Villanova officially invited to join Big East....

[Danm1983]

I don't mind the idea, I just don't think it's feasible for them. They'll get a boost in game attendance, support, money, but it probably still won't be enough. If they got added, it wouldn't be at least until 2014, and by that time, perhaps Temple will have a stadium, or Villanova could have a stadium, or there may be a way to share the Eagles' stadium (I'm sure the Eagles won't mind making twice as much football money). Villanova will probably start out with 4 BE home games obviously (4 home/4 away - finally a balanced conference schedule), and they can play an FCS team every year at home, but the other 3 games OOC will probably be on the road in order to take beatings and paychecks for the first 3 or 4 years. That would give them 5 weeks to schedule around Temple and perhaps share the big stadium. Or they could play in the soccer/futbol stadium that holds around 25,000, and then for bigger games if the Eagles stadium is available, play there.

Could go like this:

-1 game vs FCS opponent (winnable, play at soccer stadium)

-1 game vs BCS opponent (for upset's sake, usually a loss, play on the road, tour the East/Midwest to get the exposure)

-1 game vs non-AQ (sign some 1 and 1's or 2 and 2's with a MAC/SunBelt/C-USA team, can play at soccer stadium)

-1 annual rivalry/cross town game with Temple (get to play at the Eagles' stadium - possible wins vs a strong MAC team)

-4 Big East road games

-4 Big East home games

Now for most of the BE home games, they'll probably have to try and schedule them in the Eagles' stadium because pretty much all visiting BE teams will bring a good amount of fans to Philly being they're all relatively close. Nova might get away with playing USF or Louisville, or maybe Cincinnati, at the soccer stadium, depending on how many fans they would bring. It would also depend on Temple's home schedule, as I mentioned, they could play a few games in the Eagles' stadium when they need the space - similar to how Cincinnati does it in Paul Brown Stadium (Browns).

I still think UCF is the viable option for the BE in terms of a winning combination of more FL recruiting, good TV market, huge fanbase, and more potential to generate money. They also have great facilities. And, were UCF to actually find a way to beat USF a few times, it could turn into a real rivalry, which the BE really needs more of if it wants to get more TV exposure for big games.

[2000bull]

I don't mind the idea, I just don't think it's feasible for them. They'll get a boost in game attendance, support, money, but it probably still won't be enough. If they got added, it wouldn't be at least until 2014, and by that time, perhaps Temple will have a stadium, or Villanova could have a stadium, or there may be a way to share the Eagles' stadium (I'm sure the Eagles won't mind making twice as much football money). Villanova will probably start out with 4 BE home games obviously (4 home/4 away - finally a balanced conference schedule), and they can play an FCS team every year at home, but the other 3 games OOC will probably be on the road in order to take beatings and paychecks for the first 3 or 4 years. That would give them 5 weeks to schedule around Temple and perhaps share the big stadium. Or they could play in the soccer/futbol stadium that holds around 25,000, and then for bigger games if the Eagles stadium is available, play there.

Could go like this:

-1 game vs FCS opponent (winnable, play at soccer stadium)

-1 game vs BCS opponent (for upset's sake, usually a loss, play on the road, tour the East/Midwest to get the exposure)

-1 game vs non-AQ (sign some 1 and 1's or 2 and 2's with a MAC/SunBelt/C-USA team, can play at soccer stadium)

-1 annual rivalry/cross town game with Temple (get to play at the Eagles' stadium - possible wins vs a strong MAC team)

-4 Big East road games

-4 Big East home games

Now for most of the BE home games, they'll probably have to try and schedule them in the Eagles' stadium because pretty much all visiting BE teams will bring a good amount of fans to Philly being they're all relatively close. Nova might get away with playing USF or Louisville, or maybe Cincinnati, at the soccer stadium, depending on how many fans they would bring. It would also depend on Temple's home schedule, as I mentioned, they could play a few games in the Eagles' stadium when they need the space - similar to how Cincinnati does it in Paul Brown Stadium (Browns).

I still think UCF is the viable option for the BE in terms of a winning combination of more FL recruiting, good TV market, huge fanbase, and more potential to generate money. They also have great facilities. And, were UCF to actually find a way to beat USF a few times, it could turn into a real rivalry, which the BE really needs more of if it wants to get more TV exposure for big games.

I would think they would be able to get some pretty big pay days if they made the jump. It'd be a BCS team that would more than likely lose. Colorado is getting 1.4 mil to travel to ohio state, that's pretty good money.

[hightechbull]

Good for scheduling... bad for us because now we still don't have a quality road trip rival... not saying that I wanted UCiF but was hoping for Memphis, ECU, Tulane, or even Southern Miss.

Oh well I guess there is still room for 1 or 2 of them to join the Big East after the Big10 takes one or two of our existing teams... Pitt, Cuse, UConn, and Butgers are all on the table for consideration to join the Big10.

Big10 is will be at 12 teams when Nebraska joins.  Why would they need to add more?  The Big East already has proven that over 12 teams in Basketball is kind of a mess.  I say the Big 10 stays put at 12 unless one of their schools leaves, or ND ever changes their mind (not gonna happen).

[hightechbull]

Villanova will probably start out with 4 BE home games obviously (4 home/4 away - finally a balanced conference schedule), and they can play an FCS team every year at home, but the other 3 games OOC will probably be on the road in order to take beatings and paychecks for the first 3 or 4 years.

Why would they want to schedule 3 butt whoopings a year on the road?  Unless it is a huge pay day, it is not worth it.  They need to build up their home fan base, and nothing is more demoralizing than 3 butt whoopings on the road.

USF rarely went on the road when we started football, and I predict that 'Nova would only add one BCS OOC road game a year.  They should strive for a balanced 6 home & 6 road game schedule.  That is the only way to build up the number of season ticket holders, because they are not going to get excited about only 5 home games and the rest of the games on the road.

[80mins]

I'm not against it, though most of the obstacles have already been noted by other commenters My thoughts:

-The concept of playing in PPL Park is a bit far-fetched. PPL Park is about a half hour and worlds apart from where Nova is located, and selling a bunch of private school kids on hanging out in Chester for the afternoon (or, heaven forbid, night games) probably isn't the easiest. That move would only gain them about 6K seats, meaning they'd still be playing in a stadium too small for IA standards and smaller than the stadium of their current IAA rival, UD.

-The article projects 2014 or 2015 as a possible Big East rookie year. It's optimistic to think the conference will last that long if this is the only move being considered.

[Guest]

In the short-term, should 'Nova accept, it will settle a lot of the scheduling struggles the BE has with only 8 football playing members. I just hope 'Nova can afford to run their FB program should they decide to jump to the BE. I think money has always been the disuading factor for them, they just didn't want to spend so much on football. We shall see.

You tap into the Philly tv market and with a Big East TV network there would be better revenue strams to help Villanova stay viable in Division 1 A.

It can work for them.

Not that it matters much, but with Villanova already in the Big East, there would already be a market there for the Wildcats.  Let's not forget, a "Big East TV Network" only really works when you include basketball.

[2000bull]

I read somewhere that it wasn't really that this was a new offer, but rather it's been an open offer and nova contacted the BE offices to see if it was still on the table and that they were going to look into the viability of it. Did anybody else see that?

[Danm1983]

From what I gather is that this has been an unofficial "open" invite for years.

I think the BE might be putting a more formal invite on the table with a proper deadline, in order to gauge their interest one final time, because I think they're doing the honorable thing and asking Villanova if they want IN now, and if not, time to go look at UCF/ECU/etc.

I think this may be a long term plan trying to pan out. If Villanova is shooting for 2014-2015, then the BE may still be looking at UCF/ECU/Memphis/etc, but pending Villanova's answer, they'll know whether they want to out and grab another 1, 2, 3, or 4 schools if they start seriously looking to go to a 9, 10, or 12 team conference.

I feel like Villanova will still say no. Even with ~4 years of planning, I don't think the potential is really there, which sucks for the BE, but it could be a bad move if they try it and it fails miserably. The BE is the only bigger conference that has alot of really small schools that don't fit very well with the current football landscape, which is why I think a proper split in some form or another is the only way to keep the BE alive. There's still the possibility that the BE could just add 4 schools (they'll all be C-USA likely, as the BE is in no position to take back BC or lure MD or someone else over from a current BCS conference), and split the hoops side into two ten team divisions and have a modified BE tournament, perhaps one that is only 12 teams and some teams will just be left out like they used to be (too bad, so sad if you suck, I say).

A possible setup: (I'm confident the B10 stays at 12, and no more expansion happens with the SEC or ACC either)

Football:

North - UConn, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati

South - Louisville, Memphis, ECU, USF, UCF, ??? (I'll use Southern Miss since I can't think of anything else)

Basketball:

North - UConn, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova

South - Louisville, Memphis, ECU, USF, UCF, Southern Miss, Notre Dame, DePaul, Marquette, Georgetown

Current format has 16 members, 18 conference games = play everyone once, three teams you place twice.

New format, means you play everyone except one team once. Still a good way to measure true conference standings. Then have the top 6 or 7 teams from each division go to the BE tournament. Or have top 8 and keep the current 16 team BE tourny format...

At this point, who knows. Lots of speculating.

[80mins]

Ok you want to say UCF doesn't add value that's fine but you're adding a IAA program in the cemetery of College Football markets and you think that's a better option than UCF or ECU? Big East Leadership only care about Basketball. They don't even average 10K a game.

They have been in the Big East since the second year of the league, so they absolutely should be afforded the courtesy of the invite.

Secondly, they help the scheduling for football while maintaining 16 basketball playing members.

Thirdly, the Philadelphia tv market is much better for the Big East than Orlando, Dallas, Memphis, or Greenville, especially if the league is looking to create its own network, which had been widely rumored.

If you honestly think they'd stay at 10K when they go to the Big East, then you're sadly mistaken.

To answer your question, yes, they're a better option than UCF, ECU and Memphis. TCU would have been better, but then they'd upset the balance of the league in basketball.

I know all I'll hear is spin here but take away UCF hate for a bit. Philly, Boston, NYC are all Pro markets, they will never embrace College Football like Southern cities. They don't have a stadium, it's a private school w/ very low enrollment, there are not many ingredients for their fanbase to grow like USF's has or UCF's could potentially with a jump to the Big East. Casual meatballs in Philly will always pick Eagles and Phillies over Big East Football. There is no way they are a better option than UCF, ECU, or even Memphis. TCU is in the Central Time zone so doubt they would ever be an option. I don't know how any Big East FOOTBALL fans can spin this decision as a good thing. Villanova would have to figure out the stadium thing than what, they maybe get a jump to 25K a game? ECU and UCF already top that.

It's interesting to me how you go directly from mentioning Memphis as an option to the fact that TCU is in the Central Time Zone preventing them from being an option. And on the basketball side of things, the Big East already has two central time zone teams.

[Guest Sunburned]

 

It's interesting to me how you go directly from mentioning Memphis as an option to the fact that TCU is in the Central Time Zone preventing them from being an option. And on the basketball side of things, the Big East already has two central time zone teams.

Where are those two teams located???