Big East Commissioner forced out

[MeanGreenTexan]

Dickhead Alert -- For every 1 good SMU poster there seems to be 3 or 4 of this

Truth hurts?

[cdizzle86]

LOL. This was expected for months. Every indication coming out of Big East schools is that they expect anywhere from 10-18M per school. To put this in perspective SMU made roughly 1.75M from their CUSA deal this past year. This move is entirely about preparing for 2014 and covering all possible bases. Any speculation that this is a bad thing is flat out wrong.

BTW, look at the list of potential commissioners posted by CBS Sports. Any of them would be an upgrade over Marinatto. Also, UNT should be hoping and praying that the Big East remains viable and intact. If it all falls apart (and it won't), then you can be certain a new league will form out of its ashes that will not include UNT.

At this point in time, you may be right. You're also right that the Big East probably won't fail, which is very good for us because SMU will continue to be a bottom feeder. If North Texas can turn itself into a consistently GREAT athletic program and continue to upgrade/add facilities, then come next realignment we may just pass the little rich school known as SMU.

Even though SMU continues to act all high and mighty, they can feel North Texas breathing down their backs and it scares them. Why do you think they continue to make big splash hires? Because their sports have been the exact definition of mediocre and they have nothing else going for them except their past, which will always be followed by an asterisk.

Edited May 7, 2012 by cdizzle86

[SMU2006]

Wow. Really? So bringing facts to the table makes me a "dickhead". Aren't you sweet.

I'm really happy for UNT being in CUSA. I'd said on numerous occasions I felt that the Sun Belt was beneath UNT now that they've committed to great facilities and using their built-in resources to get to the next level. But if you want to label me a dickhead that's certainly your right to do so.

And yes, I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble on this issue. But this was expected for months. Marinatto was treading water well before the league decided to expand last year. The decision to go with a new commissioner has everything to do with positioning the league in 2014. I'm not one of the idiots who think AQ status is a given or even likely for the Big East. However, to say that it won't be worth SMU or Houston's time to distance themselves from schools that have zero interest in competing in D1A football like Rice, Tulane, and UAB is beyond stupid. Should the Big East hit an iceberg and go down like the Titanic, you can be rest assured an entirely new league will be the result. Even this entirely new league will be far more beneficial to SMU than the CUSA we are leaving behind.

I know some of you are capable of seeing things clearly. To say this is the beginning of the end for the Big East is laughably stupid. Don't be that guy

[Mark Gommesen]

If CUSA/MWC can renegotiate new lucrative media contracts and with Automatic Qualifier no longer an issue than Boise State and San Diego State would certainly return to the MWC. What happens to Houston and SMU becomes more problematic. If MWC and the CUSA are in alliance on expansion, the CUSA would certainly have issues about the MWC adding these two schools.

[Green Mean]

SMU has played North Texas-Denton 33 times since 1922

that is 33 times in 89 seasons including the two seasons that SMU did not play football so that is an average of one game every 2.69 years that is hardly "not playing you" and they are 28-4-1 in those games so I doubt they are "scared" as some might think

more so they are looking out for the best interest of SMU VS worrying about dragging some other program along with them because that program constantly needs a helping hand from everyone else

SMU also plays you several times in the next few years as well....if North Texas-Denton fans had as much concern for their own program VS what SMU does maybe they would be in the Big East instead of SMU

also if the Big East collapses (unlikely) then SMU and several of the others will be forming a new conference I am sure along the lines of UCF, USF, ECU, USM, Louisville, Cincy, Memphis in the east and SMU, UH, Tulane, Tulsa, LaTech, Rice and UTEP in the west

discussions like this are similar to those that thought UT would be left out in the cold because of the LHN and everyone moving around without them when the reality is that UT had more options than anyone they they made the choice of what best suited UT similar to how SMU learned from TCU about making the best choices for THEIR program instead of the choices that make North Texas-Denton fans happy

Tulane, LaTech, ECU, USM, Tulsa, UTEP and Rice would be chomping at the bit to ditch the CUSA to get in the conference above and it has plenty of "markets" and schools that know each as well and it is pretty compact

schools that had options before are not suddenly just going to be forced to go begging all of the sudden....they had options for a reason and they will have future options for a reason as well because they are proactive instead of reactive

In your 3 different screen names you have used...it's always the same thing over and over again. What is your beef with UNT? You clearly have some sour grapes here and I don't get it. If you hate us so much why not go to the SMU board? Or maybe the TSU, UTA, UTD, Quad C board? It seems that UNT can only do wrong in your eyes and that is fine...just gtfo because we really don't care what you think about us.

[NT03]

Quick recap :

this is not that big of a deal, If anything it makes the BE stronger

SMU will not be left without a home

UNT & SMU will not be in the same conference

This is going to be a very long off season

[Rudy]

If it all falls apart (and it won't), then you can be certain a new league will form out of its ashes that will not include UNT.

And what conference would this be and how do you know NT would not be included?

[SMU2006]

Also, I don't think its healthy for any school to ever feel that is has "arrived" or to be satisfied with the status quo. To the guy that feels that SMU can feel UNT creeping up behind them I say that EVERY school should have a healthy dose of respect and fear for its opponents (regardless of conference affiliation or stature). UNT can flourish in CUSA and I would be greatly disappointed if they continued to lose and didn't make the most of the opportunity CUSA presents to the university. That said, I don't think any of the powerbrokers at SMU are overly concerned with what is going on at UNT. SMU has a 1.4 billion endowment, a tier one ranking, entering a BCS conference (for now anywayI), a 750M fundraising effort, a presidential library, former NFL head coach, and an NBA Hall of Fame basketball coach. I think its clear that SMU has made the financial and administrative commitment to being competitive at the highest levels.

[SMU2006]

Not a snowball's chance in hell the CUSA/MWC TV package will get anywhere near the Big East. You know better than that.

Edited May 7, 2012 by SMU2006

[Green Mean]

Wow. Really? So bringing facts to the table makes me a "dickhead". Aren't you sweet.

I'm really happy for UNT being in CUSA. I'd said on numerous occasions I felt that the Sun Belt was beneath UNT now that they've committed to great facilities and using their built-in resources to get to the next level. But if you want to label me a dickhead that's certainly your right to do so.

And yes, I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble on this issue. But this was expected for months. Marinatto was treading water well before the league decided to expand last year. The decision to go with a new commissioner has everything to do with positioning the league in 2014. I'm not one of the idiots who think AQ status is a given or even likely for the Big East. However, to say that it won't be worth SMU or Houston's time to distance themselves from schools that have zero interest in competing in D1A football like Rice, Tulane, and UAB is beyond stupid. Should the Big East hit an iceberg and go down like the Titanic, you can be rest assured an entirely new league will be the result. Even this entirely new league will be far more beneficial to SMU than the CUSA we are leaving behind.

I know some of you are capable of seeing things clearly. To say this is the beginning of the end for the Big East is laughably stupid. Don't be that guy

This post made a little bit more sense but you're making it sound as if SMU and UH would be the power brokers in creating the new league. Now that is laughable if you ask me. I just don't see that happening. And you are right as I do not ever see the Big East going away because it is a good league with a lot of history and it has the northeast media supporting it so I just don't ever see it folding. And you say that should a new league form UNT won't even be considered...well you might want to reconsider that. As an athletics program we're on the uptick and if we're able to continue the momentum in both football and basketball and fill up our stadiums and arenas then I hate to break the news to you that SMU won't dictate if UNT is part of a new league or not. Automatically we will be noticed and we will be considered due to the nature of our upside, success and overall commitment to athletics.

[UNTFan23]

Wow. Really? So bringing facts to the table makes me a "dickhead". Aren't you sweet.

I'm really happy for UNT being in CUSA. I'd said on numerous occasions I felt that the Sun Belt was beneath UNT now that they've committed to great facilities and using their built-in resources to get to the next level. But if you want to label me a dickhead that's certainly your right to do so.

And yes, I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble on this issue. But this was expected for months. Marinatto was treading water well before the league decided to expand last year. The decision to go with a new commissioner has everything to do with positioning the league in 2014. I'm not one of the idiots who think AQ status is a given or even likely for the Big East. However, to say that it won't be worth SMU or Houston's time to distance themselves from schools that have zero interest in competing in D1A football like Rice, Tulane, and UAB is beyond stupid. Should the Big East hit an iceberg and go down like the Titanic, you can be rest assured an entirely new league will be the result. Even this entirely new league will be far more beneficial to SMU than the CUSA we are leaving behind.

I know some of you are capable of seeing things clearly. To say this is the beginning of the end for the Big East is laughably stupid. Don't be that guy

I don't think you'd have a large enough core of former Big East teams to be able to create a new conference with the same number of bids as the old Big East. If you're lucky and you can siphon off enough CUSA schools you can start with 1 auto-bid like what the CUSA has now. I also don't see the TV revenue of the new conference being anywhere close to the old Big East, so schools like Cincinnati, South Florida, & Louisville will be taking a kick in the revenue shorts to divorce with the Big East. I think Louisville would sell its soul to make it into the Big 12 so not to take such a large revenue drop. I'm not sure what Cincinnati and USF would do but they'd work hard to find a better home than a brand spanking new conference.

[Green Mean]

Also, I don't think its healthy for any school to ever feel that is has "arrived" or to be satisfied with the status quo. To the guy that feels that SMU can feel UNT creeping up behind them I say that EVERY school should have a healthy dose of respect and fear for its opponents (regardless of conference affiliation or stature). UNT can flourish in CUSA and I would be greatly disappointed if they continued to lose and didn't make the most of the opportunity CUSA presents to the university. That said, I don't think any of the powerbrokers at SMU are overly concerned with what is going on at UNT. SMU has a 1.4 billion endowment, a tier one ranking, entering a BCS conference (for now anywayI), a 750M fundraising effort, a presidential library, former NFL head coach, and an NBA Hall of Fame basketball coach. I think its clear that SMU has made the financial and administrative commitment to being competitive at the highest levels.

Look the money can be there but it doesn't make a difference if you can't produce on the field....How has SMU done in all the revenue sports the last 20+ years? If that was the only factor then by all means you have a point. All that endowment, fundraising nonsense is irrelevant because Boise State has nothing close to those numbers and they would embarrass SMU on the field and are more worthy of a BCS conference than SMU if you go by health and state of the program as well in recent history.

[SMU2006]

SMU and Houston wouldn't be the deciding factor in any new conference formation, but they would certainly have a voice. Its stupid to even be talking about this b/c the Big East is not going to fold. Anyone thinking that John Marinatto's "FORCED" resignation is the death knell is either uninformed or just plain stupid.

[SMU2006]

Yeah I agree. The more likely scenario is raiding CUSA for schools that are literally begging to get out of the conference like Southern Miss, ECU, and Tulsa. Should Louisville or Cincy leave for the Big 12 these programs will be first in line to replace them. Also, each would leave CUSA today if they could. There have been serious discussions at Rice about the ability to sustain D1A football given their current situation. Its truly sad. Same can be said for Tulane who had their new stadium voted down yet again. These two schools bring maybe 200 fans to Ford when we play them. So like I said UNT should hope that the Big East remains strong b/c if anything does happen (unlikely) then the Big East will swoop down and take two or three of the programs mentioned above. Then you're left with the Sun Belt 2.0

[Mark Gommesen]

SMU, Houston and UCF could justify it because the increased revenue from the TV contract and the impact on basketball being aligned with the Big East. Boise and SDSU are a different story being football only. I would not be surprised to see Boise and SDSU go back to the Mountain West. If I'm SMU and Houston CUSA East makes more sense geographically.

How about this MWC/CUSA merge. SDSU, BOISE STATE join the West, UTEP AND UTSA are moved to the west, and SMU and Houston join the East.

[El Paso Eagle]

Yeah I agree. The more likely scenario is raiding CUSA for schools that are literally begging to get out of the conference like Southern Miss, ECU, and Tulsa. Should Louisville or Cincy leave for the Big 12 these programs will be first in line to replace them. Also, each would leave CUSA today if they could. There have been serious discussions at Rice about the ability to sustain D1A football given their current situation. Its truly sad. Same can be said for Tulane who had their new stadium voted down yet again. These two schools bring maybe 200 fans to Ford when we play them. So like I said UNT should hope that the Big East remains strong b/c if anything does happen (unlikely) then the Big East will swoop down and take two or three of the programs mentioned above. Then you're left with the Sun Belt 2.0

Just wondering … how would it work for a group of schools to try and start up a “new” conference?? How would that work with regards to NCAA BB, etc??

[SMU2006]

As a dickhead I'm not sure I'm qualified to respond.

[golfingomez]

the story is definitely getting some airplay today

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/story/2012-05-07/john-marinatto-big-east-resign/54805358/1

[outoftown]

I stilll don't get that SMU to big east thing... so you go out to save a conference on the east coast with exactly one decently close team and everything else faaaaar away. But what is in it for SMU?

You could say its for the AQ...but its not gonna be here anymore....you could say that was not clear then...but there had already been a whole lot of talk about MWC/CUSA getting their own AQ or the AQ being abolished. It was already a realistic possiblity.

You could say its for the money... but SMU already has money... and with the teams that are gone and no AQ there really will not be enough money to justify punishing all your non-revenue sports and and getting beat 80-35 in basketball about 3 times a season...and the money is not gonna be nearly as good as people think. Ok all those nice NCAA bids in BB, but people are gonna be surprised how small the TV-offer will be with the new football lineup. ESPN does not need the Big east anymore to cover the east coast.

NT-fans understand what advantage it is to be in the center of your conference, and not at the fringe.

I always though that move was less than ideal for both sides, but I understood that the big east had to do something to survive....but i never understood what $mu got out of it, and I get it less and less.

[glick1980]

Not a snowball's chance in hell the CUSA/MWC TV package will get anywhere near the Big East. You know better than that.

The current BE deal is worth $5.3M per school, you are a complete dumbass for thinking you are going to get $18M per school with a bunch of old CUSA schools with small fan bases. The ACC gets $13M per school, if the BE was going to get more, schools wouldn't be lining up to join the ACC.

Edited May 7, 2012 by glick1980

[SMU2006]

NBC is willing to overpay and with the backing of Notre Dame you can be certain the TV dollars will AT THE VERY LEAST double per school. This is not even questionable.

As far as SMU having the money, while that is certainly true as an institution, the athletic department has been running in the red for a looooooong time now. Big East TV revenues will allow the athletic department to operate independently of the university fiscal budget. This was always the play for SMU. As far as AQ goes I don't think any of us have that answer yet. It appears the Big East will be on the outside looking in with regards to AQ status after 2014 but a lot can happen between now and then. That said, aligning ourselves with schools in the Big East and that are set to join the Big East with us was a no-brainer for SMU. The alternative was to be left in a watered down CUSA and watch as the gap grows wider between us and schools we aspire to compete against. Rice, Tulane, UAB have zero commitment or interest in competing in D1A football. Their actions over the past several years have proven that to be true. SMU wants to associate itself with schools that have the same vision. So as far as it making sense for SMU to join the Big East I can candidly say it was the only choice given the alternative.

[NTXCoog]

Just wondering … how would it work for a group of schools to try and start up a “new” conference?? How would that work with regards to NCAA BB, etc??

It's not like all conferences were formed a long time ago. CUSA was formed in 1995. MWC was formed in 1999. Both formed less than 20 years ago and 1 less than 15.

[UNTLifer]

Also, I don't think its healthy for any school to ever feel that is has "arrived" or to be satisfied with the status quo. To the guy that feels that SMU can feel UNT creeping up behind them I say that EVERY school should have a healthy dose of respect and fear for its opponents (regardless of conference affiliation or stature). UNT can flourish in CUSA and I would be greatly disappointed if they continued to lose and didn't make the most of the opportunity CUSA presents to the university. That said, I don't think any of the powerbrokers at SMU are overly concerned with what is going on at UNT. SMU has a 1.4 billion endowment, a tier one ranking, entering a BCS conference (for now anywayI), a 750M fundraising effort, a presidential library, former NFL head coach, and an NBA Hall of Fame basketball coach. I think its clear that SMU has made the financial and administrative commitment to being competitive at the highest levels.

$1.4 billion endowment: How's that worked out for you the past 20 or so years?

Tier One Ranking: I may be mistaken, but I think only UT, A&M and Rice are Tier One Univeristies.

Big East: good luck with that. The Big East has multiple issues and you don't have an opponent, outside of UH, in the immediate vicinity. 12,000 at football games will continue and BB will get hammered in the Big East.

Presidential Library: Be happy Bush decided to "retire" to Dallas.

June Jones: hope he's not too busy with his inner-city ministry (still looking for that one, btw), trying to entice a bigger school or not being truthful to recruits.

Larry Brown: is their a Luby's close to campus? If history repeats itself, you all will be on probation in 3 or 4 years with a former North Texas coach leading the way.

Sorry, but I wish nothing but failure upon SMU. By the way, I grew up in the Methodist Church and am embarrassed that your school is affiliated with the church.

Edited May 7, 2012 by UNTLifer

[GL2Greatness]

I don't think you'd have a large enough core of former Big East teams to be able to create a new conference with the same number of bids as the old Big East. If you're lucky and you can siphon off enough CUSA schools you can start with 1 auto-bid like what the CUSA has now. I also don't see the TV revenue of the new conference being anywhere close to the old Big East, so schools like Cincinnati, South Florida, & Louisville will be taking a kick in the revenue shorts to divorce with the Big East. I think Louisville would sell its soul to make it into the Big 12 so not to take such a large revenue drop. I'm not sure what Cincinnati and USF would do but they'd work hard to find a better home than a brand spanking new conference.

the football teams in the BE in the east would be UCF, USF, Memphis, Louisville, Cincy, SMU, and UH

that is 7 teams right there.....they only need 4 more and the Big 12 is not going to take Louisville and they are not even sniffing at Cincy so what other conference do you think ANY of these teams are going to go to.....a bloated CUSA with a new group of move ups, the MAC, Sunbelt.....or will they somehow get into the SEC or ACC (yea right)

so that is 8 teams (6 if you actually believe that the Big 12 would even consider Cincy or Louisville) that would have to get into the ACC or SEC if they wanted a better conference than they would have on their own

so those 8 teams could easily lure 4 teams from the CUSA like LaTech, Tulsa, Rice, ECU, USM, Tulane, or UTEP or all of them

there is no "better" conference for USF to go to than that period...there might be dreams of a better conference, but the SEC or ACC are not goign to even consider considering them so they can give up on that

Just wondering … how would it work for a group of schools to try and start up a “new” conference?? How would that work with regards to NCAA BB, etc??

several of these teams would not have to worry about winning the conference as the only way to get into the NACC BB tournament so that will not be a concern for them

plus there is a chance if Tulsa, Rice, ECU, USM, Tulane, and UTEP were members of the new conference they would meet the 6 team two year continuity rule

http://assets.sbnati..._AQ_Bylaw-1.pdf

the NCAA does not state they need to be a member of the conference they are going in for two years they just need to be 6 teams together in the same conference for two years so if those 6 teams left to form a new conference and ask SMU, UH, Louisville, Cincy, UCF, and USF to join those 6 teams would be together for 2 years....and if it all blows up after this football season then technically SMU, UH, Memphis, and UCF would have been together with the above 6 teams for the prior two years as well because they never were in the BE they would have done like TCU and stated they were leaving the CUSA, driven by the BE after their final year still in the CUSA and then joined up with teams they had been together with for the last 2+ years

I stilll don't get that SMU to big east thing... so you go out to save a conference on the east coast with exactly one decently close team and everything else faaaaar away. But what is in it for SMU?

You could say its for the AQ...but its not gonna be here anymore....you could say that was not clear then...but there had already been a whole lot of talk about MWC/CUSA getting their own AQ or the AQ being abolished. It was already a realistic possiblity.

You could say its for the money... but SMU already has money... and with the teams that are gone and no AQ there really will not be enough money to justify punishing all your non-revenue sports and and getting beat 80-35 in basketball about 3 times a season...and the money is not gonna be nearly as good as people think. Ok all those nice NCAA bids in BB, but people are gonna be surprised how small the TV-offer will be with the new football lineup. ESPN does not need the Big east anymore to cover the east coast.

NT-fans understand what advantage it is to be in the center of your conference, and not at the fringe.

I always though that move was less than ideal for both sides, but I understood that the big east had to do something to survive....but i never understood what $mu got out of it, and I get it less and less.

SMU makes under 2 million in the CUSA, SMU gets 50%+ of their enrollment from outside of Texas, and SMU views their athletics as a window to make their university known across the USA

the MWC was not going to get an AQ bid and it looks like the AQ might go away, a merged MWC/CUSA is a disaster, SMU has money, but that does not mean they turn down more millions and more exposure because they have some endowment dollars

even if the BE TV deal is half per team what the ACC deal is that is still 4 million more per year and that easily covers travel cost and the football exposure especially in a smaller conference that covers the USA coast to coast will be greater than a 20+ team MWC that is mostly west coast and Mountain time and with nearly two times as many teams fighting for the weekly TV time slots

better money, easier to get on TV, and national exposure

what is not to understand?

Edited May 7, 2012 by GL2Greatness

[GangGreen]

the football teams in the BE in the east would be UCF, USF, Memphis, Louisville, Cincy, SMU, and UH

that is 8 teams right there....what is not to understand?

That's seven. I don't understand.