How About A Basketball-Driven Realignment

None of the recent changes in proposed or actual college conference realignments have had anything to do with basketball. Not even one. In fact, Kansas, one of the leading basketball programs, came perilously close to being relegated to the scrap heap.

Hard to fathom in parts of the country where the following for basketball closely resembles the most fanatical of cults, with an intensity among its frenetic followers that rivals that of some hardened fundamental and radical groups.

Brendan Prunty, of the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, envisions a realignment that would merge the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences into what he convincingly argues would be the best basketball conference in the nation while also being a respectable football league, as follows:

Big Atlantic Conference

NORTH — Boston College, UConn, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Temple, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown, St. John’s and Maryland.

SOUTH — Wake Forest, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Louisville, Central Florida, South Florida, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Memphis.

Under this scenario, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown and St. John’s would be basketball-only schools. Miami, Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech would have joined the SEC, and Syracuse, Rutgers and Pittsburgh would have gone to the Big Ten.

The Triangle Hoops Journal, a North Carolina-based blog, has endorsed the concept, noting:

The “Big Atlantic Conference” would be a respectable football conference and would provide sufficient opportunities for the member schools to compete at the highest level.  More importantly, it would remain true to the history and tradition of the basketball-centric ACC and Big East by creating perhaps the best college basketball conference imaginable …

State, Duke, UNC and Wake would get to play each other twice each regular season.  Traditional rivalries in each league would be respected and promoted …

Imagine a conference tournament arranged as follows:  The South division plays two rounds in Greensboro, the North in Madison Square Garden.  The four semi-finalists from each division would then play out the tournament in Greensboro or the Garden, alternating each season.

Gotta love the name, The Big Atlantic Conference. However, the South division of the tournament would have to be played in the new 22,000-seat state-of-the-art arena in Louisville. And Notre Dame would not be pressured into playing conference football, enjoying a great new home for its other sports.

This lineup is one that makes a lot of sense and would generate a highly profitable television network, assuring that basketball remains a major power player on the college athletic landscape.

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End Of Big East Inertia Is Near

The Big Ten Conference seems hellbent on creating chaos among college football conferences whether it’s good for the game or not. Not that the macho mentalities care anything about what happens to anyone else in this “Me First” generation of collegiate athletics.

The buzz is that the Big Ten has its eyes on Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers as expansion candidates, none of which mesh with the image of existing members. But it seems more fashionable and easier to go after Big East schools rather than challenge older, more stable conferences, television or not.

University of Louisville fans, reenergized with a new coach and an expanded stadium, keep waiting on Big East officials to come up with some ideas on the future. So far, however, conference officials have kept their visions to themselves.

Football must be first and foremost among the priorities for U of L in future conference considerations, whether be in the Big East or whatever is left over if a split occurs. It is football, after all, that is drives college athletics, forcing the realignments.

Definitely go after these programs:

East Carolina football stadium (Click to enlarge)

• East Carolina — Great football tradition in a beautiful stadium that seats 43,000 and is currently being expanded to 50,000.  ECU fans are fanatical about the football program, last season averaging close to 42,000 per game. Their fans travel well, too, and Louisville is within a reasonable driving distance.

• Central Florida — Lots of football talent to draw from in a football-crazy state. UCF averaged 38,078 per game last season in a 45,000-seat stadium. The stadium was designed to expand to 65,000 seats. The school is already thinking about adding 10,000 seats within the next decade. Membership in the Big East would hasten the expansion. A natural rivalry with South Florida.

• Memphis — A decades-old rivalry for U of L, and always will be. Memphis loves its university. All they need is a decent conference to begin investing in improvements in its football facilities. Memphis was competitive with Louisville, even during the Bobby Petrino years, and deserves an opportunity to join the BCS club.

The new alignment would still need at least one more school to remedy the conference football scheduling program, and that’s where it gets tough. Assuming geographical proximity and travel are not problematic, the choice would come from one these schools:

• TCU — Texas Christian is a solid football school, attracting 38,100 fans per game last season in a 46,000-seat stadium. They have exceeded 50,000 on a couple of occasions.

• Southern Mississippi — Another good football school and a good rivalry for the University of Louisville. Southern Miss averaged 30,100 per game last season. Put them in a BCS setting, and the program averages at least 10,000 to 15,000 per game.

None of these candidates fit the traditional power house profiles but they are respectable programs deserving of opportunities to improve their stature in the world of college football.

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Golf Scramble For U of L Sports Admin

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Jared Swopshire and Jerry Smith in the starting lineup.

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College Presidents Skirt Big East Expansion Issues

The issue of conference expansion came up during a meeting of college presidents during the Big East basketball tournament in New York, according to University of Louisville President James Ramsey. This is the first public indication that the presidents have acknowledged a possible crisis for the conference.

Ramsey said something to the effect that it was time the presidents stopped ignoring the elephant in the room. “It’s an area of concern for all of us,” he said. “We need to be prepared.”

And they talked about the issue, in what had to be one of the most generic discussions in conference history. There’s no indication of a committee being formed or consultants being hired to consider the league’s options.

Who would make up a Big East committee on expansion issues? The presidents of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, even Connecticut, are salivating about being included in a Big Ten expansion. How could any discussion involving them be productive?

Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida aren’t in any position to have much of an impact on discussions. The only leverage they have is the investment they’re making in their athletic facilities. U of L is among the most profitable basketball programs in the nation. Cincinnati has a great following when its teams are winning. South Florida, in Tampa, is in the 14th largest media market.

None of which is apparently a big deal when it comes to Big Ten versus non-Big Ten considerations.

Converging these interests into a common agenda would appear to be an insurmountable challenge. The Big East is locked into a position of having to respond to whatever the Big Ten decides what it’s going to do — and that won’t be known until summer.

Don’t expect the Big East college presidents to have serious discussions before then.

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Duke Possible Opening Foe In Louisville Arena

The observer likes the sound of that, Louisville vs. Duke on the marquee at the opening game of U of L’s new 22,000-seat downtown arena.

How ironic is Host’s involvement anyway? He’s involved in everything involving the arena.

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Pick Your Louisville Arena Seat

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