3 days, if asked to join somewhere?

[SFP]

I've asked that question in the past and I always heard that we are happy in the MVC. I wonder if that is just talk or perhaps that is our official stance. I have a feeling we'll find out within the next year. I can't see CU staying pat. They appear to have a national ambition in their sports program. Its either upgrade or be left behind. Too many $$$ for any institution to ignore if you build a conference that can exploit the media markets effectively.

[Da Coach]

I hope someone at BU is making a few phone calls with the other larger private schools in the MVC and having discussions with a few outside of conference schools.

They would not have to make many phone calls-
There are only 4 private schools in the MVC, and none of them have as many undergraduate students as Bradley. Creighton, by virtue of a large graduate school, and several professional schools is the only private MVC school with more total students.
Bradley- enrollment- undergrads 5300, grad students 800
Drake- enrollment- undergrads 3160, grad students 2057
Creighton- enrollment- undergrads 4150, grad students 3577
Evansville- enrollment- undergrads 2900, grad students 150

[stevebu91]

There are many more private school calls they would need to make, and I would certainly see the MVC's FBS schools not being a part of the transition (from Bradley's perspective).

I am VERY FEARFUL for the university from an athletics perspective as of right now. I hope that we all don't end up angry. Athletics are such a key part of a university experience and its brand name

A reactive strategy is the wrong perspective. Get on the phone AD Cross. Inquire with the Tier 2s and don't be satisfied with a Tier 3 conference.

[SFP]

I'd call CU first and foremost and start from there. The other phone calls would go out to SLU, DePaul and Marquette. It would be a lot more advantageous to be aligned with CU. From there you can feel these schools out. The other phone calls would go out to someone who understands the media market inside and out and have them help you create a go-to market plan that can be used to plan the next steps and show possible partners how together they can create the greatest amount of revenue for their respective institutions.

The B1G media contract is worth over $25 million. How much money is the Big East or A-10 throwing towards these parties? The question if you started a league from scratch could you create a brand that can overtake the value these conferences are bringing to the table. BU better hope so! In reality I'd like to see a 32 team basketball conference from the west coast to the east coast 4 divisions with a balanced schedule. The Big America Basketball Conference!

[JMM28]

The B1G media contract is worth over $25 million. How much money is the Big East or A-10 throwing towards these parties? The question if you started a league from scratch could you create a brand that can overtake the value these conferences are bringing to the table. BU better hope so! In reality I'd like to see a 32 team basketball conference from the west coast to the east coast 4 divisions with a balanced schedule. The Big America Basketball Conference!

The dollar amount the Big East BB Schools get is reported to be in the 1 - 1.5 million range if they continue on with the current deals proposed. Right now they are receiving about 1.5 million.

A big issue will be keeping the Big east name along with the NCAA units.

The A10 is in the process of working out rights deals that will pay out between 350-400k per year.

[TheAsianSensation]

I'd call CU first and foremost and start from there. The other phone calls would go out to SLU, DePaul and Marquette. It would be a lot more advantageous to be aligned with CU. From there you can feel these schools out. The other phone calls would go out to someone who understands the media market inside and out and have them help you create a go-to market plan that can be used to plan the next steps and show possible partners how together they can create the greatest amount of revenue for their respective institutions.

The B1G media contract is worth over $25 million. How much money is the Big East or A-10 throwing towards these parties? The question if you started a league from scratch could you create a brand that can overtake the value these conferences are bringing to the table. BU better hope so! In reality I'd like to see a 32 team basketball conference from the west coast to the east coast 4 divisions with a balanced schedule. The Big America Basketball Conference!

These are all rough numbers off the top of my head, but the Big East is talking about a little over $1 million per basketball school. The A-10 contract delivers somewhere around $300k. Not sure where the MVC falls. But obviously even if the BEast castoffs can get close to $1 million per school in a new conference with a few add-ons, that's ideal. And I think that's in the ballpark of what they're looking at.

I'm completely guessing, but a national conference could be worth $600k-$700k if you gobble up all the relevant markets and programs, IMO. It would monopolize the mid-major market and absolutely leave everyone below behind.

[amckillip]

That would be ideal for The A-10 but not for those Catholic schools. Starting from scratch is sometimes your best bet. If I'm The A-10 I'd be proactive as well in building that out. Too bad The MVC was not when it had their chance.

The problem is starting from scratch is easiest on a Message board, but not in real life. It's too risky, you're not banking on one person to take a risk, but you're asking dozens of people to stake their careers and schools athletic programs on a chance... It is just very unlikely to happen in this day and age...