According to a report, two current Big East members have discussed the possibility of leaving the league to form a new one built around perennial basketball powerhouses.
Dec 21, 2011 - Two current members of the Big East have had conversations about leaving the conference to start a new league built around traditional basketball powers, according to Brad Wolverton of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The discussions are preliminary and may not lead to any departures, but could signal dissatisfaction among at least some of the basketball schools with the league’s uncertain future or its choice of new members.
According to sources who were involved in the discussions at two Big East institutions, the colleges have discussed the possibility of a so-called Super Basketball Conference that could seek to add Butler, Temple, Xavier, or others. The sources were unwilling to publicly identify either institution because of the early stage of talks.
"I don’t think they’ve had serious talks about it, but I’d be shocked if they didn’t leave," said a source close to the league. "They’re going to get there eventually, but someone’s going to have to lead them," this person said.
This report, if accurate, is yet another hit to the stability of a conference that has already seen Pittsburgh and Syracuse accept invitations to the ACC and West Virginia bolt for the Big 12 over the past three months. Earlier this month, the Big East announced it was adding Boise State and as football-only members and Houston, Southern Methodist and Central Florida in all sports.
Excluding Notre Dame, there are seven current Big East members who participate in basketball but not football: Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, St. John's, Marquette, DePaul and Seton Hall.
Georgetown President John J. DeGioia says his school is not among those entertaining the thought of fleeing.
"We certainly could have confronted in this moment an opportunity to break up the conference, and we emphatically made the decision to keep it together. We had a full consensus that the best thing for our basketball programs would be to remain in complete alignment with the football programs," he said. "I would be surprised to hear that any of our non-football-playing members would report contemplating separation."
Big East commissioner John Marinatto told Wolverton that he's aware of the conversations, but that he doesn't believe they will ultimately lead to any more departures. "Although they’ve had discussions, I’ve had no indication from any of them that they have serious desires to break away," he said.
Still, conference realignment is an ugly game, and no one knows that better than Marinatto.
"People don’t always tell you the truth," Marinatto added. "It’s obviously hard to say that and hear that, but it’s something we’ve all learned as we go through this realignment."
For more updates on these developments, check out Big East Coast Bias, SB Nation's Big East blog.
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