Big East Officially Adds Butler, Xavier, & Creighton

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9074722/new-big-east-adds-butler-bulldogs-creighton-bluejays-xavier-musketeers

NEW YORK -- It's official. The Big East has been reborn.

The seven Catholic schools that are leaving the old conference have added Butler, Xavier and Creighton to their ranks. The new league, under the old name, officially commences operations July 1.

The Big East men's basketball tournament will continue to be played at Madison Square Garden in New York. And the conference has agreed to a 12-year television contract with Fox Sports.

"Today we relaunch the Big East," said the Rev. Brian Shanley, president of Providence College, at a news conference in midtown Manhattan. "We go back to being a basketball-centric ... league going forward. And I think Dave [Gavitt] is smiling down right now on what it is that we're doing."

Gavitt, the former coach and athletic director at Providence who died in 2011, founded the original Big East in 1979. Four original members -- Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall -- will move to the new conference, along with Villanova, Marquette and DePaul.

Butler and Xavier move from the Atlantic 10, and Creighton joins from the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We looked for schools that had academic profiles like us," Shanley said. "We wanted schools with strong sustainable and sustained athletic programs. And we wanted schools that could play really good basketball, because that's really the bread and butter of the Big East. And when we examined all the schools that we thought about, we came to the conclusion that the three schools seated here among us today were the best schools that we could possibly ask to join the Big East."

The presidents of the joining schools also discussed their reasons for becoming members of the new Big East.

"Joining the Big East is an unprecedented opportunity for Butler and represents an ideal fit for us -- academically, athletically and geographically," said Butler president James Danko.

"It's an endorsement of who we are and how we've gotten here, as well as where we can go next," said the Rev. Michael Graham, president of Xavier.

"We have enjoyed our affiliation with the Missouri Valley Conference over the years, but when an exceptional opportunity presented itself, we paused and carefully considered our options," said Creighton president Timothy Lannon. "We see this new partnership enhancing the visibility of the university through increased national media exposure."

The conference could expand to 12 teams in the future, and Saint Louis and Dayton have been rumored as potential additions.

"We're 10 for next year. We know that for sure," Shanley said. "Whether and how we get to 12 is a negotiable between us and our partners, and we've discussed actively a number of schools that are really strong potential partners for us.

"We also believe that the landscape of college sports has not stopped morphing and that there may be some more movement out there. So for now we're very happy at 10, and we'll see what happens going forward."

The schools have hired executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to assist in their search for a commissioner. They've also brought in Dan Beebe, the former commissioner of the Ohio Valley and Big 12 conferences, as a consultant.

"We're committed to finding a commissioner of vision, someone who'll help us to look to the future while also preserving our tradition," said Georgetown president John DeGioia.

 

[Rudi]

Was holding out false hope on Dayton getting the invite. Shucks

 

[shag773]

As someone who grew up watching Big East basketball, I can not be happier with it's reincarnation. I love the additions.

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

I feel a little guilty for fucking up the A10 a bit just a year after they're on the brink of being a powerhouse conference.

 

[SHOGUN]

Laaaaaame. SLU didn't get an invite.

 

[NAHSTE]

I feel a little guilty for fucking up the A10 a bit just a year after they're on the brink of being a powerhouse conference.

Exactly why I don't feel bad about the old Big East dissolving. This is the exact same model that the ACC followed, not to mention the poaching of teams from smaller leagues that helped create the initial BIg East in the first place 30 years ago.

This is just how it is, Big East has been a part of it from both sides.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

The old Big East was built on basketball, when tired of being overlooked, small private schools in the northeast decided to form a basketball centric league to compete with the other conferences.

You shouldn't feel bad for the Big East as an entity. The Big East should have never expanded for football, because the expansion required inviting teams that had no business being in the Big East in the first place, like Miami, VT, West Virginia, etc. The basketball schools never wanted to expand for fooball. The dissension started at that moment, and never ended.

The basketball schools always fought football moves at every step. The league was never meant to be a football power (or even a football league at all), and was never going to be able to sustain that long term because it isn't in the culture and the fans don't give a shit. People outside the northeast don't understand this, but CFB means nothing in New York, Philly, Boston. Zero. And it never will. So any big time football school that ended up in the Big East was eventually going to leave, because a league centered in those places was never going to foster a football culture.

The split was never about poaching. The split was about football always coming first, even when it was obvious basketball should have been shifted back to being the priority when Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, et al left. The hoops schools tolerated the football shit for years, but weren't going to stand for it anymore when the league wanted to still pretend to be a football power with Cincy, Uconn, Central Florida, and Tulane. Enough was enough. If basketball was still taking a backseat, it was time to leave them in the dust and cut their own deals as a basketball entity.

Had the Big East thrown in the towel on football and went after hoops schools instead (or just held steady with what they had), the Catholic 7 would have never left. But they weren't going to hoop it up with SMU & Tulane so the football schools could cling to some delusional fantasy. So they finally bailed.

Nobody feels bad for the Big East. They allowed delusional football dreams destroy a good thing. A football conference in the northeast will never, ever work. But I bet somebody else will try.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The old Big East was built on basketball, when tired of being overlooked, small private schools in the northeast decided to form a basketball centric league to compete with the other conferences.

You shouldn't feel bad for the Big East as an entity. The Big East should have never expanded for football, because the expansion required inviting teams that had no business being in the Big East in the first place, like Miami, VT, West Virginia, etc. The basketball schools never wanted to expand for fooball. The dissension started at that moment, and never ended.

The basketball schools always fought football moves at every step. The league was never meant to be a football power (or even a football league at all), and was never going to be able to sustain that long term because it isn't in the culture and the fans don't give a shit. People outside the northeast don't understand this, but CFB means nothing in New York, Philly, Boston. Zero. And it never will. So any big time football school that ended up in the Big East was eventually going to leave, because a league centered in those places was never going to foster a football culture.

The split was never about poaching. The split was about football always coming first, even when it was obvious basketball should have been shifted back to being the priority when Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, et al left. The hoops schools tolerated the football shit for years, but weren't going to stand for it anymore when the league wanted to still pretend to be a football power with Cincy, Uconn, Central Florida, and Tulane. Enough was enough. If basketball was still taking a backseat, it was time to leave them in the dust and cut their own deals as a basketball entity.

Had the Big East thrown in the towel on football and went after hoops schools instead (or just held steady with what they had), the Catholic 7 would have never left. But they weren't going to hoop it up with SMU & Tulane so the football schools could cling to some delusional fantasy. So they finally bailed.

Nobody feels bad for the Big East. They allowed delusional football dreams destroy a good thing. A football conference in the northeast will never, ever work. But I bet somebody else will try.

You ain't wrong, but football is where the heavy money is at. Can't hate on them for trying. Whether they stayed as a basketball conference or not, there was always a division between the Catholic hoops schools and the schools that had a football base like Syracuse. The Big East's football presence was non-existent until they added Miami, VaTech, Temple, and WVU in early 90's. The Big East just couldn't keep up in football...they were always second banana and will always be...at least they are going back to just basketball and I think the conference as a basketball conference with the Catholic 7 and what's left of the A10 and some other poached mid-high major can be a really fun basketball conference.

It'll never be 'Cuse v. Georgetown in the Garden again, but it can still be a good basketball conference.

FWIW, the New York market, despite having the smallest percentage of fans that follow college football in any major market, it still is the highest number of fans that follow college football in the country in one market. Not only is it the highest concentrated area of college football viewers, its also the most untapped market. Even budging a percentage point or two in that area alone yields a big result in viewership and money. Why else do you think Rutgers was a hot commodity, as well as Syracuse during conference re-alignment? Even the smallest dent into that market yields big results. Getting the B10 network and ACC football games into those homes is paramount into growth for two conferences falling behind.

 

[NAHSTE]

FWIW, the New York market, despite having the smallest percentage of fans that follow college football in any major market, it still is the highest number of fans that follow college football in the country in one market. Not only is it the highest concentrated area of college football viewers, its also the most untapped market. Even budging a percentage point or two in that area alone yields a big result in viewership and money. Why else do you think Rutgers was a hot commodity, as well as Syracuse during conference re-alignment? Even the smallest dent into that market yields big results. Getting the B10 network and ACC football games into those homes is paramount into growth for two conferences falling behind.

Pretty much this. With how subscription fees are configured, all that matters is that the TV networks get offered in the package, it doesn't even matter if anyone is watching. $2-$3 dollars a subscriber starts to add up in a city with 8 million residents. Even if every person in New York is watching the Knicks play the Raptors on MSG while Ohio State-Purdue is on the Big Ten network, those mooks are paying to watch both.