TCU and Houston rejected by B12, should we invite them to the Big East?

[Cow Pie]

I thought the ACC and BE should have formed a 20 team football only alliance. They could have controlled the whole eastern seaboard. They could have started a joint network.

Conferences aren't looking for ad dollars. They are looking for basic cable subscribers for their networks. The big 10 gets local conference cable subscribers to pay .80c per month for their network whether or not they watch it. I get the big 10 network in Tampa. I probably pay like .05c/month for it. I've never tuned in. Take ten's of millions of households at .05c per month and it starts to add up.

IF the SEC ever raids the ACC then a Big East/ACC merger would make the most sense, minus the basketball teams of course.

[813knight]

I don't understand the argument that a non-BCS team joining a BCS conference will automatically increase their recruiting rankings.

Utah is ranked 32 by rivals. BYU is 40. Houston is 45 and TCU is 46.

If BCS conference teams are expected to out recruit non-BCS teams then how come all of these programs rank ahead of Arkansas, Purdue and many other BCS teams? Who will they jump if/when they join a BCS conference?

Hell UCF would be ranked #4 in the BE this year ahead of 2 time defending champ Cincy, USF, Rutgers, Syracuse and UConn.

Will they start to out recruit WVU and Pitt if they join the BE?

I hope ;D. But Big East and Proactive don't go together. The Basketball run conference looks content to wait till they are picked apart and die as a Football Conference.

[crambone]

We should add both.

[deathrow95]

 As I've said before it makes no sense to expand past 9 teams because of the balanced schedule.  Unless some team really stands apart from the rest its a hard call to make.  With all of the basketball teams in the conference adding more than 1 team gives you to many mouths to feed.  While the TX market would be nice to get a foothold in. Our current config it makes it to awkward.  We are a Northern league with 1 Southern team USF that acts more like a Mid western city than a southern city.  You can't just add teams to add teams.  It must make financial sense to do so.  None of the schools that we can add now can bring in enough revenue to off set there cost.  Some get close others do not.  Every school that comes in takes a slice of the pie.  No one wants less pie. Also please remember USF & Louisville were beating BCS teams before we got added.  A new school must not only competitive in the conference but beat all non BCS teams and some BCS teams.  The Big East is on the edge of qualifying for the BCS money.  A bad add could cost us that automatic bid.

[Cow Pie]

 As I've said before it makes no sense to expand past 9 teams because of the balanced schedule.  Unless some team really stands apart from the rest its a hard call to make.  With all of the basketball teams in the conference adding more than 1 team gives you to many mouths to feed.  While the TX market would be nice to get a foothold in. Our current config it makes it to awkward.  We are a Northern league with 1 Southern team USF that acts more like a Mid western city than a southern city.  You can't just add teams to add teams.  It must make financial sense to do so.  None of the schools that we can add now can bring in enough revenue to off set there cost.  Some get close others do not.  Every school that comes in takes a slice of the pie.  No one wants less pie. Also please remember USF & Louisville were beating BCS teams before we got added.  A new school must not only competitive in the conference but beat all non BCS teams and some BCS teams.  The Big East is on the edge of qualifying for the BCS money.  A bad add could cost us that automatic bid.

There are 2 Southern teams in the Big East... USF and Louisville.

Also you make a good point but need to remember that the Big East is dead last out of the BCS in TV revenue... the only hope we have is to (1). Toss some (not all) basketball schools over board (2). Expand into major tv market areas (3). Add a Conference Championship, a TV Network, or both.

We could increase revenue instantly by dumping DePaul, Marquette, and adding 2 all sports schools.

[jd77]

There are 3 southern schools. Don't forget WVU.  You can almost count Cincy as a southern school too as it is literally just over the Kentucky/Ohio border. Cincy is pretty much in Kentucky.

[namuh-bull]

There are 3 southern schools. Don't forget WVU.  You can almost count Cincy as a southern school too as it is literally just over the Kentucky/Ohio border. Cincy is pretty much in Kentucky.

It's a stretch to say WVU is in the south.  they are less than 90 miles from Pittsburgh.  I really don't even consider Louisville in the south.

go Bulls!

[macphisto]

USF, Louisville, West Virginia, and Cincinnati are all in the south.  As a native Ohioan, I can attest that Cincy has always seen itself as a southern city.  The Mason-Dixon Line is on Maryland's northern border, after all.  Maryland is a southern team as well, as is Navy.

[USFMikeB]

We should add TCU, Houston, and Memphis.

not unless they bring in millions to each school

Funny you should ask. I've been playing around with some potential population numbers (in millions) for the Big East Cable Network. Somewhere between 100m and 150m potential viewers (out of about 300m in the entire country). What did the B10 start with? Something like 50m?

About 30 million potential viewers for the proposed Football teams

9   TCU       Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Waco, N TX

8   Houston   Houston, San Antonio, E TX

5   ECU       East-Central NC

3   Memphis   Memphis, Nashville, W TN

3   UCF       East-Central FL

2   Tulane    New Orleans

About 50 million for the current Football teams

25   RU, UCONN      NYC, NJ, CT Area

6   Syracuse       Upstate New York

6   Pitt           Pittsburgh, W PA, E OH

5   USF            West-Central FL

3   WVU            WV, W PA

3   Cincy          Cincy, Dayton, N KY, Indianapolis

2   Louisville     Louisville, W KY

Maybe another 30 or so (+ND) for the current Basketball teams

25?  Notre Dame     USA

10   DePaul         Chicago

9   Georgetown     DC, Baltimore

7   Villanova      Philadelphia

2   Marquette      Milwaukee

2   Providence     Providence

0   SHU, SJU       Counted above for RU, UCONN

Based on your logic, the BE already has 25% of this country locked up.  So, why do they need to add more schools?  Aren't they already a top tier conference since they reach a quarter of the country's household?

:

[USFMikeB]

USF, Louisville, West Virginia, and Cincinnati are all in the south.  As a native Ohioan, I can attest that Cincy has always seen itself as a southern city.  The Mason-Dixon Line is on Maryland's northern border, after all.  Maryland is a southern team as well, as is Navy.

Does defining the country's geography based on Civil War conventions really make sense?