BePcr07 wrote:
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/content/20140607-kevin-mcnamara-rhodys-schools-maintaining-their-distance-in-basketball.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Saw this on Frank the Tank's site. Big East not expanding. Dumb or smart?
Also, interesting conversation there about a potential merger that never happened. If Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St went to the PAC, and Missouri and Texas A&M went to the SEC (which happened). Baylor, Kansas, Kansas St, and Iowa St along with TCU would forces with the former Big East schools West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Connecticut, Rutgers, and South Florida (after Syracuse and Pittsburgh left for the ACC) along with the non-football schools.
Hahaha, I forgot RI had four D1 schools. How could I forget Brown?!
I think the conference is being a bit greedy with their network handler. The per-school share stays the same with expansion, and I think that's what's bugging them. The travel budget would likely rise with the kind of new members being speculated. You want them to join the conference? Pay us to get there.
But, I think it's a good decision not to expand if there isn't unanimous consensus as to who to invite. Too many "undesirables" are what caused the last split. The lack of added incentive, too, doesn't do much for them.
I also think it's smart because with the kind of names in the Big East, only sending four schools (and they were lucky to get those four) shows there's work to be done. Beefing up the non-conference is a smart idea, in theory. The A10, a hodgepodge of small private schools and variously sized public ones sent six, and it's showing those with less can do more.
Send a few more schools to the dance, get more than the A10 in the process, and that should generate some concessions from their network backer.
They added Denver for lacrosse, though. That keeps them relevant in lacrosse with both a great program and the minimum needed for AQ (as Marquette enters). I think that acquisition, the Denver one, over Richmond, shows maybe the conference isn't as hot on the Spiders as some might think.