Poll - If Gonzaga Should Join Us In Big East...?

[BigEast1]

The Big East in its glory was a 9 team conference until Miami joined. Then you had Big East football, then you had Virginia Tech, Rutgers and West Virginia join all sports. Then came Notre Dame, then came, well you get the point. Nothing good has ever come out of expanding. We are in the best situation right now; 10 teams, round robin play, and Omaha not withstanding, schools that are closer geographically than what could have been if we didn't break away when we did (imagine if we had Memphis, SMU, Houston, etc). Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot again. Gonzaga is a great program and I'd like see some Big East schools schedule them as a non conference opponent, but please enough with expansion (even if it is inevitable) and enough with a school from the west coast joining the Big East.

[Dave]

Dave, you love UConn. But it's time to let go. They are not available and are not needed nor wanted. They want to keep all sports in one conference and the Big East does not want an FBS school. So there is no interest on either side of the equation. We will do fine without the Huskies.

I actually don't even like UConn. But I'm a fan of the Big East, and I'd rather see it earn back major status than slide to mid-major. No disrespect to the new 3 adds, but they aren't Louisville, UConn, and Syracuse caliber. And the league needs more East in Big East, not more west.

I am also no fan of Cuse, but support scheduling them.

Pitt and West Virginia can piss off.

[Dave]

Zags are way too far away for every existing program in the conference. It's not just one team traveling to Spokane, it's every team from every program. Track, soccer, etc.

Any benefit in hoops is outweighed by the logistics of all sports. And it is not like the Zags are the holy grail of target programs. They are a good mid major.

No Final Fours. One Elite Eight 15 years ago. I like the Zags. It just doesn't make sense. Do a basketball only schedule arrangement with them, but not a conference add.

There is, however, an obvious target... Add UConn.

Dave, it is not necessary to send every team from every school out to Spokane. There are other ways of dealing with the Olympic sports in a 2 division league. But even if it were necessary, it's an issue of cost, not tIme. And the Fox money makes it doable.

If time were the issue, none LF the power conferences would have been able to function 50 or 100 years ago when the primary mode of travel was bus and before that train. Think of a bus trip from Philly back in the days before interstate highways to Hanover, NH. Thin, of trips out on the prairie through the Iowa corn fields to Ann Arbor, MI. Trips like those could take 6-10 hours through awful weather on back roads. Imagine tRaveling from Moscow, ID when theUniversity of Idaho was in what is now the PAC 12. Drive a bus from there down to LA across mountains and deserts. But they did it?

Modern airliners travel at 600 mph. A 2000 mile trip from NYC to Spokane can be accomplished in less than 5 hours and in relative comfort. Teams have been taking trips like that forever and in every sport. This is the 21at century, not horse and buggy days.

I agree that Gonzaga is a good mid major whose accomplishments fall short of their reputation. But for whatever reason they have that reputation and are a household name. They get to the tournament every year even when they don't win their conference tournament. They sell out every game at home and have a waiting list 1000 names long for tickets. And institutionally they are a perfect fit.

UConn is a non-starter. They simply are not interested it. They didn't invest hundreds of millions of dollars in their football program only to abandon it at the first sign of trouble. They need a conference that sponsors football, which is no longer the Big East.

It's an issue of cost and time. NYC is best case, and doesn't fly direct to Spokane. Charters for field hockey aren't likely. 8-10 hours of flight travel time plus the time at both ends. It's just not practical.

"UConn is a non-starter. They are simply not interested". You could say the same thing for Gonzaga. 16 fan votes on a blog doesn't change that. So since these are both just hypothetical, what would be the stronger hoops program to add, UConn or the Zags?

Add UConn. They keep their AAC exit fee distribution, they pay their own exit fee, they stay AAC for football with the AAC football money, they get Big East hoops money. No brainer. Doesn't mean the UConn folks have brains.

[billyjack]

What if Southwest started offering non-stop flights from Chicago to Spokane? Would that change any votes and/or ease any concerns about the travel issue? Providence to Chicago is direct non-stop.

P.S. Does anyone remember the Davenport/Quad Cities thing with Fred Garvin? Or am I getting too old?

[cm5yz6]

pointless

[aughnanure]

basketball wise - no brainer

logistics wise - it'd be insane

do a quick search from providence to spokane

it involves at least 2 and maybe three PLANE CHANGES - and that's one way

it'd be a terrible situation for student athletes - even worse for fans that might want to travel to a game.

First off, who the hell flies coach? I guarantee you Gonzaga, with their already enormous travel requirement doesnt (look at a map, the West is really, really big).

Secondly, it's not OUR problem. Its one, count 'em one, round trip a year. If Gonzaga wants to swing it, how can you be against adding them?

[aughnanure]

Zags are way too far away for every existing program in the conference. It's not just one team traveling to Spokane, it's every team from every program. Track, soccer, etc.

Any benefit in hoops is outweighed by the logistics of all sports. And it is not like the Zags are the holy grail of target programs. They are a good mid major.

No Final Fours. One Elite Eight 15 years ago. I like the Zags. It just doesn't make sense. Do a basketball only schedule arrangement with them, but not a conference add.

There is, however, an obvious target... Add UConn.

Dave, it is not necessary to send every team from every school out to Spokane. There are other ways of dealing with the Olympic sports in a 2 division league. But even if it were necessary, it's an issue of cost, not tIme. And the Fox money makes it doable.

If time were the issue, none LF the power conferences would have been able to function 50 or 100 years ago when the primary mode of travel was bus and before that train. Think of a bus trip from Philly back in the days before interstate highways to Hanover, NH. Thin, of trips out on the prairie through the Iowa corn fields to Ann Arbor, MI. Trips like those could take 6-10 hours through awful weather on back roads. Imagine tRaveling from Moscow, ID when theUniversity of Idaho was in what is now the PAC 12. Drive a bus from there down to LA across mountains and deserts. But they did it?

Modern airliners travel at 600 mph. A 2000 mile trip from NYC to Spokane can be accomplished in less than 5 hours and in relative comfort. Teams have been taking trips like that forever and in every sport. This is the 21at century, not horse and buggy days.

I agree that Gonzaga is a good mid major whose accomplishments fall short of their reputation. But for whatever reason they have that reputation and are a household name. They get to the tournament every year even when they don't win their conference tournament. They sell out every game at home and have a waiting list 1000 names long for tickets. And institutionally they are a perfect fit.

UConn is a non-starter. They simply are not interested it. They didn't invest hundreds of millions of dollars in their football program only to abandon it at the first sign of trouble. They need a conference that sponsors football, which is no longer the Big East.

It's an issue of cost and time. NYC is best case, and doesn't fly direct to Spokane. Charters for field hockey aren't likely. 8-10 hours of flight travel time plus the time at both ends. It's just not practical.

"UConn is a non-starter. They are simply not interested". You could say the same thing for Gonzaga. 16 fan votes on a blog doesn't change that. So since these are both just hypothetical, what would be the stronger hoops program to add, UConn or the Zags?

Add UConn. They keep their AAC exit fee distribution, they pay their own exit fee, they stay AAC for football with the AAC football money, they get Big East hoops money. No brainer. Doesn't mean the UConn folks have brains.

You're delusional. Everyone would agree with you if it was possible, but it's not. Get over it. Regardless, UConn will be in the ACC or Big Ten in 5 years.

Oh, and Gonzaga is not a mid-major. Stop giving credence to ESPN's made-up label to all schools in non-BCS conferences.

[MUSeashells&Balloons]

The Big East in its glory was a 9 team conference until Miami joined. Then you had Big East football, then you had Virginia Tech, Rutgers and West Virginia join all sports. Then came Notre Dame, then came, well you get the point. Nothing good has ever come out of expanding. We are in the best situation right now; 10 teams, round robin play, and Omaha not withstanding, schools that are closer geographically than what could have been if we didn't break away when we did (imagine if we had Memphis, SMU, Houston, etc). Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot again. Gonzaga is a great program and I'd like see some Big East schools schedule them as a non conference opponent, but please enough with expansion (even if it is inevitable) and enough with a school from the west coast joining the Big East.

I guess were nothing good

[dmac80]

Way too far, it would be an automatic loss for every school going out there. then again on the other side it would be tough for Gonzaga on the road.....Also what about the other sports besides basketball? not sure this is feasible, so I vote no.

[dmac80]

The Big East in its glory was a 9 team conference until Miami joined. Then you had Big East football, then you had Virginia Tech, Rutgers and West Virginia join all sports. Then came Notre Dame, then came, well you get the point. Nothing good has ever come out of expanding. We are in the best situation right now; 10 teams, round robin play, and Omaha not withstanding, schools that are closer geographically than what could have been if we didn't break away when we did (imagine if we had Memphis, SMU, Houston, etc). Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot again. Gonzaga is a great program and I'd like see some Big East schools schedule them as a non conference opponent, but please enough with expansion (even if it is inevitable) and enough with a school from the west coast joining the Big East.

This. I'm actually for expansion to 12, but only the right schools. VCU? Etc.