Saying Goodbye To The Big East Tournament As We Know It

The Big East is playings its final conference tournament as the conference we grew up knowing. (wikipedia.com)

For years, the Big East Tournament has been a great appetizer to the NCAA Tournament a week later. Regularly holding the title as one of the most competitive and best conferences in college basketball, the Big East has for years put on a show in the world's best basketball arena: Madison Square Garden.

The Big East Tournament as we know it will come to an end Saturday with the final championship game with a stacked lineup of contenders. The new Big East will still have solid teams, yet is an interesting group, but it won't be the same.

One of the reasons that the Big East is so popular is the great matchups that form long before the title game. Starting as early as the quarterfinal rounds, nationally ranked teams and conference rivals have to begin the brutal march to Saturday, with no cakewalks thrown in. Take this year for example, as No. 1-seed Georgetown has to face a 22-win Cincinnati team in the quarterfinals today, while No. 19 Syracuse and No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 24 Notre Dame and No. 12 Marquette face off later in the day. By having so many talented teams playing each other in the early rounds really makes the title game wide open. Any of the teams just mentioned, not even including No. 2-seed Louisville, could win the Big East Tournament this year.

The conference tournament that gave us so many great moments (those Georgetown games in the 1980s, Kemba Walker's amazing tournament performance in 2011 to lead UCONN to the title and the Syracuse/UCONN six-overtime thriller in 2009 just to name a few) has one more chance to wow the country with great matchups and memorable performances. Let's hope the tournament give fans a high note or two to end the era on, because an underdog in the championship game, an overtime thriller or a few buzzer-beaters is what we've grown to expect from the Big East Tournament, and it would be a fitting way to say goodbye.

The motivation to win should be even higher in this final year. Whenever dealing with the breakup of a group (relationship, business, AC/DC cover band) you always want to be the one to walk out on top. There is a mountain of pride and bragging rights awaiting Saturday and the tournament's winner, who can always say it was the Big East champion in the final year of the "old" Big East. For those teams leaving for the ACC, this would be a great way to go out and a trophy to hold over the heads of those left behind. For a member of the Catholic 7, it proves your new conference will have legitimate contenders. Every team has a reason to win, and with the stakes this high, the competition should be fierce.

In the age of conference realignment, we should be used to change. Nearly every fan base in the country has been affected by it over the past three or four years. While change is natural, it is disappointing to have to say goodbye to some of the most thrilling and hyped moments of the sport, and the Big East Tournament was definitely one of those.

Living with the Catholic 7's New Big East

The new Big East is not unsettling until you think about it. (holylandofhoops.com)

Has anyone properly addressed how odd the new Big East is going to be if Creighton joins the Catholic 7's 2.0 version with Butler and Xavier? Not according to Google because there were no appropriate results when I searched for "weird Big East Creighton." In fact, the most out-of-the-norm headline was a rumor about the Big 12 dropping all football programs and adding Creighton as well as Missouri Valley competitors Wichita State and Missouri State.

While the Big 12 getting rid of the biggest money-making sport would have been a surprise even at the conference's lowest point in realignment, it will not be a shock if the Bluejays defect from the MVC to take a place in college athletics' newest old conference.

What will make this conference so unique, if the Bluejays end up as a member, is the roster of teams that will be gunning for the same regular season championship. The grouping will encompass some of college basketball's historic cornerstones playing alongside programs that have surged more recently in a league that stretches across nearly half of the contiguous United States, although geography is less of an issue than ever in the realignment game.

Mid-major darlings like Creighton and Butler will mix with contenders like Georgetown and Villanova in a conference that, although it will be a conglomeration of solid teams, lacks a true powerhouse program. Despite the majority of schools coming from a (former) Power Six conference, the new Big East will more closely resemble a mega mid-major -- a conference that is at the top of it's class, but not quite on par with what remains of the NCAA's top Division I basketball leagues.

The Hoyas, along with Providence and St. John's, were founding members of the original Big East with 'Nova joining slightly later. History is on their side, but recent years have seen the programs post decent-to-good records, while rarely being legitimate threats to win their conference championship. (Georgetown's very strong season in progress is more of an outlier than a standard.) The other side of the coin sees the Bluejays, Butler and Xavier being marquee teams in their own less heralded conferences and either winning outright or sharing titles year in and year out in their respective spheres.

This would seemingly put the best of the Catholic 7 on the level with the mid-major imports. The sentiment is furthered with the speculative inclusion of programs such as Saint Louis, Dayton, Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth as soon as 2013-14 or 2014-15. These purported additions draw heavily from the Atlantic 10, often seen as the class of mid-major conferences, especially after sending eight teams to the NCAA Tournament just a few years ago.

Of Creighton and the nine schools already committed to joining this iteration of the Big East, four are locks to hear their names announced on Selection Sunday (Georgetown, Marquette, Butler and the Bluejays) in under two weeks and ESPN's Joe Lunardi is projecting Villanova as a play-in team. VCU and SLU are the only two prospective teams expected to make the NCAA tourney at this point, although that could change depending on the outcomes of conference tournaments.

Since only nine teams are committed to the new Big East at this point, this is merely one idea of what could happen. But if things shake out the way they are expected to, there needs to be a new term for such a unique conference; one that encompasses the strength of nouveau riche programs and those that could compete what was once the stacked Big East of old but can lay realistic claims to the new league's top spot. That term is not Catholic, after the majority of the schools' affiliations, but perhaps it is catholic, as in universal, appealing to a wide range of tastes.

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter
Like Beats Dimes and Drives on Facebook

Friday Roundtable: Who Will Leave The Big East Next?

With conference alignment in full swing, we predict who will leave the Big East next. (businessinsider.com)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: Conference realignment continues putting schools on the move, and the Big East has been hurt the most by the changes. Who will be the next team to leave the Big East?

Shawn Deegan:
The mad dash of conference realignment is picking up once again and the Big East is the focal point for the NCAA. The conference’s schools are leaving left and right, and the next one to jump from the sinking ship will be the Cincinnati Bearcats. Cincinnati’s basketball team is currently sitting at 9-0 this season. The Bearcats also had a solid year in football this season at 9-3 and 5-2 in conference play. They have historically been a good program with an undefeated year in football in 2009-2010, and a run to the Sweet 16 last March. This is a quality program that will not be given any recognition for any accomplishments it may attain, because it resides in a conference without any prestigious schools left. Cincinnati is going to need to move as well if it wants to gain national accolades once again.

Kyle Davis: 
I agree Cincinnati probably has the most momentum and attractive teams at the moment that another conference would want, but I'm going to say UConn is the next to leave. UConn wanted out of the Big East when Syracuse and Pittsburgh jumped ship, but got left behind. Still, UConn probably has the biggest brand of the remaining Big East schools and has a lot of recent basketball and some football success. And even though the Connecticut market isn't huge, the school is still close to NYC and other metropolitan cities. With UConn's former conference opponents Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC, I could see the ACC bringing in the Huskies and one other school to round out the conference. UConn has said it wants to be in the ACC, and I think eventually their wish will come true.

Alex Skov:  
Georgetown foiled my original answer by deciding yesterday that it will leave the conference along with the six other Catholic institutions. You just couldn't wait a couple more days, could you, Hoyas?

Cincinnati and UConn certainly are the front runners to find better perches before their current Big East peers -- although South Florida will probably be on their heels, given the Bulls' basketball and football competitiveness earlier in the 2000s that has declined in recent years, which makes them a perfect target for a mid-major conference.

Of the leading schools, though, I think Cincinnati will abandon ship before UConn. Football drives conference realignment and the Bearcats' gridiron resume is much stronger than the on-again-off-again flirtation with success that can be found in Storrs. The sad reality is that a strong basketball program is just consolation, although the Bearcats will compete for a mid- to high conference finish no matter where they end up. Cincinnati also has the edge in geographical location -- a laughable notion at this point, considering the Big East's present alignment and Maryland's foray into the Big Ten -- because it sits nearer the middle of the country. Conferences that have been reticent to expand far beyond current borders, like the Big 12 (save West Virginia), will recognize this appeal. So will the Atlantic 10, a surging hoops-only league that would give a school like Cincinnati the chance to immediately contend for a conference title while shopping its football program elsewhere.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

Latest Conference Realignment: Two Points We've Learned And When It Will Stop

You won't see this image much longer, as Louisville is off to the ACC. (sbnation.com)

It all seemed so clear three years ago.

The Big East was the powerhouse of college basketball conferences, with the ACC and Big 12 not far behind. Now the thought of who will be a member of the Big East in two years seems like a question fitting for Jeopardy! or a Magic 8-Ball.

As of this post's publishing, Louisville was the latest large athletic department to jump ship and head to the ACC. (I said "at the post's publishing" because it seems like a move happens every 12 minutes; I said "large athletic department" because Tulane's not shaking up people's lives like Syracuse; and I said "athletic department" because we all know this isn't about academics. It's about money generating from football and basketball.)

Fans want to know when it will stop, and most likely, the answer isn't any time soon, and not until one of the six major conferences no longer exists. The Big East is trying to stay above water after losing West Virginia and the eventual loss of Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville, but its emergency plan has turned it into Conference USA 2.0.

Instead of predicting the future, which is nearly impossible when involving conference realignment, let's talk about two points that we do know.

1.  ACC basketball is the new Big East
Think about where the Big East was a couple of years ago. The eighth and ninth best teams in the conference could still get into the NCAA Tournament (or win the National Title, if you're Big East Tournament ninth-seeded UCONN circa 2011) and the Big East Tournament was amazing to watch because great teams like Georgetown and Notre Dame could square off in a quarter-final game.

The ACC isn't quite as stacked from top to bottom, but this is not a league that will have a clear favorite every year. It already had arguably the greatest rivalry in the game with Duke and North Carolina, and now throws in Syracuse, Louisville and Pitt, who have all been near the top in the country in the past five years. Maybe even more impressive is the list of coaches now in the conference. Krzyzewski, Boeheim, Williams and Pitino all coaching against each other? If you're looking for a better group of Hall of Fame coaches, good luck finding it.

2. The old conference lineups are not coming back
We all get nostalgic thinking about the conference and the teams in it we grew up watching. While I wish the Big East wasn't crumbling and the Big 12 could have remained with 12 schools like it was when I was a kid, it will never be the same again. But 10 years after all this settles down, what we now view as new and weird will seem familiar. Until then, try not to get too attached. It really doesn't feel like many teams are safe from a move, and we've definitely learned that geography doesn't matter anymore (San Diego State in the Big East?). It doesn't seem right for Maryland to be in the Big Ten or Pitt to be in the ACC, but new opportunities and benefits will arise and new rivalries will form.

To expect the unexpected is the easiest mindset to be in as we wait and see what else shakes up, and until then, enjoy the conference your favorite team is in and try to find a silver lining in a possible move.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

Big East Preview: Syracuse And Notre Dame Will Challenge Louisville For The Big East Thrown

The long wait will soon be over when the first official NCAA basketball game of the 2012-13 season will tip-off on Nov. 15. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

Peyton Siva and Louisville have their eye on the Big East Title. (thesportsbank.net)

Favorite: Louisville Cardinals

The Cardinals made it to the Final Four last year, and many are starting them out as the No. 2 team in the country in preseason polls. The main reason for this — besides seeing the coaching job Rick Pitino did last year — is senior point guard Peyton Siva. He only averaged 9.1 ppg and 5.6 assists, but Siva is the leader of this team and when he plays well, the Cardinals usually win. Louisville is having to replace last year's leading scorer Kyle Kuric and guard Chris Smith, but this is a balanced-scoring team who has a fairly easy schedule — except for traveling to Memphis and the rivalry game against Kentucky — heading into Big East play.

Dark Horse: Notre Dame

Notre Dame is returning all five starters from a team that went 22-12 last season. The Fighting Irish struggled at times a season ago, losing games they shouldn't have to Georgia and Rutgers, but Notre Dame also knew how to string big wins together. During a stretch in 2011-12, the Irish knocked off No. 1 Syracuse, No. 19 UCONN and No. 15 Marquette in a span of four games. Mike Brey's squad doesn't have nearly as challenging of a non-conference schedule this year, and should compete with Louisville and Syracuse for the top of the Big East.

Player of the Year: Peyton Siva, Louisville

Siva epitomizes the term "Most Valuable Player." He probably won't score the most points in the conference and have the best numbers, but Louisville is a much better team when he is on his game compared to when he struggles. Siva was selected as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year, so he clearly has the conference — and the nation's — attention. If Siva can cut back on the turnovers this year (he averaged more than three per game last season) and continue to be a scoring threat, the award is his to lose.

Newcomer of the Year: Steven Adams, Pitt

Last year was a season to forget for the Pitt Panthers, and Steven Adams is a freshman that can help fade the memories of the 22-17 overall and 5-13 conference records in 2011-12. The 7-foot center from New Zealand was the No. 6-ranked player on the ESPN 100, and has been praised for his athletic ability. Adams has the build and athleticism to be a force in the paint from the first game he plays and that presence in the low post could be what Pitt needs to return to their successful ways in the Big East.

Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

Louisville is the clear favorite to win the conference, but they will have to take down the defending Big East champions in Syracuse, who went 17-1 in conference play last season under Boeheim. The Orange lost a talented group in Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Fab Melo, but now it is Brandon Triche and Rakeem Christmas' turn to run the show and a preseason ranking of No. 9 in the country shows this team not expected to falter. With the loss in talent from a year ago, if Boeheim's team can breeze through a semi-challenging non-conference schedule and lead this team to a conference championship or within a game or two of that mark, he will have a strong case for the award. This could be the last chance Boeheim has to win the award before Syracuse and Pitt move to the ACC.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

Notre Dame's Move to ACC Drives Stake Into Big East

Notre Dame's basketball team, along with all sports except for football, is the newest member of the ACC. (und.com)

The Notre Dame football program has yet to hear an offer sweet enough to lure it away from it's Independent status, which is not a surprise. That move could still be years away. But for all other sports, and basketball most importantly, the Irish are the newest members of the growing juggernaut that is the ACC.

ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported Wednesday morning that Notre Dame will join the ACC in all sports except for football. It is still unclear when that will be. The Big East has a 27-month exit rule, but the last three schools to leave the conference — West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse — have all left early.

For basketball fans, the Big East Conference Tournament is one of the biggest events of the season. The brutal road of ranked teams facing off as early as quarterfinal games in Madison Square Garden made for wildly entertaining basketball. Enjoy this year's tournament, because after this year, it won't be the same.

Conference realignment has been mainly dictated by football, which makes sense seeing as it is the largest revenue sport. So while Syracuse and Pitt are both basketball schools (West Virginia has been successful in both), the moves to the ACC and Big 12 was also because of football.

But now a school has made a move to a new conference without its football team, for now, and there lies the potential death of the Big East.

Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame's decision was also about football. Part of the agreement to move to the ACC is that the football team, while still an Independent, must schedule five ACC opponents every year.

Notre Dame saw the decline of their conference in basketball as well, and bolted before it became worse. While the football team is still involved with the school's move to the ACC, the team itself is staying still. Most conference realignment moves happen because of football, but Notre Dame's acceptance into the ACC may motivate teams without football programs to also make a switch.

Who is to say teams like Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova — who do not have FBS football teams — won't do the same? UCONN has also expressed an interest in leaving the Big East, which would make them the fifth team to do so in the last two years. Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova can't be blamed for also heading to greener basketball pastures.

In an uneasy time for conferences, the Big East is by far the most vulnerable and Notre Dame's departure puts it on even shakier ground. As a school, Notre Dame has the most tradition and national recognition in the Big East, even without football. The biggest basketball conference in the country may be on the verge of extinction.

Notre Dame's departure will be possibly the most painful to the Big East because it reopened the door for schools without football to follow. Football aside, Notre Dame didn't trust a future in the Big East, and other schools in the conference probably feel the same way. It's only a matter of time before they too seek out opportunities elsewhere.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter