ND fans,

[Killian]

How does them going unbeaten prove they were better? Why does the fact that we rolled many opponents that they were lucky to have barely beaten not go into determining the better team?? Or is it because that wouldn't help support your argument?? In November, there was no debate who the better team was. Iowa cruised through the Big-10 schedule while Ohio State was maybe 4-5 plays away from being 5-3 or even 4-4. I recall many Michigan players saying Iowa was clearly the better team. They'd know better than anyone. Had OSU drawn USC in their bowl game, they would have been rolled too. Sure they lost 2 games, but by the end of the year that was the best team in the country and I don't think there's really much debate on that. Unlike Miami, USC actually showed up for the game. Beating a team 40+ days after your last regular season game proves nothing.

For as many close games as they had, they didn't lose to an unranked team. They played close games all year, and beat what many feel was the best team in the country. Iowa got butcher raped in their bowl game. And you have no idea if OSU would have been rolled by USC.

[Terry in Crapchester]

[*]The Big East adds one more team, but not for another four years or so. Central Florida is the most likely possibility. They won't expand beyond nine unless ND is part of the deal.

The Big East is not going to bring in an all sports program, or a football only program, because the non football playing members do not want to lose their voting power. With the structure of the new Big East television deal the conference is basically set for the next handful of years minimum, if not for the next 10 years or so, with the current setup.

The 9th football playing spot will remain vacant and will be held for ND.

I still think that in the end, the football and non-football schools will have a parting of the ways. Sixteen teams is too big a conference to stay together in the long run.

Having said that, however, it won't happen right away. Under NCAA rules, any new conference that doesn't have at least six members who have played together in a conference for the previous five years has to wait five years before getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Imho, that is why the conference stayed together for now, and also is why the conference added DePaul and Marquette in addition to Cincinnati, Louisville and USF.

The Big East is currently in year two of its current alignment. Following year five, I believe the conference splits, at which time both of the conferences will be eligible for automatic bids in the NCAA tournament, or will have to wait a year at most.

If the split happens, a ninth member among the football schools would be a strong possibility.

[Terry in Crapchester]

I would have thought that the national media debate over whether ND should join a conference would have been settled by virtue of our new NBC contract plus the improvement in the program over the past two years. Evidently, I was wrong. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/s ... d=tab5pos1

The conundrum, of course, is that the same scenario that would make ND most attractive to conferences also makes ND less in need of conference membership.

And btw, here's the reaction at ND Nation to the Schlabach article linked above, just for shits and giggles.

ND Nation

[MuchoBulls]

I still think that in the end, the football and non-football schools will have a parting of the ways. Sixteen teams is too big a conference to stay together in the long run.

Having said that, however, it won't happen right away. Under NCAA rules, any new conference that doesn't have at least six members who have played together in a conference for the previous five years has to wait five years before getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Imho, that is why the conference stayed together for now, and also is why the conference added DePaul and Marquette in addition to Cincinnati, Louisville and USF.

The Big East is currently in year two of its current alignment. Following year five, I believe the conference splits, at which time both of the conferences will be eligible for automatic bids in the NCAA tournament, or will have to wait a year at most.

If the split happens, a ninth member among the football schools would be a strong possibility.

I don't know what the new television deal calls for if a split were to occur, but I would have to think that the league is going to stay in tact for more than 3 years. I believe the television deal, which begins with the 2007 football season, last for 5 or 6 years. I would think a split would take away much of the basketball side of the deal (all confernence games on some form of EPSN medium being the biggest one) and that the current members would be reluctant to split.

Tranghese has said himself that there just is not a viable option to add for football, nor is there any reason to at this point. The league got back on its feet much sooner than anyone anticipated.

If any split were to occur, then Memphis would be the front runner for the 9th all sports playing member.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Mucho,

I'm not aware of the specifics of the TV deal, but it seems to me that adding DePaul and Marquette was, at a minimum, insurance for the non-football schools in the event of a split. And it might have made a split even more likely, particularly if the Big East continues to take only the top 12 teams in the Big East tourney.

Before the Big East expanded, you had the following alignment:

football schools: UConn, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia
non-football schools: Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova
And Notre Dame.

Had the Big East split then, there would have been a battle royale for ND's membership, as the new conference that got it would get an automatic bid, while the other would have to wait five years.

Post-expansion, the breakdown looks like this:
Football schools: Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Pitt, Rutgers, USF, Syracuse, West Virginia
Non-football schools: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova
And Notre Dame.

Now, if there's a conference split, it really doesn't matter where ND winds up. In fact, they could wind up in an entirely different place altogether, and from a basketball standpoint, it wouldn't matter too much. Assuming the current alignment lasts for five years (currently in year two), each conference would get an automatic bid with, at most, a one-year waiting period.

If the football schools add a ninth member, it would seem to me that UCF would be a better bet than Memphis, if only because of location. UCF would give the Big East two schools in Florida, a natural geographic rival for USF, and each other Big East school a guaranteed road trip to Florida every year. Memphis would bring the rivalry with Louisville to the table, but Cincinnati already covers that.