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Big East Catholic Schools Getting Restless

TheAsianSensation said:
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-bas...ll-schools-creating-21-team-conference-source

Now that's one way to keep the Valley untouched.
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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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
stevebu91 said:
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.
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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
 
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.
 
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!
 
SFP said:
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!
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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.
 
SFP said:
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!
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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.
 
SFP said:
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.
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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...
 
SFP said:
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.
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I'm starting to get the feeling from what I am reading here that the 7 Catholic schools from the Big East would rather stay in a ravamped Big East if they had their choice. These 7 schools would make up a great core of schools that would probably be good for at least 2 to 3 bids just amongst themselves. The addition of Temple really strengthens things. Then it's a matter of purging a few other teams like Creighton, Butler and a Dayton or Detroit to round out the conference to 10 teams. The remaining football members like UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida are going to be gone anyway, so what remains of a revamped Big East basketball only conference will probably be the midwest private school conference that people are looking to form anyway. That is unless this arrangement lasts two years and they merge with the A-10, but a 20+ team conference is more than a little bulky in my opinion.
 
Controversial thought: If I'm Elgin, I offer the Catholic 7 plus Xavier (and Dayton/St Louis if you want) a spot in the MVC.

The result: a 20 team MVC. 2 divisions of 10, so you can still play with your old mates reasonably often. You kill the BEast and the A-10 and become the prominent non-football league in the country.

The Catholic 7 will have a home to go to instead of trying to build one from scratch. You latch onto a very stable league. It's better than the A-10 because the MVC deadweight is much better than the A-10 deadweight (Fordham, LaSalle, et al). You can negotiate a TV contract that spans half the country. You have no flight risks outside of the occasional ISU who wants FBS. Can afford to lose a team or two anyways. Secures a place in the top tier of the NCAA.

You have to commit to a big change, and you do leave out teams like Butler, Richmond, VCU, Detroit, and other good A-10 programs, but it's eat or be eaten.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
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.
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amckillip said:
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...
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Too me not moving is the bigger risk and I agree with TAS' numbers and that is why this is doable. You need to create a viable realistic plan followed by the buy in of a major media outlet. Just take BU as an example. What if the Valley blows up? Do you think Cross and the Prez would have a job if BU does not land in the right conference? I'd almost guarantee they would be ran out of town. Each and every private university is under the same pressure so why wait until someone else makes your decision for you? I can tell you the greatest businesses globally did not just sit around and wait to see what the competitors were going to do. You have a vision, create a plan and sell the hell out of it.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
Controversial thought: If I'm Elgin, I offer the Catholic 7 plus Xavier (and Dayton/St Louis if you want) a spot in the MVC.

The result: a 20 team MVC. 2 divisions of 10, so you can still play with your old mates reasonably often. You kill the BEast and the A-10 and become the prominent non-football league in the country.

The Catholic 7 will have a home to go to instead of trying to build one from scratch. You latch onto a very stable league. It's better than the A-10 because the MVC deadweight is much better than the A-10 deadweight (Fordham, LaSalle, et al). You can negotiate a TV contract that spans half the country. You have no flight risks outside of the occasional ISU who wants FBS. Can afford to lose a team or two anyways. Secures a place in the top tier of the NCAA.

You have to commit to a big change, and you do leave out teams like Butler, Richmond, VCU, Detroit, and other good A-10 programs, but it's eat or be eaten.
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Another interesting proposal. We'll see what happens in the near future.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
Controversial thought: If I'm Elgin, I offer the Catholic 7 plus Xavier (and Dayton/St Louis if you want) a spot in the MVC.

The result: a 20 team MVC. 2 divisions of 10, so you can still play with your old mates reasonably often. You kill the BEast and the A-10 and become the prominent non-football league in the country.

The Catholic 7 will have a home to go to instead of trying to build one from scratch. You latch onto a very stable league. It's better than the A-10 because the MVC deadweight is much better than the A-10 deadweight (Fordham, LaSalle, et al). You can negotiate a TV contract that spans half the country. You have no flight risks outside of the occasional ISU who wants FBS. Can afford to lose a team or two anyways. Secures a place in the top tier of the NCAA.

You have to commit to a big change, and you do leave out teams like Butler, Richmond, VCU, Detroit, and other good A-10 programs, but it's eat or be eaten.
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that's certainly audacious enough. I'd love that outcome but it has to be a long shot.
 
Officials from the 7 Big East Catholic school met Sunday to discuss their common concerns as the Big East keeps losing basketball-only schools, and seems more intent on concentrating on football. There has been no official word on any action planned. However, this new article from the Chicago Sun Times says- "sources indicate a vote by the university presidents to separate (from the Big East) could be imminent."
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/1697...catholic-schools-set-for-big-east-exodus.html
 
Da Coach said:
Officials from the 7 Big East Catholic school met Sunday to discuss their common concerns as the Big East keeps losing basketball-only schools, and seems more intent on concentrating on football. There has been no official word on any action planned. However, this new article from the Chicago Sun Times says- "sources indicate a vote by the university presidents to separate (from the Big East) could be imminent."
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/1697...catholic-schools-set-for-big-east-exodus.html
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Interesting. Okay Mr. Elgin, time to get on the phone with all of these schools. I expect Bradley to be playing Villanova and Georgetown in two years! :D
 
Time to throw away the rotary dial phone...Elgin and Cross start making calls. Cross, most important...start calling....

If we do nothing, we are going to be laying down in the mud and dust and will continue in a Tier 3 conference.

Go BU Go Go BU.... Aggressive/Proactive/Forceful but Prudent...
 
It does feel like we'll finally know what the end of the realignment spasm will look like, possibly very soon. The basketball-only members of the Big East have always been the most interesting part of this whole deal, since I don't really care about the football aspects (other than the fact that they are what started all the problems).
 
Sorry to tell you guys but BU calling by themselves would probably not be a strong enough proposition for these schools to pick up the phone. Now if we created a a group and presented a strong front which could inspire them and speak to their vision as well then we could have a chance. This is why I've been stating that BU has hopefully been working on a contingency plan for quite some time. These relationships have had to be worked on for months if not years. We are the sellers not the buyers and our value proposition needs to be solid with real explainable revenue numbers and positive academic possibilities behind us. We go in this with CU and pick off one institution at a time we have a chance. We go at it as a lone wolf and we limit our chances. We need to build some mass. CU and SLU would be great places to start unless Cross has some direct lines into the Big East schools.
 
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