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Big East Conference realignment started back in 2005. That’s when Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech deserted the Big East for the ACC. This certainly made the ACC stronger in football, but diluted basketball. To fill the void, the Big East added Louisville, Cincinnati and USF for all sports…….and later, Marquette and DePaul to re-strengthen basketball only. (By the way, who the hell do these conference big-wigs think they are by stipulating which sports they accept or reject when they bring a NEW university into the fold? It should be ALL or NOTHING!). How can a school have multiple conference affiliations depending on which sport you’re talking about?
This much is un-debatable…..the SEC rules college football. On the other hand, the Big East and the ACC are and always will be primarily about basketball. Don’t go screwing up this balance of sports nature! The creation of “SUPER” conferences is now emerging, all driven by money of course. It’s ridiculous to watch what’s happening as college sports jockeys around, and you can just forget about holding on to many of the traditional (geographic) rivalries we all grew up with. Also, what’s not clear at this time is if these “SUPER” conferences will include ALL sports. Think about that.
By 2015, Big East football will no longer exist as we once knew it. Most importantly, its stellar basketballreputation will be falling closer to mediocrity. Please remember, this is the same conference that plays its championship tournament every year in the “greatest sports arena in the world”, Madison Square Garden! Gone will be traditional powerhouses Pitt and Syracuse (to the ACC), and West Virginia (Big 12 bound)….replaced by basketball nobodies SMU and Central Florida, although Memphis now says they’re coming. It’s both interesting and sad to see that West Virginia wants to leave the Big East so bad that they’re willing to pay at least a $20M penalty fee to run off NOW instead of wait for the required 27 months.
Through Big East Conference realignment the number of Big East football teams will be expanded to 12 by 2015, allowing a conference title game for the first time in history-which I believe is a good thing. However, the new Western Division of the Big East doesn’t do anything for creating new rivalries by bringing in Boise State, Memphis, Houston, San Diego State, and SMU. Did these geniuses bother to factor in the added travel costs? Great football is built on territorial rivalries. Memphis is the WORST Division I team in all of college football every year, and who the hell wants to play on a BLUE field in Idaho anyway?
Related articles
- Big East, Temple look to rekindle the relationship (examiner.com)
- The Firestorm: Predictions for Conference Realignment – (Big East Update) – 2/23/12 (fanonfiresportswire.com)
This conference is getting so bad they just invited Temple to join. The only good thing about this move is that we can now get REAL cheesesteaks when we travel to Philly!
Pitt has joined the bandwagon in suing the Big East Conference to exit earlier……just like WVa and TCU. This conference has officially hit rock bottom!