Interview with Val Ackerman- expansion, etc

[DumpsterFireA10]

You're right, no conference has ever added pieces slowly. If they want 12 eventually they couldn't possibly want to stay at anything else temporarily, like has been rumored and hinted at repeatedly for over half a year.

Didn't Seton Hall and Depaul both mention 12?

How many teams are in the Big East? There's your answer.

[DumpsterFireA10]

Seems to me to be a simple process:

Congratulate the winners, figure out why the losers lost, and move on with the league.

The Big East will be great basketball. Nobody's disputing that. The 3 teams that were selected are good programs.

Those that weren't need to figure out why and correct it.

[Omaha1]

Ackerman was on the radio in Omaha this afternoon saying that the conference schedule should be released in the next couple of weeks. If I can find a podcast I will post it.

[Jet915]

Ackerman interview for the local Omaha sports station: http://t.co/7fvM7Yy671

[SJU87]

Wait until all the football expansion is over and add schools like Temple and Memphis. Those schools won't get into any major football conference and they got excellent basketball programs that would make the Big East much better. Before they get admited the Big East should make them sign agreements like the ACC has like the 50 million penalty to leave and they forfeit their TV revenue for 10 years. Those 2 schools won't stay in the AAC for long especially after UConn and Cincinati leave.
The thing is, the basketball schools will control the new Big East. Better to add those schools then SLU or Dayton in my opinion.

[admin]

Not all that newsworthy, except that during August in a non-BCS football league, any news is welcome:

2. New Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said the Big East is a few weeks away from finishing the conference schedule. The old Big East was traditionally one of the last conferences to get their schedule out because of pro commitments in arenas. The Big East and Fox Sports 1 teased the schedule in late June with the announcement of a five-game, New Year's Eve lineup starting at noon with St. John's at Xavier; followed at 2:30 p.m. with Seton Hall at Providence and then DePaul at Georgetown at 5 p.m., followed by Villanova at Butler at 7:30 p.m. and then closing with a headliner of Marquette at Creighton at 10 p.m. EST. Ackerman said she is still looking to make a significant number of hires, especially a full-time person to deal with television relationships. Former Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe continues to act as a consultant for the league and has helped in championship planning. Ackerman is working from a makeshift office in Manhattan but is still searching for long-term office space.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... en-leaders

[Michael in Raleigh]

Not all that newsworthy, except that during August in a non-BCS football league, any news is welcome:

2. New Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said the Big East is a few weeks away from finishing the conference schedule. The old Big East was traditionally one of the last conferences to get their schedule out because of pro commitments in arenas. The Big East and Fox Sports 1 teased the schedule in late June with the announcement of a five-game, New Year's Eve lineup starting at noon with St. John's at Xavier; followed at 2:30 p.m. with Seton Hall at Providence and then DePaul at Georgetown at 5 p.m., followed by Villanova at Butler at 7:30 p.m. and then closing with a headliner of Marquette at Creighton at 10 p.m. EST. Ackerman said she is still looking to make a significant number of hires, especially a full-time person to deal with television relationships. Former Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe continues to act as a consultant for the league and has helped in championship planning. Ackerman is working from a makeshift office in Manhattan but is still searching for long-term office space.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... en-leaders

I think the five-game marathon on New Year's Eve is an excellent idea for the Big East in this first year of the renewed conference, but can it make it past Year 1? Starting next year, the 2014-15 season, there will be three College Football Playoff bowl games on New Year's Eve and three more on New Year's Day. Two of those six bowl games will be national semifinals and will certainly draw massive ratings. The other four ought to draw a ton of viewers as well. Would it be wise for Fox Sports 1 and the Big East to try and go directly against that? If not, could the Big East have its season premiere on December 30 or January 2 instead, provided that it's not going against the NFL, or should it go for something close to Christmas?

What do you all think?

[BillEsq]

My own 2 cents on new years....


I think FBS will regret the Playoffs in the long run. In a few years no one will watch the remaining bowl games. (think all the crap bowl games on ESPN that no body watches). Most fans will be ready to watch basketball rather than watch 2 also rans finish up their season.

Just my humble in regards to the FBS.... while i think the Playoff will make them a lot of money i think they will loose more money buy killing all the major bowl games. casual fans will only be interested in 3 games now.

[Jet915]

I like the New Years kickoff. I wouldn't mind if they do it again, the ratings are never gonna be better than college football but it will be an alternative atleast.

[redmen9194]

New Years Eve Marathin is great! I don't care who it is up again. We want Fox to be bold and they certainly are.