Big East Expansion: Memphis, Houston & ECU Not An Option?
by Chris Lane on Sep 21, 2011 2:02 PM EDT
in Big East Expansion
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PrintThe latest from Tom Luicci of the New Jersey Star-Ledger indicates that following Tuesday's meeting in New York City, Memphis, Houston and East Carolina have been dismissed as potential candidates for the Big East expansion.
A person familiar with Tuesday's meeting said the league presidents dismissed the idea of adding Conference-USA schools Memphis, Houston and East Carolina.
Also interesting, it appears that Navy and Air Force as still the clear-cut frontrunners to be added to the conference, with Army an option as well to complete the service academy trifecta. However, only Navy and Air Force are on-board with coming in as football-members only, while Army is more hesitant, seeking an all-sports invite.
Here's where it gets interesting again for Villanova (remember, the Big East needs 5 programs for football (possibly more if UConn gets the other foot out the door and Rutgers and TCU bolt as well).
The college officials said the Big East would explore the possibility of adding Villanova or Temple to the football inventory -- but not both. If Villanova continues its fence-sitting about jumping to the FBS level, they said, Temple is a strong all-sports option.
I'm hesitant to really believe that because there is no way Villanova is allowing Temple into the conference as an all-sports member. Absolutely no way. Either the source is misinformed or he's just making things up. Right now, I just can't imagine a scenario where Temple and Villanova can co-exist in a conference. The Philadelphia market is what 'Nova has going for it right now - sharing that with Temple would be a horrible mistake.
Either way, it's nice to see at least one person suggesting that Villanova is still a viable option for Big East football.
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Stupid Question from an outsider:
How much of Nova’s fence sitting was because Pitt did not want another PA school in the Big East?
Its a big part...
Pitt has gotten some good players from Eastern Pa, LeSean McCoy is good example. They didn’t want to compete with another team besides PSU in Eastern Pa. Nova could be a threat to both teams because Andy Talley has shown he can recruit FBS talent at the FCS level. Just imagine what he could do with more scholarships and a BCS program to sell to potential recruits.Same goes with Rutgers.
Pitt, WV and Rutgers blocked us
West Virginia thought we weren’t big time enough (fair IMO)
Rutgers is scared of us owning them in football like we do in basketball (fair, but pisses Nova fans off)
Pitt, I have no idea. We compete well in basketball. They probably didn’t want the added competition in football for recruits and ratings since they already fight an un-winnable war with Penn State. They used our stadium size (would be 30K) as their main excuse. Nevermind the fact that they fill up less than half of Heinz Field.
I prematurely shot my wad, if you will, on what was supposed to be a dry run, and now it looks like I have something of a mess on my hands.
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Misinterpretation
A desire for all-sports membership is not the reason for Army’s hesitation.
My bad then...
What is the real reason? Because that article sure as hell hints that’s the reason.
I prematurely shot my wad, if you will, on what was supposed to be a dry run, and now it looks like I have something of a mess on my hands.
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Villanova and Temple...
…already share the Philadelphia market regardless of what conference they compete in, and Temple has had recent FBS success…
by MountaineerAirman on Sep 21, 2011 7:39 PM EDT reply actions
And absolutely no basketball success
I don’t know how Temple would feel about coming in for football-only. Nobody has really talked about that. They are not coming in for all-sports – Villanova won’t allow it.
Plus, what’s the voting situation look like? Does TCU get a vote now (they did not before)? Do Pitt/Syracuse (hard to believe they do now)?
If those 3 schools aren’t voting, the basketball schools own the power. They absolutely would not vote in Temple over Villanova.
I prematurely shot my wad, if you will, on what was supposed to be a dry run, and now it looks like I have something of a mess on my hands.
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