Will Big East stay at 10 or grow to 12 in 2014?

[admin]

From Andy Katz tonight:

The new Big East will play with 10 members in 2013-14 and then will take an approach to future expansion similar to other leagues, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com Friday night.

The 10 members will be the seven Catholic schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova -- along with Xavier, Butler and Creighton.

What exactly does the underlined statement mean? Do we not have a plan in place to add two more for 2014? If the plan is to remain at 10 beyond 2013, there are going to be some disappointed fans.

[BillikensWin]

I hope it's 1 year.

If it stops at 10...well, I guess I'll get used to a 1-bid league. Eventually.

[yeti47]

My feeling is 12 in 2014.....fox will want 12...fill up station with games...st louis more than likely...tons of TVs..don't know for team 12...not going to say Dayton or Richmond since that had been Widely talked about...maybe someone else emerges..we will see...just glad Creighton is 10...nice to have big boy pants on...can't wait to drop the Nebraska game off our schedule...hurts our rpi lol. Greetings future rivals

[DeltaV]

I like 12..it is a nice round number, and I think the talent is out there to make it worth while.

It will be interesting to see if our schools will start getting a greater percentage of the 'upper mid major' recruiting talent that may have previously been spread through the MVC and others; teams like Depaul and Dayton could seriously benefit from that (the players will now have a major conference option outside of the BIG close to home).

[TrueBlueJay]

With the way the football conferences are expanding to 14 and reportedly looking to go to 16 team super conferences, it could mean the Big East will look to expand further than 12 in the future.

[DeltaV]

I think they would need a VERY strong reason to go bigger than 12...just look how messy scheduling is for the big east now. Only way I see it is if the ACC collapses, which i dont see...they'll have plenty of old big east / CUSA teams to poach first.

[Flyer01]

Before today most reports sounds as if 12 was the most likely scenario. This doesn't necessarily change that since most reports had 10 as the number for 2013. But if there is no official announcement before July 1 about 2 more teams for 14-15 I think it's a very real possibility that the league stays at 10 for atleast a few seasons.

If it is true that the money is similar for 10/12 teams the biggest downside is possibly capping the realisitic number of bids the league will average. With 10 teams the teams in the 5-7 range will be hurt by their league record, fairly or unfairly. If the league has top teams having strong seasons and the bottom of the league improves it's competiveness you could often find the 6-7 place teams under .500. And depending on how their non-conference season is paired with their conference record it could make 4-5 as an expected bid number. Two more teams pushes the .500 point lower and helps get the expected bids closer to 5-6 on a yearly basis. A good example is this season where if you look at the MWC or Big 12 they are looking at 5 bids with little hope of more just based on numbers where as the Big 10 is near 7 and the ACC on the verge of 5-6 in an abysmal year for the conference. Even the Pac 12 and SEC have more viable candidates based on conference record albeit in weaker overall conferences. Adding 2 more teams who consistenly finish in the top 100 in RPI would be a boost to the quality of the league and help get more NCAA bids which is where you really prove your mettle as a conference.

As a Dayton fan I think the school would be a great addition to the Big East conference and the added boost they would receive when recruiting against other mid-lower level BCS schools would be huge in the new league. All of the midwestern schools should be able to get a higher level of player who may have went to a lower level Big 10 or Big 12 school just because of the league association. But with the news last night, unless there is a mention of 2 more teams in the next couple of weeks I think Dayton, SLU and Richmond will be outside looking in for atleast a few seasons. I would be a little surprised if that is the end result but that's kind of the way I see it moving right now, IMO. The A10 would still be a solid conference in that situation and would be an ok spot for success since their would be less contention for a top spot with some of the very weak programs in the league (Fordham, Duquesne, Bonnies).

[Edrick]

Expansion wouldn't surprise me. I don't think it will come next year though.

[Frambo]

Flyer01....I have nothing against Dayton, in fact I watch them when I can and have been to games at UD. But I'm hoping they do not make the cut for the same reason that UC would have never allowed X in with them and Villanova probably doesn't want another Philly school. X has worked hard to build a resume. If we get the coveted invite, it would be nice to be the sole BE team in Ohio and not have one just up the road to recruit against.

[DeltaV]

I could see Xavier joining the East Coast voters for Richmond against Dayton for that exact reason if all twelve are not announced at once.