As The Big East Turns: Boise State Not Ruling Out 2012, ACC Eyeing UConn?
by Sean Keeley on Feb 15, 2012 5:32 PM EST
in Syracuse Football
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PrintAs we all know, Syracuse is freaking out right now over it's need to fill two spots on the 2012 football schedule. You know what would go a long way towards solving that problem? If one of those new Big East schools got their act together and joined the conference a year early.
Boise State made is sound like it was pretty impossible last week. This week, they're a little more open to the idea:
"Before we make any move, we need to make sure we cover all our expenses," [athletic director Mark] Coyle said. "If a transition takes place now, there are expenses we need to cover before we make a move."
It would cost Boise State between $7.5 million and $9 million to leave the Mountain West this fall. The Broncos could owe the Western Athletic Conference - where their other spots programs are headed - additional money as well for joining that league a year early.
If only the Big East had $20M burning a hole in its pocket to cover those costs. Oh, right...
As mentioned before, if Boise did join the conference and took up West Virginia's schedule, that would mean Syracuse in Boise, Idaho this year. And even if they rejiggered things, I'm sure Pitt and us are going on the road for that one anyway.
Syracuse will eventually head to the ACC sooner or later. The conference will be at a robust 14 teams by then. But why not just go to ludicrous speed and make it 16? Well if they do decide to do that one day, the Hartford Courant is hearing that UConn and Notre Dame have first dibs.
Sources told The Courant recently that the ACC has a 16-team model in place with its first choices being Notre Dame and UConn, but with Notre Dame maintaining its independent position there is no rush to go to 16. If the ACC can't convince Notre Dame, Rutgers could get the call with UConn, but sources say there is no rush there, either.
Notre Dame ain't walking through that door, guys. If and when this happens, I'd be shocked if it wasn't UConn and Rutgers.
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Isn't that why they got the money from W. Virginia
To pay Boise’s (or another school’s) way early? I mean, they didn’t just take $20 million and ignore the problems it created, did they? Boise will be a comparable road draw in the BE as W. Virginia. So get this done already.
As for UConn and Rutgers, no hurry at all. Will Rutgers continue football success with Schiano gone? Might as well wait and see. Also, UConn may be the shakier choice, though more popular with SU fans. Calhoun is almost done; I give him 50-50 he ever comes back and I don’t see him going past 2013 no matter waht. They have a tourney ban next year. They will lose their 2 best players early this year and have no hope of getting top talent with the tourney ban looming. This could be a program changing time for UConn.
I mean, they didn’t just take $20 million and ignore the problems it created, did they?
Probably…it’s the Big East
In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils
by Matthew Ventolo on Feb 15, 2012 6:38 PM EST up reply actions
Neither Rutgers or UConn are headed in the right direction
The only reason to take either of them would be for as someone to even out bringing in Notre Dame. Adding both would be pointless. I still contend that adding Temple could be as good or better than either of those, and would probably be better for our own self-interests.
Temple & UCONN to the ACC would be bold and rightfully challenge the Big East in NE recruiting.
Orange you glad it's not football season?
by SUMB44 on Feb 15, 2012 6:44 PM EST via Android app reply actions
besides, Rutgers basketball is horrific.
Orange you glad it's not football season?
by SUMB44 on Feb 15, 2012 6:45 PM EST via Android app up reply actions
QUESTION
If the ACC can’t get Notre Dame then what is the point of bringing in Rutgers and UConn? What are they bringing to the table? Media? Does anyone in the NYC area even know that Rutgers has an athletic department?
I don’t quite see what the benefit is to expand from 14 to 16 without Notre Dame.
Agree
For the ACC, there is no reason to invite any other schools until ND makes a decision. If ND joins the ACC, fine they will pick up another to even it out. If they choose the Big 10, then the ACC can decide when they want to go to 16. There is no hurry because no other schools bring anything that is worth permanently locking out ND.
by orangetundra on Feb 15, 2012 7:09 PM EST up reply actions
Unless
The SEC decides to poach a couple of ACC schools to get to 16 first. The ACC may need to do it just to tread water, as opposed to expanding to 16.
by firstmatewiggles on Feb 16, 2012 12:15 PM EST up reply actions
it's not a huge deal
but a 14-team conference is kind of awkward for scheduling in sports where you play a short schedule (like football), at least in that you’ll rarely see anyone outside of your division and your protected rivals, whereas with 16 teams you can do pod-based scheduling and you’ll play everyone within three years. And there’s some marginal benefit in nailing down any parts of the east coast that aren’t ACC markets already.
I didn't even know that Rutgers Athletic Department was a thing
When did this happen? Do mom and dad know about this?
Too Early For Flap Jacks?
by Benny The Red on Feb 15, 2012 8:33 PM EST up reply actions
I love how Rutgers thinks they're so great
Yet they’re the only team (minus Temple) from the original football Big East not to be invited to another conference.
That’s what 100 years of bad (and five years of mediocre) football will do for you.
Seriously
Don’t forger their coach split for greener pastures too. He saw the writing on the wall.
by orangemen315 on Feb 15, 2012 7:13 PM EST up reply actions
The Bucs
will be the second FB team that Mike Williams will quit on….
Life is what you make of it, and mine is all Orange!
"Notre Dame ain't walking through that door, guys" Really???
I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Sean. I don’t think ND really wants to be associated with the likes of SMU, Houston, UCF and Memphis. The B.E. has, basically, morphed into Conf USA and ND is too profile sensitive to be happy with that. Especially when they could easily go into the B1G or ACC with all of the very high caliber institutions in those conferences. When the competition falls back and money starts to Dry up, they will be out the door. ND’s 1st allegiance is to those little green guys. And I don’t mean leprachauns.
well, that's the big question
Is ND okay with its non-football sports in what’s effectively CUSA? Or in the Catholic Basketball League, if the non-football schools split (which seems likely if UConn and/or Rutgers leave)? And is another major conference willing to take them for everything but football? If the answer to all of those is no (or just the second two) — and it might be — then ND will be joining the ACC.
I think they value football independence more than they do not playing against teams like SMU in bball
And I think they’d be OK if the bball schools split off. A league with Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, Marquette, etc. is still pretty prestigious. They’ll do whatever it takes to remain Independent, which I think they’ll inevitably have to move on from. And when that happens, it seems like they much prefer the ACC to the Big Ten, and I think there’d be a fairly large contingency in the Big Ten that would oppose Notre Dame. Especially a school like Ohio State, who would rather be the huge brand in the area.
In not Catholic
but it would be so cool to have a Catholic league in college sports…. get all the catholic schools together (less BC) to form a hoops conf like they do in high schools
May Doug Marrone bless you and keep you.
how can I put this delicately
Fuck UConn and Rutgers. Let them wither and dry up in the Big whatever.
I get your sentiment my man, but let’s keep it clean
by The Invisible Swordsman on Feb 15, 2012 10:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
As much as I don't want to see it happen
It seems inevitable that UCon and Rutgers will ultimately be heading for the ACC. Notre Dame, however, will never get their heads out of their own asses and join a conference until someone points a gun at them, and maybe not even then. If they’re fine with getting good recruiting classes every year then finishing .500, and still be in the rankings the following season, so be it. It will be interesting to see how BC reacts to the possibility of UCon joining the ACC after that whole mess of BC’s move a few years ago.
I would rather-
I would rather the ACC wait 5 years for ND and Temple to come over than bring on UConn and Rutgers.
ND ain't joining no conference
and why should they? They have the best of both worlds right now. All of their Olympic sports are in a conference while they have their FB independence…
Life is what you make of it, and mine is all Orange!
I agree, the being said
I would still wait 5 years for ND to decide (they will stay independent), it is better than having UConn and Rutgers join now. I really really really want those 2 too die on the vine in the “new” BE.
Their schedule is about to get tougher to attract top teams
With conferences going to longer schedules. Michigan State dropped them, Michigan is trying to drop them, Pitt and BC now have a 9 game conference schedules, Navy is about to go to one, etc. Besides USC and Stanford, etc. The way I see it, it’s either conferences expand again (i.e. Texas to the Pac-12) and Notre Dame has to go to one, or they don’t and Notre Dame stays put and there’s no reason for the ACC to pick up UConn or Rutgers.
The only way UConn and Rutgers both end up in the ACC is if Notre Dame goes to the Big Ten.
*Meant to say
Besides USC and Stanford, all of their traditional rivals may have to drop them on a yearly basis and they’ll be stuck with scheduling MAC, CUSA and Big East teams every week.
Man, my sentence structure and forgetting to add words in my posts has been awful lately.
Fir the millionth time...
ACC should look like this:
North: su, bc, uconn, rutgirls
Mid atlantic: pitt, maryland, uva, vpi
Tobacco road: duh
South: clempson, gt, fsu, miami
by OrangeInSC on Feb 16, 2012 9:45 AM EST via mobile reply actions
No
1) Thats puts all the traditional football powers in the bottom.
2) I really dont think SU wants UConn and Rutgers in our conf. Too much competition for recruits/TV markets.
May Doug Marrone bless you and keep you.
I'd prefer something similar, but
north: SU, Pitt, BC, ND (ND wants to play BC & Pitt, BC wants to play SU & ND, Pitt wants to play SU & ND, SU wants to play BC & Pitt)
mid-Atlantic: MD, UVA, VT, UConn/Rutgers
NC: UNC, Duke, NC State, Wake
south: Clemson, GT, FSU, Miami
I’m not overly concerned that it dumps all the traditional football powers (except VT, ND, and the ghosts of Syracuse and Pitt Past) in the south because pod scheduling isn’t like division scheduling (and because the FSU and Miami were playing 2/3 of that every year anyway between divisional games and protected cross-division rivalries, with a non-trivial chance of picking up other in a non-rivalry cross-division game).
What is the perceived positive of adding BSU to the Big East this year?
I am not SUPER well-versed in this stuff, but AFAIK, the BE has its BCS bid in 2012 regardless of whether they have seven or eight teams, and it will have the same TV contract, too, which would mean a greater split of the same revenue for the member schools—not that the BE front office is probably all that concerned about that. Why would it be worth paying $9MM for Boise State a year early when they’re coming next year anyway?
It's the most bullshit thing I've seen in thirty years.
if we have seven teams
everyone needs to find another non-conference game on very short notice. There are a limited number of FBS schools that have an opening left on their schedule, most (maybe all) Big East schools have already scheduled an FCS game, and most (maybe all) Big East schools have already scheduled their non-conference games for September, which is the easiest time to play non-conference games (anything else requires managing the conference schedules of both schools to fit). So it’s likely some or all of the Big East will fail to get five FBS non-conference opponents lined up, and so will either have to play two FCS schools (when only one of them counts for bowl eligibility) or play only 11 games.
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