Big East commish reaches out to Big 12, ACC (Updated) 8-17

[wvjohn]

John Marinatto wants to talk alignment

Big East commissioner John Marinatto says he has been in constant contact with Dan Beebe of the Big 12 and John Swofford of the Atlantic Coast Conference in recent days and has suggested the three meet to discuss conference realignment.

Marinatto didn't reveal details about his conversations with his fellow commissioners but said, "I thought it would be important for us to meet face-to-face and take the lead in trying to do things the right way."

Beebe's conference, which nearly was wiped out last year when the Pac-10 expanded, is in danger of losing Texas A&M to the Southeastern Conference.

If the Aggies end up in the SEC, the league would likely need to add at least one more member.

So what uall think about this could it work or not??

[donovan]

The SEC has sufficient fodder. It takes a delicate balance. Too much and your SOS weakens...The SEC gets the SEC aggrandizement kick from the polls, so they have to be careful in making sure their illusion is not weakened by transparent reality.

[Derek]

The SEC has sufficient fodder. It takes a delicate balance. Too much and your SOS weakens...The SEC gets the SEC aggrandizement kick from the polls, so they have to be careful in making sure their illusion is not weakened by transparent reality.

Indeed.

[wvjohn]

Updated: August 17, 2011, 12:00 AM ET

John Marinatto wants to talk alignment

Associated Press

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto says he has been in constant contact with Dan Beebe of the Big 12 and John Swofford of the Atlantic Coast Conference in recent days and has suggested the three meet to discuss conference realignment.

Marinatto didn't reveal details about his conversations with his fellow commissioners but said Tuesday: "I thought it would be important for us to meet face-to-face and take the lead in trying to do things the right way."

Marinatto also has spoken with NCAA president Mark Emmert, but he said Emmert was not planning to hold any meetings with conference commissioners to discuss conference realignment.

In a statement to the AP, Swofford said he is open to Emmert's "involvement in helping us find a process that better serves the greater good of college athletics."

"As it relates to conference realignment, if we can find a more structured way to do business with each other, we need to try to find it," Swofford said. "In my opinion, further exploration would be healthy and beneficial for our profession."

The NCAA president doesn't have the power to stop schools from changing conferences and Marinatto pointed out that Emmert's involvement would likely be limited by potential legal issues such as restriction of trade and antitrust laws.

Beebe's conference, which nearly was wiped out last year when the Pac-10 expanded, is in danger of losing Texas A&M to the Southeastern Conference.

If the Aggies end up in the SEC, the league likely would need to add at least one more member.

There has been rampant speculation the SEC, which has 12 members, could target another school from the Big 12, or from the ACC and Big East for further expansion.

"We can and must be mindful everyone's best interests and be constructive and not destructive," Marinatto said. "But we all realize we are competitive and we have different constituencies to serve."

[billybud]

I just think they played a game of gin rummy as a warm up exercise....who will go out first?

[strawman]

The problem with all of this re-alilgnment talk is that no one wants to be the first to go to 16 teams but they all don't want to be sucking hind-tit and get left with the scraps to fill their leagues. The next year looks like another wild ride.

[wvjohn]

The problem with all of this re-alilgnment talk is that no one wants to be the first to go to 16 teams but they all don't want to be sucking hind-* and get left with the scraps to fill their leagues. The next year looks like another wild ride.

Well said, this is going to be one big mess.

[Eric]

I'm not a fan of it. As a fan of watching the non-BCS schools, all I think this is going to do is concentrate power in the hands of the top 5 (or maybe 4) conferences and we'll see the first step into the implementation of a playoff. Each division gets 8 teams and then they slug it out until they play for the conference title, which is basically a play-in game for the playoff.

[billybud]

It has to happen.

The pretense that MAC teams and SEC teams are in the same league is getting too burdensome to carry. Having 121 teams in a division that is purportedly competitive is leading to discord because of the numbers on the bell curve. Separating the top half of the curve and the bottom half will eventually happen.

I am not saying that within BCS conferences that there aren't vast talent differences. The MAC is to Ohio State what Kentucky is to the Gators..(neither have won a game in the eighteen plus attempts against the named opponent). The ends of the bell curves also overlap. There are non BCS schools who are stronger than some lower level BCS schools...but as a whole, conferences can be reliably placed on the bell curve.

The MAC, Sun Belt, etc is not the SEC nor Big 10..or ACC..or even BE.

on a side note, I'd love to see Boise State playing in the Big 12 or Pac 12 (actually 16).

[Eric]

It has to happen.

The pretense that MAC teams and SEC teams are in the same league is getting too burdensome to carry.

I don't know anybody who makes this argument. I would say that there is a pervasive idea that people treat an undefeated 2008 Ball State as if they were actually a top 15 team; however, a school like Ball State gets the polling respect but in analysis they are always approached with skepticism.

[billybud]

Yeah Eric...and there is the problem....when you have a team do well but play the back half of that bell curve while another team doesn't do quite as well but plays the front half...it is apples and kumquats. Give me a three loss LSU over an undefeated Ball State.

Heck, I took a 6-6 FSU with one of the worst defenses in the country vs a 9-3 WVU. Unfortunately, Vegas had it the same way so I had to worry about a few points.

Why? I thought that FSU would out athlete WVU regardless of the disparancy between records.

[Cane from the Bend]

The Big Ten Conference is not looking at another expansion .

The 12-team league said Friday that its Council of Presidents/Chancellors met recently and there is no plan to "actively" engage in expansion now "or at any time in the foreseeable future, barring a significant shift in the current intercollegiate athletic landscape."


Last December, Big Ten Council chairman Michael McRobbie, the Indiana president, said the board "believed the expansion process had reached its natural conclusion.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Friday "We're about as comfortable as we can be with where we are," --- "We've said that we will continue to monitor the landscape, but we have closed down active expansion and have no plans to seek new members."

.

Of course, Texas A&M confirmed this week that it is interested in leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference --- a move that would almost surely set off another round of conference realignment.

The SEC, Sunday reaffirmed its 12-school membership while leaving the door open to expansion.

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Earlier this week, Big East commissioner John Marinatto said he has been in contact with Dan Beebe, his counterpart at the Big 12, and John Swofford of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Big 12, has said it wants to keep Texas A&M, but if the Aggies leave it would "aggressively move forward to explore expansion," presumably by adding one or three schools if possible.


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As things stand; 12 is the round table model of conference numbers.

Although; change could come, pending on where Texas A&M feels they are at. However, with the Big XII announcing they would aggressively move forward to explore expansion, should the Aggies leave the conference, it's safe to assume they aren't expecting to fold as many expect.

My guess, is that John Marinatto has been in contact with Dan Beebe & John Swofford to make sure the ACC & Big XII wouldn't siphon the life outta the Big East.

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Presently; the Big Twelve says they want to keep A&M.

Though, with the acknowledgment of their interest in picking up Houston if the Aggies walk out; I wouldn't be surprised if the Big 12 were to dump Texas A&M if the whining continues.

That is, unless they are to put up a strong showing this season. That may just give pause, to reconsider how valuable A&M could be.

However, a poor show this year would dissolve all leverage the Aggies think they still maintain.

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[Spence]

The Big Ten Conference is not looking at another expansion .

The 12-team league said Friday that its Council of Presidents/Chancellors met recently and there is no plan to "actively" engage in expansion now "or at any time in the foreseeable future, barring a significant shift in the current intercollegiate athletic landscape."


Last December, Big Ten Council chairman Michael McRobbie, the Indiana president, said the board "believed the expansion process had reached its natural conclusion.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Friday "We're about as comfortable as we can be with where we are," --- "We've said that we will continue to monitor the landscape, but we have closed down active expansion and have no plans to seek new members.
.

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Delany, isn't looking to expand....yet. If he finds a way to get Notre Dame into the B-10 he will expand tomorrow. Delany is singleminded about this subject. Past that, he won't expand unless forced by the climate....meaning until someone else jumps. He jumped first last time thinking Notre Dame would get spooked and jump, when they didn't he decided not to move forward.

[Eric]

I wish further expansion isn't the way to go. Not only do you bust up what makes geographic sense, you also are dismantling familiarity with your intraconference opponents. There's no feeling of it being a close-knit unit if you went to 16 teams. A 16 team conference would likely mean 10 conference games, which still means you are missing out on five opponents during the regular season.

[GoBoilers]

As so many of these are state supported schools, where does "open meetings" laws apply? If in fact if trhey do? WE are talking state business and it is money? Any legal scholars here?