Candidates?

[booyah]

Of course UConn will persist into getting into a big top dog conference, maybe for 20+ years. Still doesn't mean they are going to get in. And heck, i'd rather have UConn for 20 years and then send them on their way then not have UConn. Thats a legit program. The only way i could see that adding UConn is a minus is if they join and left in less than 5 years - then we'd have egg on our face.

[Dew]

Of course UConn will persist into getting into a big top dog conference, maybe for 20+ years. Still doesn't mean they are going to get in. And heck, i'd rather have UConn for 20 years and then send them on their way then not have UConn. Thats a legit program. The only way i could see that adding UConn is a minus is if they join and left in less than 5 years - then we'd have egg on our face.

You could make it so painful to leave - say by giving back all NCAA units and a $30M exit fee - that they'd think twice about joining. That said, I don't think the Presidents will add a public school. Give me SLU and Gonzaga and now we're talking.

[cm5yz6]

RIchmond is a candidate, as if you all forgot that.

[booyah]

Richmond is high on the list of probable candidates. If we can expand the list to include possible but unlikely, Id rank the teams like:

UConn, Cincy, Temple, Memphis, Gonzaga, BYU, SLU, VCU (financially pretty far in the red), Richmond, Dayton. I think theres a drop off after uconn, memphis, Zaga, and SLU.

Of course the probable list is limited to the last four teams and I think their relative merits have been hashed out quite a bit already.

[cm5yz6]

Richmond is high on the list of probable candidates. If we can expand the list to include possible but unlikely, Id rank the teams like:

UConn, Cincy, Temple, Memphis, Gonzaga, BYU, SLU, VCU (financially pretty far in the red), Richmond, Dayton. I think theres a drop off after uconn, memphis, Zaga, and SLU.

Of course the probable list is limited to the last four teams and I think their relative merits have been hashed out quite a bit already.

So once we go through another 15 pages of hashing out "possible" candidates, will we turn our attention to "potentially possible" candidates? I mean if Kentucky and Kansas drop their football programs....

[MUSeashells&Balloons]

I would take Kansas now I don't count that as a football school. They pay students to go to the games is there any other school that does that? if the Big 12 falls apart take Kansas why not we would then have one of the elite historical Basketball schools. Kansas would ensure us a top basketball conference status no one could over look us. While I don't see it happening I certainly wouldn't be opposed.

[MUBoxer]

I don't understand the BYU angle, everyone seems to forget that they have football. I know they aren't in the same conference for both sports but we could do that with a million better teams plus it's highly unlikely Gonzaga would leave behind St Mary's. I still see SLU getting an invite over time with it likely to be Dayton (yuck) at number 12 unless a Detroit, Loyola Chicago, Davidson or Belmont suddenly start really turning it up a notch.

BYU isn't in any conference for football and that's the point. They appear to have settled on the Notre Dame model of football independence, which makes football a non-issue for participation in the Big East. There aren't a million better programs available. Frankly there aren't any.

I expect that Fox would choke at the thought of advancing more money for the likes of Dayton, Detroit, Loyola, Davidson, or Belmont. Those guys have mid major written all over them. This is the big time. St Louis is a borderline candidate right now. They have to demonstrate that they can sustain their current success for more than 2 years, which they never have.

Notice that all 3 of the programs which the Big East added a programs which have had sustained success over a 10-15 year period. Those are clearly the kinds of programs that they are looking for. There are precious few of them available that are not already committed to a power conference or that need to be in a conference that sponsors football.

I know they have mid major written all over but remember that it's about TV views and someone needs to lose if we bring in a large school like Loyola that advances the number of over all national titles this conference can brag about (I mean seriously for all the historically elite bball schools 3 is pretty pathetic) then I don't think anyone would cry plus it would advance us in the Chicago market where Depaul is really just not getting the job done. I mentioned Belmont and Davidson because if they suddenly had a dream run to the FF or something I'd guarantee we'd invite them in a heartbeat because they've had some recent success and have become those select mid major games that nobody scoffs at. Dayton is a joke and I hate their fans but they'd bring in some historical rivalries and a school we can all hate. Detroit I mentioned because we have no presence in Michigan, and while I'd never in my life go to a game where I thought I'd get shot, I'm sure the coaches would like to have some type of footprint in that state.

[cm5yz6]

I would take Kansas now I don't count that as a football school. They pay students to go to the games is there any other school that does that? if the Big 12 falls apart take Kansas why not we would then have one of the elite historical Basketball schools. Kansas would ensure us a top basketball conference status no one could over look us. While I don't see it happening I certainly wouldn't be opposed.

Are you kidding me? I was joking, this is crazy. Kansas would not join the Big East. Why are we wasting our time discussing all of these schools who are not going to be members?

[booyah]

UConn etc. i'd think are 'remotely possible' if the conference carousel broke our way. Say under 10% chance. Not likely but fun to discuss.

[Bluejay]

On paper, the idea of Gonzaga and BYU sounds great.

Unfortunately I think there are too many problems to overcome. I know many east coasters think Omaha is "west", but consider that it is only about half way to those schools. On top of that, they are two time zones away from Omaha/Milwaukee/Chicago and three time zones away from everybody else. That makes midweek game start times a little difficult. Are you really interested in watching games that don't start until 10:00 or 11:00pm on the east coast? Is the rest of the nation really going to stay up and watch those games? Would FS1 want to forgo airing its nightly recap show/Sportscenter-type show on each one of those nights?

There is one other issue with BYU that had a role in keeping them from joining the oBE -- they won't play any game in any sport on Sundays. Looking at the basketball schedule (lots and lots of Sunday games) and even the VB schedule (where Creighton home games were moved to Sundays in some cases to give the east coast teams an extra day to travel), and I think the "no Sundays" thing may not be workable. Don't get me wrong - I'd love BYU as they present a loyal, national fanbase that will show up at any venue. I also kind of like the whole "religious, but not just catholic" angle that adding BYU would provide. Unfortunately I just don't see them being workable, although this is the one school with football where football isn't a problem. (Notre Dame doesn't count as they have made it clear they want a tie to one of the BCS leagues for the bowl tie-ins.)

SLU is still the leading candidate in my eyes because of the St Louis media market. You would suspect that FS1 would covet that greatly. St Louis is also a pretty fertile recruiting ground for basketball talent in the midwest. And yes, they present one of the best soccer programs in the country.