GP1

You are correct in that they are on a different plane. The problem is they are on a downward trajectory. In my opinion, uconn is primed to become umass with a better football program. uconn has had one great year in football. Other than that, they have gone to some pretty bad bowls. Before Jim Calhoun, uconn was a doormat. I predict after Calhoun, they will return to being a doormat. The glory days of uconn basketball may be in the rear view mirror. The reason everyone is not looking at uconn is because they know these things already. uconn will become a CUSA team unless the Big Ten feels the need to include another doormat in the Leaders or Legends Division (whichever OSU plays in). UCONN has HUGE problems right now. I lived in Connecticut my first year out of school and really enjoyed UCONN sports. This makes me sad what is happening to them.

After the display Cincy put on in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago, they should keep quiet.

Long term, I think you are correct. However, I used the word "meaningful" changes in my post. UC, UCONN, UCF and USF are not meaningful changes to any conference. I'm not interested in five super conferences. I'm interested in four. In fact, I'm interested in a division of about 65 teams functioning outside of the NCAA. The way things are going, I don't see it as a crazy notion. A lot of what is driving this is television revenue. Big Ten Network, ACC Network, SEC Network, Pac Whatever Network, etc. Scrap all of those rinky dink networks and bid out the division to the highest bidder. There is a mountain of money out there for this super division to make if they could just get their act together. Business Week measured the amount of money the NFL brings in with NBC, ESPN, CBS and Direct TV at $6 Billion. It is currently estimated the Big Ten members will make $40 million per year with BTN. 65 teams at $6 billion is $92.3 million per school. How much then to show college basketball, etc. in addition to the $92.3 million? Don't think for a second, I'm the first person to run a calculator on those numbers. Don't think for a second either that university presidents and athletic directors have any shame or would stop this money train from backing up to their bank accounts.

Or, no value in football vs some value in football. There is an opportunity here for some schools in the A-10 partnering with these BE Catholic schools to have their own league for basketball, and a solid league at that. I'm not going to name all of them, but there are some current A-10 members that are Catholic schools without football. Maybe something could happen between them. This would leave Nova and Georgetown with interesting decisions. What to do about football? Nova has had good I-AA teams in recent years. Would that Catholic league be a good fit for them or would it allow them to just play basketball and play football in another league? Nova and Georgetown would have some interesting decisions to make. For the non-football schools, it is a no brainer and I think they could find a way to easily work this out. The changes to the "big" conferences have seemed to settle out. I'm not sure if there are any more meaningful changes to be made to them. What about the "mid major" conferences with D-1 basketball and I-AA football. Could be some interesting changes at that level.

A dirty city or a dirty girl....You can have a lot of fun with both. Keep it dirty Akron!

They didn't, but they should have. At one time, the BE had Miami, BC, VA Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers and WVU in it. It was a very good football conference and grossly underrated. Up until WVU left, it was a better conference than the ACC. Was it part of the old guard SEC, Big Ten, Pac Whatever? No, but it was just as good as at least one of those conferences.

It's funny. I was thinking about this very issue the other night watching Nova vs. St. Joe's (great game buy the way). Anyhow, Nova and G'town stand a chance, but they shouldn't look to other Catholic schools as the saving grace (no pun intended). Nova and G'town have I-AA football programs. They should find their way to some sort of Missouri Valley Conference that has quality I-AA football and quality basketball. They aren't going to find anything as good as the BE is right now for basketball and they need to find the best place possible to land. Then again, the Big Ten did add Rutgers and Maryland so I guess if the addition of crap is good for a conference, then maybe they will add G'Town and Nova. Right or wrong, Seton Hall, Providence and St. Johns are doomed to the trash heap of basketball history and should save themselves the time by going straight to DIII like the great women's program of Immaculata did years ago. I don't see how those schools compete in the future climate.

Do I have to buy a vowel for the clue below as well? If so, I'd like to buy an "a" then solve. _SS B_G

This is a great idea. BC, Harvard, BU and Northeastern play the Beanpot Hockey Tournament every year in Boston. It is a great tournament. Play the games in Cleveland at the Cavs arena. Play it between Christmas and New Years. As often as possible, play the games on the weekend during that period. Require the teams to play a third place game as well. Have a named traveling trophy. Fight off the idiots who believe it would be a better tournament if it was a 16 team championship including Case Western and Mt. Union. I don't understand why we need an ESPN manufactured event to do something eventful. This is so easy. Another tournament is the CIAA played in Charlotte, late February. Although this is a Conference it draws huge crowds and is a boom for the city. ESPN has nothing to do with it yet somehow, they are able to pack hotels, restaurants and get good crowds at the games. Down with ESPN! Down with the NCAA!

Call me crazy, but my guess is if there was no ESPN, college basketball teams would find a way to play each other. Too much of what goes on in college athletics is a brand name by ESPN: Bracket Buster, Rivalry Week, etc. I have an idea. How about if these conferences get together and put together a format where they can play each other mid season? The could call it "Crossover Weekend" and find a way to use the money in a beneficial way like the ACC/Big Ten Challenge benefits the V Foundation and cancer research (one of the few altruistic things ESPN does...maybe the only one). Do something that is so good in nature, ESPN has to cover it. In fact, I think this the Bracket Buster going away is a whole lot of nothing and if played properly by the conferences, could be one of the best things that could happened to them.

Why not be a member of various conferences depending on our ability? For example, we should be in the MAC for football. However, our basketball team is good enough to play in a better conference like the A10. We should be exploring these opportunities.

To you and all the +1ers, I can only say....There isn't going to be a Big East you fools. That's the whole point. For years, we had to read about joining a conference we had no business in. Recently, there have still been posters who believe it would be a good idea. Please let this be the end of the Akron joining the BE discussion. It isn't going to happen because the BE is about to call Dr. Kevorkian. The league has been on life support for a couple of years now and was not an attractive candidate for an AD with half a brain.

Agree. Further, I'm surprised the number is that high...although, some might say they are surprised the number is that low. It's kind of in the glass half full area without it being at 50%.

I wonder how these will adjust for coaches salaries. My guess is the change wouldn't have much of an impact.

Are you sure?

Is there anyone on this board who still thinks moving to the BE is a good idea?

Yahoo Sports doesn't think it is a good hire. Of course they are wrong because they think there is something more important than winning. Just ask any AD.

No. He should play his best players and is playing his best players accordingly. I don't think mid majors find high levels of success with freshmen. They tend to find success with upper classmen who have been well developed. The last mid major team that had conference success for an extended period with four players starting as freshmen was Winthrop University between 2005-2008 (I know this because the school is about 8 miles from me). They made the NCAA each year and lost the first game every year except for 2007. Other than that, it doesn't happen often for mid majors. When Can't was good and made the Elite 8, they had upper class players leading the way and playing most of the minutes. Jake K could be the go to guy over the next few years if his talents are developed. If not, we are looking at another freshman three years from now getting lots of playing time. It becomes a repeating story if the players aren't developed.

I think you are right on the money. The big teams haven't gotten weaker...the weak have gotten stronger while the strong remain strong. It makes for a good product from the start of the season until the end. With college basketball, there are a lot of good OOC games. In college football, fans have to wade through a sea of crappy games in September until conference play starts.

Am I the only one who is finding this college basketball season really entertaining? Lots of good team from a lot of good conferences. Quality play for the most part. Is it me or is college basketball really good this year? Or, are the networks just lucky thus far that the games have been good?

Good point. The MVC is a very good basketball conference with quality players of all sizes. Their players play against quality big men like Zeke far more in their conference than a MAC player would.

I like both of their games. Long term, Forsythe has the potential to be better on the offensive end with some development. He appears very comfortable with the ball in his hands. Just needs to get some shots to drop. I'm not sure what to make of the blocked shots stats. Are more teams willing to take the ball inside against Forsythe at this point opening up more opportunities? Maybe. I think a lot of teams are reluctant to challenge Zeke at this point and try to be productive in other areas. Zeke has a national reputation for blocked shots and the word may not be out yet on Forsythe being able to block shots...I take that back. The word is now out.

That's more than one comment. Next time, start a thread called "Bitchers R Us". Please review subtitle.

Me neither. Zero offensive rebounds. A seven foot player, high school all american, one time mac tournament mvp, etc. should have at least ten rebounds in a game like this. Two blocks? Should be more in a game like this. If Zeke is really an NBA player, he has to have more than just Twelve points with very pedestrian stats everywhere else against top notch teams. The nba isn't ccu or unca. I'm pulling for Zeke to make the nba, but today wasn't good enough.

Huge problem. After nine years, KD shouldn't have three freshmen playing in a meaningful game like this. The development of the older players should have separated them to the point there is a huge difference between first year and upper class players. The problem is the development of players, or the lack there of. To illuminate the problem is to shine a light on a part of the program we are not shining a realistic light on. Stale.