BIG EAST or BIG SLOW?

                                                      
                      
                      It is becoming unbearable to continue to wonder if the big East will finally invite Tulsa, and Southern Miss to the Big East Conference. Most speculators have said there will be an offer on the table by the end of this month, which is basically one week away. However, the wait is unbearable at times.

                       Everyone knows that the Big East has to get two teams in order to replace Boise State and SDSU. As well as everyone knows that they can basically hand pick who they would like from Conference USA. Teams like Marshall, UTEP, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulsa, and a lot of others. Most of those teams want to be apart of the Big East in order to continue to play their rivals in meaningful games. Especially SMU and Houston who plan to Build New Stadiums soon to increase the values of their programs.

                       This week CUSA had two teams join a year early, and the Big East did absolutely nothing. The question is without a doubt what are they waiting for? One could say that the Biggest Reason Boise and SDSU did not join the conference as planned is because of time. The more time a t college team has the more opportunities they get to change their mind.

                       All I know is one gets tired of waiting for something to happen on the end of the Big East. Especially since they could basically get 18 teams by next week if they wanted. It can be done by adding teams like Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss,UTEP, Tulsa, and NIU. Yet every time I check nothing has happened. 

                       This is the most opportune time to get things done, re-establish the conference, and rekindle some old values in a new conference. It would also help with getting a better TV deal in place, and may change the minds of University of Connecticut, Cincy, and USF from leaving. Especially if they struggle with their new opponents or start to enjoy the way things are going.

                       If I could have a conversation with Mike Aresco commissioner of the Big East I would have three suggestions. First it is time to move on the Big East does not have the Catholic 7 any more, but it does not mean the conference should cease to exist. Your just going to have to go without them, and find teams that want to be with them.

                        The second thing I would say is add some freaking teams already, and to get stability. You cannot trust the likes of University of Connecticut, Cincy, or USF. They would drop you in a heart beat if the ACC or B1G called them. Yet that will not happen unless they find success in bowl games, and conference championships. However, some have teams like UCF, Tulsa, and ECU ranked higher than all three of them at this point.

                        The last thing I would say is to not try to be the ACC, B1G , the SEC. The Big East are people from the North East meaning New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, D.C, and other areas. When it comes down to it we love football just as much as the next person, and will watch college football.

                         However, what separates us from the SEC, ACC, and B1G is we realize that it is just a game. We are not willing to pay off students athletes, and their families to attract great recruits. Our millionairees our not willing to pay coaches ridiculous amounts of money to coach our teams. As well as we are not willing to cut corners in order to have bowl game winning teams.

                        What we are willing to do is what every fan should to support their college teams. Buy tickets, watch the games, purchase team apparel, and occasionally make a trip to a Bowl game. Also if you support your former University financially help raise money for the betterment  of Academics and sports programs. Yet not doing anything against the rules for a championship year.

                         The Big East has consumers of fans who enjoy sports, live across the country, and for the most part live in the biggest television markets in America. The Conference should look to embrace its standards of academic excellence, while also pursuing to better themselves in football as well as other sports. Big East fans should be proud to know that we fail at time in sports, but when we do succeed its worth more than the other conferences. Because we did not have to cheat, payoff, or lower our academic standards to do so.

Thank You
By Jonathan Jones

ECU & Tulane to leave for 2013 instead of 2014?

          There have been rumors going around that Tulane and ECU may be willing to pay an extra fee to Conference USA in order to leave for the Big East a year earlier. This is at first did not seem to be true, however with FAU and Middle Tennessee leaving for C USA a year earlier it may make since. Currently for the 2013 season the big East will comprise of Houston, SMU, UCF, USF, UCONN, CINCY, Temple, Memphis, Louisville, and Rutgers. If East Carolina University and Tulane leave for the 2013 season they may receive a lot of early benefits.

          It has been rumored they may  both have to  pay a 1 million dollar fee to leave the conference a year earlier. It may be a steep fee and yet they are guaranteed to make that money back, and more joining a year earlier. The quality of football in Conference USA is just not there any more. ECU and Tulane would face opponents such as FAU, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, and a few other schools that will not gain the media attention that has been lost.


           The only schools that will continue to bring in crowds for ECU and Tulane are Rice, Southern Miss, Tulsa, and possibly LA Tech. Yet Southern Miss, Tulsa, and Rice have all been linked to possibly leaving C USA for the Big East in 2014.

          In all honesty the two schools should just pay the fee and move on early. They will receive more money facing some of their old opponents from Conference USA, and teams like Temple, UCONN, USF, and CINCY. As well as the possibility of competing with schools like Louisville and Rutgers for at least a year are definitely enticing possibilities.

           There has not been any ink on the dotted line yet, but this is still a possibility. As well as no one can say that Conference USA is more stable than the Big East. Especially with schools like Tulsa, Rice, and Southern Miss desperately hoping to move to the conference.

          ECU and Tulane make the right decision and leave the sinking ship a year earlier. It helps your football programs facing better talent, and old rivals. Helps with recruiting basketball talent going against teams like Uconn, Memphis, Cincy, USF, UCF, and an SMU squad coach by the legendary Larry Brown who is attracting a lot of attention. In the long term it may be a 1 million day fee each, but why wait for greener pasture later than sooner.

Where Will UTEP Go?

                From the recent news from the sports media one could conclude that the University of Texas El Paso  does not want to stay in Conference USA. There are no direct reasons why the school would like to leave because the University would not make its true intentions known in public. Yet it is not impossible to imagine UTEP wanting to gain a bigger foot print in college football.

              It has been trying to get out of Conference USA by ways of the Big East and MWC. The Big East would make since for UTEP because it has former rivals SMU and Houston in the conference starting in June 2013. However, it is not known just how much the conference would be interested in UTEP. Everyone knows that If the Big East called Marshall and UTEP to become members they would jump at the chance in a heart beat. Yet those schools as desperate as the big East is still has standards. Which means they may need to win a conference championship or a Bowl Game before the Big East comes a calling for them.

           UTEP could also join the MWC however, no one knows if they will go past twelve schools in the near future. They  made attempts to certain schools to join the conference, but those schools seem content on staying where they are at. As well as if they did decided to expand the MWC it may not look directly at UTEP as a first round pick. However, they know they are glad to have a back up plan if anything happens.

           The odds for UTEP do not seem favorable in the future because they could be without a conference soon. They could in fact become an independent like other schools have done. However, there is a major difference between Notre Dame, BYU, Army, and other independents. The current independents are schools that can afford to be independents. For the most part they have large fan bases, can sell tickets, and are for the most part media commodities. UTEP has some leverage, but probably not enough to be an independent some day.

             UTEP may just be stuck in Conference USA for now until a better offer comes a long. With the potential losses of Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa more of their geographical rivals will be lost. Yet they may help themselves if they can start to win the conference championship or consistently make bowl game appearances. If this happens over the next three to five seasons they could see their fortunes change.

Thanks for Reading
Jonny Jones

From Big East to B20 Conference

         The Big East Conference recently has been mentioned a lot about its future expansion. After losing Boise and SDSU in a little less than a month persons are wondering who should they get to replace the schools. Currently the conference is expected to have an odd number of schools at 11 in year 2015. The List is USF, UCF, Memphis, Houston, SMU, UConn, Cincy, Temple, Navy, Tulane, and ECU. They cannot have a stable conference with that meany teams so expansion is a necessity. Especially with with the always present rumors of Uconn and Cincy wanting to leave for  Greener pastures.

           With the current list of schools it may not show it, however the conference is steadily getting better having more schools than ever before. Yet in the previous article written by me it is clear that the schools they added were very smart, and amazing building blocks for a very competitive conference in the future. Each school has something that will help push the conference to the next level in athletics and in academics.

            Yet they should continue to add on teams to maintain stability within the conference. Currently the conference has been contacting four schools such as Umass, Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa. Thus far it looks like Southern Miss and Tulsa are the current front runners to receive and accept the invitation within the month of Jan 2013. This would be good moves for the conference and the schools. It would give stability for the league making 12 teams in total for 2014 . Which would give the league more time to ad another team for Navy in order to balance out the conference for 2015.

            However, I suggest that the league continue to add teams in order to give it stability over the years, and a way to develop the brand. Let us imagine that Southern miss and Tulsa do accept the invitation. That would make 13 teams by the year 2015. My suggestion is that the Big East add seven more schools to give it stability.

           The schools that I suggest are  Rice, Marshall, Arkansas State, NIU, Western Michigan, Umass,  UTEP,  and  University of Ohio. All of these school have something to offer the Big East Conference. With twenty teams they could rename the conference the B20 conference. This would help the growth and recognition of the conference. As well as give stability to University presidents about conference realignment having extra schools.

            Also all of the seven schools mentioned above are not bad at all. Most of them were invited to bowl games last year. They are all located in relatively good markets except for Rice and NIU which are located in top tier USA television markets. Most of the Universities are good academic institutions They bring stability, and excitement for  the conference. It also gives the Big east markets in the North East, Mid West, the South East, and Texas schools being the most western.

            It  would not cause a lot of problems because of the two Divisions in the Conference. The Western Division would consist of UTEP, Rice, Arkansas State, Houston, SMU, USF, UCF, Southern Miss, Tulane, and Tulsa.While the Eastern Division would be Uconn, Navy, ECU, Temple, Cincy, NIU, Ohio, Western Michigan, Umass, and Memphis.

              That list of schools and the divisions are very impressive for all sports and could be a premiere conference in the United States. It will not be the SEC, however given the right amount of time the competition created by the Conference could at least rival the ACC.

             I know that this is just a suggestion, and that there is no way this will happen. Yet I feel like because of the crazy realignment there may be a chance for a B20 conference given the right geographical structure. The Big East at least should go up to eighteen teams in order to compensate for the possible future losses of Uconn and Cincy. In conclusion the Big East Conference may not be the B20 Conference as I have laid out, however I do strongly believe it has the potential to become the B16 conference in the next two to three years.


Thanks for Reading
Jonny Jones
            

Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa better in Big East

      
          The Big East to most college sports lovers is not seen as a great conference. Most believe that it is dead or probably should have been disbanded. Especially after the losses of SDSU, Boise State, and the Catholic 7. Yet the conference is not in as poor shape as persons would have you believe. Looking into the business of conference realignment the conference still maintains a competitive edge over their four conference rivals (Sun Belt, MAC, MWC, Conference USA), and I am definitely leaving the WAC out of the conversation.

          Some have said that the Big East did not get better because it just engulfed six conference USA teams, which in theory should make the conference worse. If the big East was better than C USA and it admits a lot of those teams were than the conference should get worse. This assumption is incorrect because to the Big East's credit the schools they added from conference USA are all very special building blocks to building a well rounded athletic conference.

         The C USA schools that have left for the big East are ECU, Memphis, SMU, Houston, Tulane, and UCF. These schools all bring something that would be valuable to any conference. 1st  ECU has been a consistent winner in football, and never fails to not only qualify for bowl games, but win them. They also have over 50,000 people in attendance at their games each week, which means they have supportive fans. They are also believed to join for all sports because of the loss of the Catholic 7.

      The 2nd school Memphis has not been a consistent winner on the football field. With a new conference they may be able to change their fortune. Yet they do have a consistent winner in basketball, and a large media viewership for its region. The 3rd school SMU under June Jones has started making and winning bowl games consistently over the last few seasons. They are in a large media market in Dallas Texas, and are recruiting outstanding talent. Also the basketball team is projected to get better over the years with Coach Larry Brown attracting great talent.

      Houston the fourth school is the second largest media market in Texas, and one of the biggest in the USA. It has not been a consistent winner since losing their star QB in 2011, but still has the potential to grow. Their new conference will be a seller to recruits, and have the potential to challenge any school in the Big East. The 5th school Tulane University has not been a major powerhouse in any sport for many years. They have not won a bowl game in years, and their basketball program is underdeveloped. Yet their major selling point is their potential for growth. They seem committed to winning again, and are close to building a new football stadium to attract recruits. Also it helps that they are a major research University that is in one of the biggest media markets in America in New Orleans.

       The last addition of UCF is maybe one of the biggest because they have the full package. They serve a major media market, have great academic programs for both bachelors and masters degrees. UCF has been a consistent winner when it comes to conference championships, and bowl game appearances. There have even been articles stating that in the playoffs there where six players currently in the NFL playoffs contributing to their teams. Which means they are recruiting talent that is desirable for the pros.

        When looking at the schools of the Big East in 2015 such as  UCF, USF, Houston, ECU, Tulane, Memphis, CinCy, UConn, Navy, Temple, and SMU the future product is very promising. Schools like Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa have been wanting to leave Conference USA because of the current brand they have now. The six schools that left C USA all had desirable qualities creating a competitive conference both in athletics and academically.

        A conference is only as good as the competitive nature of the schools that occupy it. Meaning if schools are competing against each other in athletics, academics, admissions, and other areas it is great all of the institutions. Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa have all lost a lot of their rival schools in all of those areas covered. In return they are receiving schools that are not well known, are not natural rivals, and are academically less competitive as they are.

        Yet more importantly they have a hard sell to future recruits because of the types of institutions they will be facing who have a lack of name recognition, lower academic standards, and television markets affect recruiting talent. These are issues that Rice, Southern Miss, and Tulsa all see as problems for them in the future. Which is why at least two of them will be admitted to the Big East in the near future.

          The three schools know something that others have forgotten in college sports. When it comes to competition you are only as good as your best rivals. If your best rivals in college football are Middle Tennessee University and FAU it might to time to leave for greener pastures.
       

   Thanks for Reading
    Jonny Jones
       

Big East bright future moving forward

The Big East has gone through a lot of transformations over the years losing a lot of teams. The experiment of having Boise and San Diego join the Conference was a great idea, but it failed before they played any football. I will not say that it was doomed to fail because it could have worked, but planning for the long term did not occur. In order for the Big East to make a western division they should have added more western schools immediately to make it geographically more feasible. They did not do that so there were questions that kept causing problems.

         Yet I do not see the loss of Boise as a bad thing because in all honesty they wanted to much from the conference. If the Big East accepted the deal they would have said that all of the other schools are not worth as much. It is never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. Especially for a program that would leave the Big East or MWC if the PAC12 ever wanted to become the PAC16. Boise is a great program that should be ranked higher than it is football wise. When it comes down to it they did what they felt was necessary, and who can blame them for that.

        Also looking at it the conference was  having a hard time expanding westward. Most fans could see that trying to obtain schools like BYU, Air Force, UNLV, and others did not seem possible. There was definitely interest, yet not enough to get them to sign on the dotted line. As a fan having those schools would have been great, but I know it boils down to who you can work with. Most of the western school the Big East Targeted did not seem like supportive business partners. In the chaos of conference re-alignment supportive programs are a tough commodity to come by, but if you have it than do what ever you can to keep it.

         Focusing on the positive for some reason the Big East may find it hard to gain membership in the west, however they have found success in the East coast, the south, and even Texas. With this knowledge they can concentrate on obtaining and developing programs that are geographically more stable for traveling. While also creating rivalries between academic institutions because of their locations. Fans will be able to travel more to games against rival schools. As much as I love Boise I do not love it enough to see a Uconn vs Boise football game in Idaho.

         Losing the Catholic 7 was a big blow for the Big East Conference. Especially since historically it was made to give the basketball schools a chance to be recognized nationally. It was very successful for years, and made basketball powerhouses. However, basketball was also destructive for the conference in the long run. With a basketball oriented conference football was only able to grow, but so much. Anyone who knows college sports is aware that football is the biggest money maker, and can give a school national recognition by having a winning season or even appearing in a bowl game.

         Losing the Catholic 7 may be a good thing for the conference in the long run. Now it can focus on developing the programs that have committed to being in the conference for all sports. As well as the schools that are left are great building blocks for the future. UCF, USF, Houston, ECU, Tulane, Memphis, CinCy, UConn, Navy, Temple, and SMU are great institutions academically and for athletics. Just with these schools they are still in better shape than C USA, the Sun Belt, Mac, and can without a doubt compete with the MWC.

        The Big East may not be the SEC or ACC, however with the 11 building blocks they have with more to be added in the future the conference has a possibility to become competitive. In football they have schools that are on the rise, basketball schools that are still competitive, and academically more desirable than most of the schools in other conferences. The Conference is not dying it is just going through evolution. Yet most writers will not say that because they get more viewership trashing than helping others to understand.

Thank You
Jonny Jones