Georgetown & St John's pushing to dissolve Big East

[Warner2BruceTD]

Tired of being pushed around by football, rumor has it that Georgetown & SJU have been pushing to dissolve the conference, but were always at least one vote short. With Louisville leaving, the non football "catholic seven" now have the 70% voting power they need to dissolve the league.

The following schools are full voting members: G’Town, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Nova, Providence, DePaul, Marquette, UConn, USF and Cincy. It takes a 70% vote to dissolve the conference. The Catholic seven, if they wanted to dissolve, now have the 70% needed.

But they have to hurry...

As of July 1, 2013, Temple, UCF, Memphis, SMU and Houston gain full voting rights and the Catholics would lose the supermajority. Considering that Tulane is now a full member of the league, it is time for the Catholics to move on.

The hang up? The rights to the 'Big East' name, and the rights to the (Big East) tournament contract with MSG. The basketball schools obviously want both.

If the "catholic seven" break off without the name and form a new league, they lose the automatic NCAA birth as well. Not a huge deal, but still something they would prefer to avoid.

In either case, they would likely extend league invites to schools like Xavier, Dayton, St. Louis, and possibly the other Philly "Big 5" schools (excluding Penn), LaSalle & St Joe's, and even Temple, if they drop their football delusions of grandeur and accept that they are a hoops school.

There is even talk that NBC Sports Network would throw big money to this new football-less Big East, and make it the flagship programming of the new network (if that sounds familiar, ESPN did the exact same thing with the original Big East), which would possibly entice national programs like Butler, Gonzaga, & BYU to jump on board (along with Memphis, another school that should just accept their basketball roots).

The bottom line here, is it;s nice to see the basketball schools of the Big East making some noise and potentially fighting back after years of watching football kill the league. The Big East, which has already lost their auto bid status in football, should do the right thing and give up the name to the basketball schools. They owe them that, since they wouldn't exist in the first place without them.

The idea of a retooled BASKETBALL ONLY Big East, with the "catholic seven" plus whoever else, forcing a bidding war between ESPN & NBC Sports Network, is finally some good news for basketball after all the nonsense this football bullshit has caused.

[G-men]

In a perfect world, the Big East gives its name to the catholic seven and the Conference USA gives its name to the Big East. Slim chance that happens though.

[Warner2BruceTD]

"If they do [form a Catholic league], they risk losing the conference label and then they risk losing the contact with Madison Square Garden for the tournament," the source said. "They don’t want to make a mistake by jumping out early and then not being able to get a pretty good TV deal, even though it’s going to be obviously much less on the basketball side.

"That’s why it’s a waiting game because they’re worried about if they did something collectively and tried to reform with others. It all goes around to the brand of the Big East and the Garden."

This all comes down to the Big East name & MSG rights. The football schools won't give it up because the name is what carries all the value.

This is pathetic.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Also, Gonzaga sits and waits. They want in if some sort of "Catholic League" forms, Big East name or not.

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21353826/big-easts-non-football-members-meet-discuss-possible-breakaway

Faced with an uncertain future and the reality that the Big East's next television deal won't be as lucrative as it once projected, officials from the Big East's seven non-football members met Monday in New York and discussed, among other things, the possibility of breaking away from the Big East's football-playing members, a source confirmed to CBSSports.com.

The meeting was first reported by Mark Blaudschun.

SI.com's Pete Thamel is reporting that Big East commissioner Mike Aresco attended.

This development comes less than a week after CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd reported that the Big East's next TV deal could be worth as little as $60 million annually, meaning the league's seven non-football members -- Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and DePaul -- will make a fraction of what they figured to make before Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Louisville announced within the past 15 months that they're leaving the Big East. Considering TV revenue has long been viewed as the only tangible reason for the non-football members to remain affiliated with the football-playing members, last week's report combined with the possibility of additional changes has the non-football members now exploring other options. One possibility, a source said, is Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and DePaul trying to form a basketball-only league and perhaps inviting other relevant basketball schools without FBS-level football programs to join them -- schools like Butler, VCU, Xavier, Saint Louis, Dayton and George Mason.

A source said there is no timetable for a next meeting.

https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/278370326470086656

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN
Source told @ESPNAndyKatz MSG may get out of Big East tourney deal if league continues changing membership

[Warner2BruceTD]

I think it's now fairly obvious that the catholic seven should vote to split right now.

They likely won't get the Big East name, I think there is a great chance they can get the MSG tournament. As Katz reported, MSG won't want a tournament full of ECU's and Central Florida's and SMU's that nobody is going to go to. ESPN will want no part of that either. So the new league that breaks away has a good chance to get not only the MSG deal, but a decent TV deal from either ESPN or maybe even NBC Sports Network as well.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Bobby Bancroft @BobbyBancroft
Lost in the article about the Big East basketball schools breaking off is the fact that #MasonMBB is being talked about as future member.

Bobby Bancroft @BobbyBancroft
Instantly Mason would be one of the big winners in realignment, having never left to join the A10. They'd look pretty smart.

[G-men]

For my school's sake, I really hope the catholic seven break off.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Biased Syracuse blog accuses the basketball schools of killing the conference, and is bitter that they won't have to to pay an exit fee:

http://www.nunesmagician.com/2012/12/11/3755188/big-east-basketball-catholic-schools-leave-conference-realignment

Blames basketball schools in his title, doesn't explain why, and completely ignores the real reason...the football schools were terrible at football, and all bailed to places that were better at football.

[Warner2BruceTD]

ESPN.com reported Tuesday that the A-10 has discussed the possibility of inviting some or all of the Big East non-football schools. "The seven Big East schools have no interest in that at all," a Big East source said.

Pretty obvious adding Tulane pissed everybody off and was the straw that broke the back, here:

“I was not pleased that we issued an invitation to Tulane without any diligence to what effect that would have on our basketball product, the draw on our RPI and other such things. I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to participate as a member of the conference in the deliberation that went into adding that. There might be well articulated and very deep reasons why you would do it otherwise. But dog-gone-it, I’m not concerned about that. I’m concerned about making sure that Marquette is in a position that it can take advantage of the great investment it’s made in being successful in basketball.”

[Goober]

I thought non football schools had the majority. Why did they let Tulane in?

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8742607/seven-catholic-schools-leaning-leaving-big-east-sources-say

The presidents of the Big East's seven Catholic, non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools are expected to decide on their future in the Big East in the coming days, and it "would be an upset" if they remained in the league, sources told ESPN.

The seven schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova -- are "close to a consensus on what they want to do next," a source said Wednesday.

The presidents of the seven schools are scheduled to conduct a teleconference with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco on Thursday and are expected to issue a statement on their schools' future in the next 24 to 48 hours.

On Sunday, the seven presidents met with Aresco in New York to discuss a number of options and "better understand the best course of action for the future," ESPN reported.

Sources told ESPN the seven schools discussed a number of options but most importantly wanted to have "lots of dialogue to better understand the best course of action for the future."

Sources said Wednesday it's becoming "more likely" the basketball schools will break away from the league's football members.

It's unknown whether they would attempt to dissolve the league or leave the league as a group. The league can be dissolved in a vote of the league members by a two-thirds majority, according to Big East bylaws. With all of the Big East's recent defections, there are only 10 members (the seven non-FBS schools, plus Cincinnati, UConn and South Florida) that can vote on the league dissolving.

A source told ESPN on Wednesday that Temple, as a football-only member, has voting rights but can't vote on dissolution of the league. With Temple unable to vote, that gives the seven basketball schools enough votes to dissolve the league.

Sources said there are multiple legal entanglements that make the voting situation "complex."

UConn president Susan Herbst has contacted officials from the non-FBS Big East members, pleading with them to stay in the league, sources told ESPN.

Ironically, Herbst, along with Cincinnati and South Florida officials, heavily lobbied to get out of the Big East and join the ACC when the league had to replace Maryland.

"I know this may seem like a tough moment for our fans, but we need to focus on the fundamentals of academic success across the university and in our athletic program as well," Herbst said in a statement when Louisville, and not UConn, was selected by the ACC last month.

If the seven basketball schools leave the Big East, it will be a crippling blow to the Big East's media rights negotiations. Last week CBSSports.com projected the value of the Big East's media rights revenue between $60 million and $80 million.

An industry source thought the figure would be closer to $50 million, he told ESPN on Tuesday. The estimates reported by CBSSports.com and ESPN both included the basketball schools as part of the package.

If the Big East lost the seven Catholic basketball schools, it would decrease the value of the league's media rights by "15 to 20 percent," an industry source said.

All these factors also could affect decisions by Boise State and San Diego State to join the league in 2013 as football-only members. Both schools have reiterated in the past that they are committed to the Big East, but if the seven basketball schools leave, it could erase any potential financial gains Boise and SDSU would get from leaving the Mountain West for the Big East.

On Tuesday night, Marquette athletic director Larry Williams was critical of the future membership of the Big East.

"The Big East that Marquette joined in 2005, boy, that's a different looking animal going forward over the next couple of years," Williams told 540 ESPN Milwaukee. "It's prompted some deeper discussion what futures are for schools such as Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova."

In the past couple of years, seven Big East schools have announced they were leaving: West Virginia, Pittsburgh, TCU, Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame and Rutgers.

In their place, the Big East added Temple as a football-only member this year -- the Owls will be full members next year -- and will add Houston, SMU, Memphis, UCF, Boise State and San Diego State in 2013, Tulane and East Carolina in 2014, and Navy in 2015.

Houston, SMU, Memphis, UCF and Tulane will be full Big East members; Boise State, San Diego State, East Carolina and Navy will be football-only members.

A Big East source from a football-playing school told ESPN on Sunday, "The basketball schools are not thrilled with Tulane" and "would have fallen off the ledge if we would have added East Carolina as a full member."

Williams acknowledged he was "not pleased" specifically about adding Tulane.

"I was not pleased that we issued an invitation to Tulane without any diligence to what effect that would have on our basketball product, the draw on our RPI and other such things," Williams told 540 ESPN Milwaukee. "I was disappointed that I wasn't able to participate as a member of the conference in the deliberation that went into adding that."

Williams added that the Big East's other non-football schools felt the same way.

"Part of this is just everybody's uneasy with all these questions that everybody's got in their own minds," Williams told 540 ESPN Milwaukee. "There was something really cool about the Big East. You could rely on it to get six or eight or nine bids in a year.

"It was home. Now that home has been sort of changed, and somebody came and put new furniture in, and boy, do we still fit here is what everyone is sort of thinking about."

[TheImmortalGoud]

CBS Sports Headline

BREAKING NEWS:
Seven non-FBS football playing members of the Big East will break away from the conference, Gary Parrish reports.

[Mogriffjr]

Bye big east

[Pitty]

Damn. If they end up making a basketball only Catholic Conference, won't that be detrimental? Don't schools like Nova, Providence, and St. John's still get revenue shares from BE football? Also losing MSG will be a major drawback for recruiting. Finally, what happens to the schools who already left, do they still have to buy out?

At least, this will be interesting.