The Big East Dream

One thing is for certain, no one knows what the Big Ten plans to do with the idea of expansion. Many people expect the conference to expand to 12 teams in order to have a conference championship for football. If the Presidents decide to OK the idea, who will the Big Ten go after? Notre Dame, Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh are some teams to name a few. But what if another conference decided to act before the Big Ten makes a final decision?

If a team like Rutgers, Syracuse or Pittsburgh is lured in by the Big Ten then the Big East will certainly lose some luster and possibly its Bowl Championship Series automatic bid. So how can the Big East avoid another conference taking away members?

Many forget that an original east coast conference was in the making with Penn State’s Joe Paterno leading the way back in the 80’s. Paterno’s vision was that of a conference with major schools in the east coast market that could compete in football and basketball. Teams like Rutgers, Syracuse, Maryland, West Virginia, Temple and Pittsburgh would all be a part of the plan. But once the Big East basketball league formed Pittsburgh decided they would not play second fiddle to Penn State. And overnight Pittsburgh and Syracuse were gone while Penn State was eventually added to the Big Ten. The rest is history.

Today, the Big East is mediocre in football but dominant in basketball. But what if a Big East member is taken by the Big Ten if the conference decides to expand? Would schools like East Carolina, Central Florida or Memphis really be able to replace one of the existing conference teams?

The Big East teams that compete in football and basketball need to act before the Big Ten does. There is no reason for an 18-team conference in basketball, and only an eight team conference in football. Schools like Rutgers and West Virginia do not belong in the same conference as schools like Providence, Seton Hall, St. Johns, and Villanova.

These schools that play football and basketball in the conference need to split away from the private catholic schools that are not part of the football mix. Those schools are Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida. Let Villanova, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall, Providence and St. Johns find another league to play basketball in.

The power in the Big East remains in the hands of Providence guys who only care about basketball. It shows in the Big East bowl tie-ins and lack of marketing for Big East football.

The next move once the schools split should be to talk to other major institutions in the east coast market and see if they would be interested in forming an east coast conference. Schools like Maryland, Boston College, Temple and Penn State are just four to name a few.

Yes it would be hard to pry these schools away from its current conferences, but it’s been done before. A team like Maryland is solid in the ACC in basketball but not football. Why wouldn’t the Terrapins want to have a better opportunity to be a football power while remaining strong in basketball?

A team like Boston College can make up for its mistake of leaving the Big East for the ACC and return to playing teams they are more compatible with. Temple would leave the Atlantic-10 in a flash to play basketball in the Big East. The Owls were kicked out of the Big East before due to a poor football program. But with Al Golden running the football program the team could compete in the sport.

Penn State would be the hardest school to convince to leave but the man in Paterno who had the dream in the 80’s to have an east coast conference could make that dream a reality. Penn State is undoubtedly a football power but its basketball program has been horrific the past few seasons. High school players would still want to go to Happy Valley for football and the school could resurrect the basketball program by playing in a better basketball conference.

The idea of an east coast conference is a long shot but it has some potential. A conference consisting of Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Connecticut, Louisville, Cincinnati, Boston College, Maryland, Temple and Penn State could compete with every conference in football and basketball.

It would have 12-teams and be able to have a conference championship game for football while having major powers in basketball. Natural rivalries would still exist. Madison Square Garden could still hold the conference basketball tournament and better bowl tie-ins could be arranged for football.

The eight Big East schools who play football and basketball in the conference need to act as a group. If one of the eight leave for the Big Ten then football will die and only basketball will survive. Football is the money making sport, and schools like Rutgers and West Virginia who pump millions of dollars into its football programs would suffer if one team left for the Midwest.