Fresno St. Alum wrote:
JP, you know the ND AD said that if big changes are coming they are going to need to be a part of it and end up having to join a conference. I don't see them going with the footballers. Either they cave and join a 12/14 team B10 or they stay football Indy and join the Bball schools in their new conf. The main reason for the BE to split would be to go to 12 wouldn't it, so they can have a championship and be on par with the other BCS conferences. B10(12) and P12.
I view it completely the other way...
ND would either be pressured into joining the Big Ten, or the BE Football group would still be strong enough for them to maintain ties. ND would join a 14-team Big Ten if the Big East was about to be slashed.
Circumstances have made it a little more shaky about a Big East split... because would a championship game with UCF, Memphis, ECU, etc make more revenue than hoops keeping GT, Nova, Marquette, ND, etc?
ND wants to be in a "BCS Conference" for all sports because BCS conferences have bigger budgets and compete for championships. How many private, catholic schools are in the Sears Cup top 25? Any? As an athletic department, in terms of national competitiveness, ND is a lot more like UConn and Louisville than they are like Georgetown and Providence.
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Also if any of this happens I think the BE Bball would stop at 10 because after Xavier & St.Louis, its too hard to find a good enough member in there eyes to go with Dayton to bring 2 more in. However Butler is looking sexier and sexier, of course Gonzaga and George Mason didn't find better homes after all of their bball success.
Gonzaga and George Mason aren't in the same ballpark. Gonzaga, which built a national power MBB program (and now their WBB is getting good too), has no better conference to go to out West as a football-less school. George Mason hasn't built a program. They had a magical run. They haven't won a tourney game since.