A possible snag with AFA-to-the-Big East
- Thread starter Delmonico
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An-Cap Frog
Member
The could play in the WVC for other sports...of course DBU will kill them in baseball.
West Texas Frog
Active Member
I felt all along it was a reach to get Air Force in the Big East. Ft. Worth is remote from the BE, but Colorado Springs would be the Hawaii of the conference. I agree that they have a good thing going in the MWC, especially when they add Fresno St., Nevada and Hawaii.
Planks
Active Member
KillerFrog InD KitchenSink
Active Member
I think the assumption is that they've move their other sports into another league. They've won like 2 MWC championships in all sports in 12 years. I think a conference like the Big Sky, Big West WCC, Great West or WAC would be options.
BABYFACE
Full Member
BE is being stupid not offering all sports. If this conference wants to continue to play FB, invitees must be offered all sports. Time for FB schools and Commish to tell BB schools shut up and sit down. If they would have done this over a year ago Pitt and CUSE may not have initiated contact with ACC.
dustinater@sbcglobal.net
Member
Why is that important? Wouldn't it make sense (and save schools a decent amount of money) if non revenue sports were in more regionally aligned conferences?
Delmonico
Semi-Omnipotent Being
SeniorFrog
Active Member
The Patriot League makes the most sense.
American University
Army
Bucknell
Colgate
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Lehigh
Navy
BABYFACE
Full Member
You have to offer the school the choice of all sports. If the school would rather place their non fb sports in another conference, then more power to them. If I am ECU, why would I leave CUSA if they don't have a home for all other sports. CUSA is not going to let ECU or UCF keep their non fb sports in CUSA. Again, not offering an all sports invite to some schools will be a deal breaker. It was for TCU. TCU held firm and forced BE to cave on the FB only invite.
oldscribe
Member
It would make sense and it would save money and even so it won't happen unless you are Notre Dame.:wink:
froginaustin
Active Member
BYU's inability to pull only football out of the MWC probably was the direct cause of Karl Benson's "project", and all the bad fallout from that.
I seem to remember TCU using the inability to leave non-football sports in the MWC as a bargaining point, or at least a discussion point, when the Big East supposedly approached with a football-only membership offer.
If the Mountain West won't tolerate BYU or TCU leaving the conference for football, but playing all other sports there, why would the conference even consider letting any other team do that?
dustinater@sbcglobal.net
Member
Sorry, misunderstood where you were going. There's probably an opportunity for some enterprising non-football playing conferences to increase their profile by adding some members like the WCC did with BYU.
KillerFrog InD KitchenSink
Active Member
I disagree here. The BE is what it is. It is a hybrid conference and that's OK. It is the model that allows for a BCS autobid and maximum conference revenue. If we can add some football onlys to the fold who help stabilize the conference (especially in terms of its BCS bid) and maximize revenue, great.
AFA and Navy really don't want all sports. I actually think their preferred model is as a football only in an AQ conference and other sports in a less competitive conference.
Stiff Arm Frog
Active Member
They could always put their non-football sports in the WAC. That conference doesn't still have D-1, status, does it?
:biggrin:
:biggrin:
gohornedfrogs
Tier 1
It's not that adding Air Force is a bad move...it's that the wisdom behind adding Air Force and Navy for football only is derived from the commissioner being influenced by the basketball schools. They don't want a bloated basketball league. A 17-team league was already causing enough heartburn. With Navy and Air Force football only, they can add one all-sports school (like Temple, ECU or UCF) and get to 10 football, and 17 basketball schools.
However, the problem of the basketball and football contingencies will still exist. The Big East's stability problems will not have been solved with this kind of move.
Marinatto's plan all along (before all of the realignment) was to add two service academies and Villanova. This lack of vision and strategic thinking led to the defection of Pitt and Syracuse. It doesn't appear that losing two valued members of the conference has changed his strategy very much.
YA
Active Member
Bingo--that is why if the big 12 offers, HA!, we have to take it.
