With last weekend’s announcement that the seven Catholic schools (DePaul, Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence) voted unanimously to leave the Big East, conference realignment is still going strong. The good news for ACC fans is it doesn’t look like the change will directly impact the conference. Cincinnati and Connecticut would still love to join the ACC, but time isn’t of the essence for that unless the Big Ten gets antsy again.

Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco couldn’t negotiate a TV contract big enough to keep the Catholic schools satisfied. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

However, the news will still have major ramifications going forward. First, the old Big East is dead. It was probably dead when Syracuse and Pittsburgh jumped ship, but now it’s truly an empty name describing a group of financially-connected schools. The paradigmatic schools are gone — save Connecticut — and they’re taking their basketball history with them. But the news isn’t all bad for college hoops fans. According to the New Jersey Star Ledger‘s Brendan Prunty, the schools are looking to start a new conference focused on basketball (related, this is the best recap of how and why the Catholic schools left, so read it). Right now they’re aiming for 12 schools, potentially including Gonzaga, Xavier and/or Butler. The conference would be financed largely by NCAA Tournament bid money instead of football money. If the concept works (i.e., the schools are consistently successful enough to financially sustain high level athletics), it would be revolutionary. But before looking too deeply into the concept, it’s important to understand the current landscape of realignment.

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1. The fields and arenas of play were more reserved than usual this weekend as Americans’ hearts remained heavy in the aftermath of the inexplicable and incomprehensible massacre that took place in Newtown, Connecticut, Friday morning. Moments of silence were observed at games from coast to coast for the fallen children, teachers and administrators whose lives where brutally taken from them much too early. Here at RTC, we generally try to stay above the partisan bickering that passes for national political discourse these days, but enough is enough — whatever we’re doing with respect to national firearm policy isn’t working. We don’t claim to have a reasoned and fair solution to this problem, but our leaders who presumably work for we, the people, need to figure out something better, and now.
2. The good people of the state of Connecticut of course are feeling more pain and heartache than anywhere else during this tragedy, and Kevin Ollie‘s Huskies will return to the court tonight with that burden in tow (with videos). It’s a bit more than an hour’s drive southwest from Storrs to Newtown, and many of the UConn players expressed their grief in terms of the connection to their own family members and loved ones: Tyler Olander’s mother is a sixth-grade teacher; Kevin Ollie has a school-age daughter; Shabazz Napier has a two-year old niece whom he adores. The school plans on wearing some sort of commemorative patch on its uniforms honoring the victims — perhaps as soon as in tonight’s game against Maryland-Eastern Shore — and the team will travel to Newtown soon to lend some additional support for the townspeople. As the most high-profile team in the Nutmeg State, these are necessary moves by the Husky program.
3. Sigh… on to the rest of the weekend’s news. In a completely expected announcement Saturday, the so-called Catholic 7 Big East schools voted unanimously to leave the conference and set out on its own course as a basketball-centric league. Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence and DePaul have decided that the race to the bottom that its football-playing peers have forced them into during all this conference realignment madness is no longer palatable. Apparently, the RPI anchor that schools like Tulane and East Carolina represented was the final straw. Now, the details on the when and how the exit of these seven universities will happen needs to be settled, but the other major elephant in the room is which schools the New Big East will target to fill out its roster — early reports suggest that Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, Butler and Gonzaga — all or some of them — are on the wish list. Regardless of who this new conference grabs, it’s nice to finally see proud basketball schools pushing back against the football behemoth.
4. While on the subject of Butler, Brad Stevens’ plucky squad knocked off the nation’s top-ranked team (per the AP/Coaches, not RTC) on Saturday afternoon at the Crossroads Classic, engendering another round of breathlessness (ourselves included) at just how excellent a head coach the 36-year old wunderkind already is. In a game that was must-watch television throughout, the final outcome hinged on a floater from a sophomore walk-on named Alex Barlow who had made a grand total of six buckets all season. The player who became a Bulldog so that he could apprentice under Stevens with a goal of becoming a head coach, added himself to the lore of a giant-killing school that has already scalped hoops titans North Carolina and Indiana this year. The overtime victory was Butler’s first ever win over a #1 team, and as the Indy Star‘s David Woods writes, it represents just another chapter in a program’s history where reality is better than fiction. Seriously.
5. The Syracuse Post-Standard is reporting additional details regarding star guard Michael Carter-Williams’ odd situation last Sunday where people tweeted pictures of him appearing to be under arrest at a local mall. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, MCW was detained and fined after a shoplifting incident at a Lord & Taylor store where he allegedly placed a Polo Ralph Lauren bathrobe and pair of gloves valued at around $120 into his backpack and walked out of the store. He was stopped by loss prevention staff and offered a deal where he could avoid arrest by paying a “civil demand,” wherein he could pay five times the value of the merchandise up to $500 and walk away. One source stated that Carter-Williams paid the fine with his credit card and left the scene freely. After Saturday night’s game versus Canisius (where MCW went for 12/14 assts), Jim Boeheim had little else to say about the matter other than to say that everyone “is satisfied with the result.”

1. BC Interruption: The US Department of Education published athletic revenues and profits for athletic departments. A quick note before looking at these numbers: profit can be very misleading. Athletic departments aren’t designed to turn profits, as in many cases, all revenue goes towards paying debts, contracts and travel. The revenue numbers can be misleading too, though less so. Case in point: Louisville’s basketball revenues nearly double those of Duke and North Carolina. How’s it possible for an admittedly strong regional brand to almost equal the sum of two of the three most popular teams in the country? The answer: the Yum! Center. The school’s state-of-the-art downtown arena brings in quite a deal of revenue, which presumably counts towards the basketball numbers. It’s still really interesting stuff.
2. Duke Basketball Report: Ken Pomeroy (and many others) have pointed to Duke’s apparent struggles on the glass as a potential Achilles heel this season. Duke Basketball Report went back into the archives and checked on the rebounding figures from Coach K’s tenure in Durham. The reality is that neither one is wrong. Duke‘s rebounding is at its weakest point this year, but does that mean it will come back to haunt the Blue Devils? Probably at some point. But also remember that Krzyzewski has had great success without great rebounding teams and Marshall Plumlee should help augment the Blue Devils’ board-crashing upon his return.
3. College Hoops Daily: How did Wake Forest go from being a regular contender in the ACC to a perennial conference doormat? Well, Skip Prosser died; Dino Gaudio signed a team full of players with off-court issues and didn’t win enough to merit the exceptions; and athletic director Ron Wellman hired his friend Jeff Bzdelik. Bzdelik hasn’t improved in his three years leading the team and isn’t likable enough to mask his less than stellar results with charm. This season’s freshman class is really his first real step forward, but the product on the court looks largely the same. Bzdelik may be a great basketball coach, but he’s got to start showing progress right now if he wants to stick around much longer (see: Mark Turgeon).
4. Washington Post: Speaking of Turgeon, he’s trying some new ways to avoid turnovers. Now, whenever a Maryland player commits a turnover in practice, he performs five push-ups. One interesting thing about the Terrapins’ turnover problem is that it’s not just one player responsible for all the miscues. Eight — yes, you read that right — Maryland players are averaging at least 1.5 turnovers a game. Do the math, and it’s not hard to see why the Terps are last in the conference in turnover margin.
5. Hartford Courant: Connecticut never really stood a chance in conference realignment. At least not against Louisville. Despite the two schools’ recent head-to-head results, the Cardinals are obviously a football program headed in the right direction. It’s harder to say that is true with Connecticut. Attendance is struggling and strong academics can’t make up for lukewarm fan support. Less importantly, the Huskies don’t share a border with Indiana (Notre Dame, anyone?) or Ohio, a football talent hotbed.

Brian Otskey is an RTC correspondent. He filed these thoughts from NC State’s victory over Connecticut in game two of the Jimmy V Classic. Follow him on Twitter @botskey.

1. NC State made the winning plays. Give Connecticut a lot of credit for its tenacity and scrappy style of play but NC State made the plays you need to make down the stretch in order to win big games. Whether it was huge offensive rebounds or Scott Wood’s pick-and-roll, the Wolfpack did what they had to do in order to come out on top. That’s a sign of a good basketball team and this is a win that should boost NC State’s confidence after a shaky start to the season.
2. Connecticut just didn’t shoot the ball well enough to win. The Huskies made a bunch of threes early in the first half but that proved to be fool’s gold, as hot three-point shooting out of the gate usually does. Connecticut wound up shooting only 40.3% for the game while NC State finished seven percentage points higher. Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier took the most shots for the Huskies as usual but they were not efficient (14-34 combined). This overreliance on two players is going to win Connecticut some games this season but also cost them, especially against top notch competition like NC State. The Huskies can be good but they need to share the ball more.
3. NC State’s rebounding helped it win this game. When you look at the rebounding numbers you see NC State was only +4 overall on the glass. However, a lot of the rebounds pulled down by the Wolfpack were on the offensive end and/or at key points in the game. Richard Howell in particular did a great job working for position on the offensive glass and earned his team a bunch of extra possessions. Connecticut had not been a good rebounding team coming into the game and, while it held its own, NC State took advantage of that at critical points in the game.

CJ Leslie’s Late Dunk Helped NC State Finish Off the Game (E. Hyman/RNO)

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Brendon Mulvihill is the head curator for @SportsGawker and an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

It’s Jimmy V. Week and the college football regular season has come to end. That means college hoops takes center stage at universities across the country and we couldn’t be happier. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

#16 Georgetown vs. Texas – 7:00 PM EST, Tuesday on ESPN (***)

Expect Otto Porter to Bounce Back Against Texas (AP/R. Sutton)

• The big question in the Georgetown-Texas game is where are the points going to come from on both sides. The Hoyas are coming off the ugliest game college basketball has seen in quite some time. While they beat Tennessee on Friday night by a score of 37-36, coach John Thompson III cannot be happy with how his team is performing on the offensive end. On the other side, the Longhorns are struggling to score as well. They are shooting an eFG% of 48.7% on the season against teams like UT-Arlington, Sam Houston State, and Chaminade (a game in which they lost). Expect this game to be a defensive slugfest. No one wants to see a disaster similar to Georgetown-Tennessee, but this game has that kind of feel. The Hoyas have the length advantage once again in this match-up and should be able to take advantage on the boards, and it’s unlikely that Georgetown forward Otto Porter will be held in check again. So keep a close eye on how he responds to his eight-point performance on 4-11 shooting against the Vols. While the Texas defense has been strong, their competition does not give us much to go on. The Longhorns will continue to struggle without point guard Myck Kabongo in the lineup regardless.

#21 North Carolina State vs. Connecticut – 9:00 PM EST, Tuesday on ESPN (***)

• Since UConn’s surprise win against Michigan State in the opener, the Huskies have come back to earth and played very mediocre basketball. A close win against Quinnipiac and a loss to New Mexico showed that Kevin Ollie’s team still has a lot of work to do. NC State is on the verge of a very disappointing non-conference season already with losses to Oklahoma State and Michigan, and a too-close-for-comfort game against UNC-Asheville. The good news for the Wolfpack is that their offense performed much better against Michigan, shooting almost 60% eFG in the loss. Look to see if they can put together a complete game for the first time this season against a quality opponent. The guard match-ups between UConn’s Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright and NC State’s Rodney Purvis and Lorenzo Brown should be fun to watch. However, the difference in this one should be the Wolfpack’s frontcourt of C.J. Leslie and T.J. Warren. NC State just has more scoring options across the lineup than the Huskies.

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1. The SEC/Big East Challenge got off to a competitive start last night with the conferences splitting four matchups and each conference scoring a decisive and impressive victory. St. John’s and Notre Dame each scored easy victories for the Big East while Marquette was blown out by Florida and Seton Hall lost a competitive tilt with LSU. The game of the evening was Notre Dame’s thorough dismantling of No. 8 Kentucky, 64-50. It was billed as a battle between youth and experience, athleticism and discipline, and after the Wildcats got off to a quick start, it quickly became apparent which traits would prevail. The young Wildcats struggled to find a rhythm in their first true road test and really look nothing like last season’s juggernaut, at least in the early part of the season. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish rebounded from a slow start and finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field and 53 percent from behind the arc. The low point for the Fighting Irish may have been when their fans RTC’d as the final buzzer sounded. The Fighting Irish are an experienced and talented team, so beating a bunch of freshmen still figuring out how to play together doesn’t count as a true upset, especially when they won so handily. Even guard Jerian Grant lamented the post-game celebrations telling reporters that the team expected to win the game. The fans should have expected that too.
2. On the flip side, after Notre Dame handled Kentucky easily, Marquette had a chance to really put the Big East in the driver’s seat as they squared off against No. 7 Florida, and unfortunately, they ended up falling flat on their face. Coach Buzz Williams, ever the candid quote, called the 82-49 drubbing the worst loss of his career and said his team was “really bad in every way.” Williams knows his team better than anyone else, but some credit should go to the Gators, who look like one of the best teams in the country in the early part of the season. Yes, the Golden Eagles, with the exception of junior guard Vander Blue (20 points and four rebounds), were dreadful on both ends of the floor. But Billy Donovan’s club has experienced talent and depth up-and-down the roster, and Marquette is still trying to adjust to life without stars Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom. It is clear Marquette is not as good as it was last year, and I think if the two teams played again in February the Gators would still win, but I would also bet that if that were to happen, we would see a different MU team than the uninspired club we saw last night.
3. The other statement win for the conference came when the Red Storm stomped coach Frank Martin and South Carolina, 89-65 in New York. The Gamecocks’ lackluster defense allowed D’Angelo Harrison (26 points on 8-of-13 shooting) and his teammates to shoot nearly 57 percent from the floor for the game as the Johnnies controlled the game from the opening tip and overwhelmed the undermanned South Carolina squad. Steve Lavin‘s club is making noise like it could be a really good team as the season progresses, especially if Jakarr Sampson continues to blossom into a star and talented forward Orlando Sanchez gains his eligibility. The team’s two losses (to Murray State and Baylor) are respectable ones, especially for a team full of underclassmen just starting to play together, and the talent and upside of the roster is tremendous. They are deep and athletic across the board, even more so if Sanchez comes back, and they will only get better as the season goes on. Maybe the Lavin rebuilding project is further along than some think.
4. The national contender that no one is talking about amidst this conference realignment hullabaloo is Georgetown. It makes sense since the Hoyas fields an FCS football program, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that while the Big East is crumbling, one of the most storied programs in all of college basketball remains. Coach John Thompson III didn’t seem too worried when he was asked about the changes, saying that change was inevitable in this day and age and that he didn’t want to get too caught up especially with Tennessee coming to town tonight. He also deflected questions about whether Georgetown would consider breaking off from the conference with other basketball-first programs like Marquette and Villanova to form their own conference built around basketball supremacy. It’s perfectly fine for Thompson III to focus on basketball since he will have very little influence on the direction the school takes, but school administrators and decision-makers should be very concerned about what the next step for their program is. They have a compelling product on the basketball court and multiple excellent athletic programs — albeit ones that don’t make as much money — and riding out the storm in a show of loyalty to the Big East sounds nice and all, but it could leave Georgetown in an unenviable situation should other programs like Connecticut and Cincinnati defect as they so desperately want to.
5. DePaul appears to be on its way to another NCAA Tournament-less season, something that has become all too common in the last two decades for the Blue Demons, and to make matters worse, they still play in an outdated Allstate Arena that apparently is a real hassle for students and city-dwelling fans to get to. This piece is an excellent look at not only DePaul’s options when it comes to switching arenas when the lease with the Allstate Arena runs out after 2015, but also whether that will make any difference in the program’s long road back to respectability. One option being championed by the likes of Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is a rent-free stay at the United Center, which seems nice until you start imagining what the United Center would look like for an early season thriller between DePaul and Austin Peay. The other, more tantalizing option is a new arena closer to campus that has the backing of none other than city mayor Rahm Emmanuel. The idea is the definition of preliminary and as the article pointed out, the new arena doesn’t solve the on-court woes, but it opens the door for improvement in student and fan turnout at the very least.

1. Miami Herald: Though the ACC/Big Ten challenge ended in a 6-6 stalemate, the Miami Hurricanes got the emotional highlight by upsetting the ranked Michigan State Spartans, causing a good ol’ fashioned court rush in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes have been on the verge of a big-time breakthrough in college basketball for years now and a nice win in November over a name-brand team at home is just the start that this team needed. After shaky losses to St. Leo’s in an exhibition and then to Florida Gulf Coast, it seemed like Miami was headed for another year as a firmly ensconced member of the ACC’s basketball middle class. This win is a warning shot to the rest of the ACC: Miami is ready.
2. ESPN: As expected, the ACC has voted to add Louisville as a new member to replace departing Maryland. Louisville, when added, will have the highest budgeted athletic department in the ACC and a recent history of success across a wide range of sports. After this vote, it looks like the ACC is willing to stand pat, nominally content with 14 teams and the on-paper upgrade of swapping Maryland for UofL. Louisville’s mascot, notably, is a cardinal that has teeth that are frightening and increasingly nightmarish the more you think about it.
3. CBS Sports: Of course, the apparent loser in the addition of Louisville is Connecticut, which has been eagerly anticipating a coveted invitation to the conference. Although the Huskies’ membership was apparently supported by Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Virginia, the importance of football and the harsh realities of the realignment landscape won out. Matt Norlander postulates that Louisville was targeted for right now because it is a school that had plenty of suitors in some of the other major conferences while Connecticut likely has little appeal to the same folks aside from the ACC. Connecticut’s geographic location as well as limited football relevance isn’t likely to draw the interest of the SEC or Big 12, while the Big Ten appears to have bigger fish to fry. The sad truth is that it seems highly likely that the ACC voted to add Louisville and not Connecticut because the conference feels confident that they are the only horse in the race to poach UConn.
4. Post and Courier: Milton Jennings did not play for Clemson in the Tigers’ Wednesday night tilt against Purdue. The mercurial senior was arrested early Wednesday morning for possession of marijuana and was subsequently suspended by head coach Brad Brownell.  This is not Jennings’ first time in the doghouse, having been suspended on at least two other occasions for clashing with the coach and academic issues, respectively. Jennings has been the leading scorer for this Clemson team and was expected to be the focal point of the Tigers’ offense.
5. Pack Pride: When North Carolina State takes the court against Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic next week, the team will be wearing some sharp new uniforms intended to honor the event’s namesake and the legendary Wolfpack coach. It’s a nice tribute to Jim Valvano and the uniforms are certainly distinctive and special.
   

   NC State will honor its former coach. (Photo Credit: Pack Pride)

1. ACC Sports: Expansion is upon us. A 7:00 AM conference call between all of the ACC presidents will determine which, if any, of the other potential schools under consideration will be invited to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. The smart thinking on this is that Lousiville has the inside track on joining the conference and the possibility of adding more than one school is very slim. This has got to be disappointing news for Connecticut, which has lobbied hard for inclusion in the ACC, and to a lesser extent Cincinnati, Navy, and South Florida, all of which have also made bids to join the league. It looks like football success may be the deciding factor, though both Connecticut and Cincinnati are pressing hard on the issue of academics where those schools have an advantage over Louisville.
2. ESPN: Maryland‘s exit from the ACC doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a clean break after all. The noise that Maryland president Wallace Loh has been making about not intending to pay the full $50 million exit fee has roused the collective ire of the conference that Maryland has scorned. The ACC has filed a lawsuit against Maryland seeking full payment of the agreed-upon exit fee. The suit is supported by all member schools (outside of Maryland) as well as the three incoming schools (Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame). In terms of a conference seeking full and complete restitution from a departing member, this is a big time move, at least on paper.
3. Wisconsin State Journal: The Bennetts loom large in Wisconsin basketball lore and the match-up between Tony Bennett‘s Virginia Cavaliers and his former mentor, Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers, is about as storied a coaching storyline as you can get in terms of Wisconsin basketball intrigue. Now, obviously the market for “Wisconsin basketball intrigue” is about as niche a topic of interest as possible, but for those who are interested, this is a big one. Tony Bennett was a basketball hero at Wisconsin-Green Bay and an assistant coach at Wisconsin under Bo Ryan, who succeeded Bennett’s own father, Dick Bennett, who coached Wisconsin from 1996-2000. The point is that for Virginia’s coach, tonight’s match-up against the Badgers is rather important.
4. Miami Sun-Sentinel: Miami sports fans don’t exactly have the best reputation for supporting their team and sadly that reputation extends to the students at the University of Miami whose attendance at basketball games can be described as spotty at best. Despite fielding a successful team for the past several years, Miami continues to trail the vast majority of the conference in average and annual attendance figures. With the ranked Michigan State Spartans coming to town as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge tonight, head coach Jim Larranaga is optimistic that the students and fans will show up for what could potentially be a pivotal turning point in Miami’s basketball history. Miami is good enough to give the Spartans a competitive game, and if they can do so in front of a raucous home crowd, the game could turn into a watershed moment for the Larranaga era in Coral Gables.
5. Blogger So Dear: Would someone please check on Bart Johnson? After Wake Forest took a tough loss to Nebraska, things aren’t looking great in Winston-Salem again these days and Demon Deacon fans are despondent. Faith in head coach Jeff Bzdelik has plummeted below already dangerously low levels and our favorite Wake Forest bloggers seem prepared to make a deep run through the entire The Cure discography. It’s pretty bleak.

BONUS: Maryland stomped Northwestern in last night’s game in Evanston, but the story was a little different when the two teams last faced off… in 1958. The Northwestern archives and the Washington Post are happy to point us to the footage of this long-ago meeting. It’s honestly pretty rad.

1. CBS Sports: In the wake of Maryland‘s defection to the Big Ten, the main focus of speculation is what the ACC’s counterstroke will be. According to those in the know, the vote to pick a replacement for the departing Terps could happen as early as this week. The two leading candidates for replacement are Louisville and Connecticut. Both schools offer a few distinct advantages over the other. Louisville’s reasonable success in football is a big draw when football is the raison d’etre of realignment, while UConn’s academic profile more closely aligns with the Atlantic Coast Conference. A successful football program is a powerful draw, but considering that membership is decided by a vote of university presidents, the importance of academics as a deciding factor should not be overlooked.
2. NBC Sports: There are embarrassing losses and then there are embarrassing losses, and sadly, Boston College has not been a stranger to either variety in recent years. Sunday’s loss to Bryant University, a school enjoying its very first year as a full Division I member, falls into the latter category. BC is only 2-4 to start the season, although the Eagles have admittedly played a more challenging schedule than many of their conference peers. That said, a home loss to Bryant is a troubling sign.  Head Coach Tim O’Shea accidentally backhanded the Eagles with his postgame comments: “Five years ago, the biggest game on Bryant’s schedule was Bentley. Five years later, we’ve just beaten Boston College on the road. It’s a big deal.”
3. Testudo Times: A Maryland team that was decimated by defections found some extra depth in a recent win over Georgia Southern. The sterling play of freshman Charles Mitchell continued as he contributed a double-double off the bench with fellow freshman Shaquille Cleare adding a double-figure scoring effort. An additional double-figure scoring effort by transfer guard Logan Aronhalt — who went 4-4 from beyond the arc — demonstrated that the Terrapins have more firepower on the bench than expected. With Mark Turgeon happy to keep his starters on the bench while the reserves performed, it’s easy to wonder if the starting lineup may undergo some revisions over the course of the next few games.
4. Duke Basketball Report: The ACC / Big Ten Challenge kicks off Tuesday evening and this year, the event has a little extra spice. Between the still-open wound of Maryland leaving one conference for the other, the allure of a top-five showdown between Duke and Ohio State is appealing, as is a chance for a perplexing North Carolina team to take a shot at an increasingly vulnerable looking Indiana squad. After a 10-year run of victories, the ACC has lost the past three years. Say what you will about realignment, but it sure makes these interconference events feel a little more exciting.
5.  Basketball Prospectus: One more item on the topic of conference realignment: Why does it happen? Well, as Maryland so ably and honestly demonstrated: it’s the money. Using a clever analogy with pro sports, John Gasaway proposes a novel (or at least freshly recycled) idea on how to make conferences significantly more stable: revenue sharing across all of the major conferences. It’s an interesting thought, and one that merits some additional examination.

Brian Otskey is a regular contributor for RTC. Every Tuesday during the regular season he’ll be giving his 10 thoughts on the previous week’s action. You can find him on Twitter @botskey

1. As someone who doesn’t watch one minute of college football but loves college basketball to no end, conference realignment frustrates me to no end as you might imagine. It’s actually quite depressing and I hate talking/writing about it. However, it’s a relevant story and must be discussed because of the far-reaching impacts it will have on the sport I love. I realize this is all about “stability,” TV markets and football. It bothers me like nothing else but I accept it. I’m in the minority when it comes to this and the minority holds very little influence in our country. The consequences (both intended and unintended) of realignment for basketball are distressing. The Big East conference, the pre-eminent college basketball league for the last 25 to 30 years, is on life support. The conference I grew up watching, with the best conference tournament of them all, is all but gone. Yes, Connecticut and Louisville are still in the league, but make no mistake, they’ll bolt at the first opportunity they get as we saw this week with Rutgers going to the Big Ten. Once everything shakes out, I find it hard to believe any Big East football program will remain in the league. It simply makes no sense to do so at this point and they’re looking out for themselves in doing so. I don’t blame them. I blame the greedy conference leadership concerned about how many eyeballs the Big Ten Network can draw in New York and New Jersey, the schools who set this in motion (Syracuse and Pittsburgh), and the Big East as a whole for turning down a massive TV deal that could have given the conference a great deal of security. Once the football schools leave, the Big East will be down to seven Catholic basketball-only schools: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova. As an alumnus and fan of one of those seven schools, this pains me greatly. I could live with Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Notre Dame leaving the league. The real punch to the gut was Syracuse, a Big East founding member, saying it could find long-term stability in the ACC. The final, fatal blow will be Connecticut and/or Louisville bolting, likely in short order. The basketball-only schools have no leverage and must wait and see as everything crashes around them. Hopefully they get together, keep the Big East name and pick up a few other schools like Butler, St. Joe’s and Xavier. That wouldn’t be a bad league and it would get back to the roots of the Big East, basketball and basketball only.
   

   The Big East Needs to Find Its Roots in Basketball

2. How does realignment affect other schools and conferences?  For one, the bottom teams in the ACC may stay there for a very long time. With Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame coming in (and possibly Connecticut/Louisville), how will schools like Wake Forest and Boston College compete? There will be a good five or six programs ahead of them each and every year, plus they have to battle it out with the likes of Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech just to make it into the middle of the pack. It’s a vicious cycle that will keep programs like these as the bottom of their respective conference for many years to come. They always said it was tough to climb up the Big East ladder but now the ACC is effectively the Big East (six of the ACC’s 14 future members, not including Maryland, will be former Big East schools). It’s going to be extraordinarily tough for schools like Boston College to compete in the revamped ACC. Only the strong shall survive in conference realignment, it seems. As for the Big Ten, the impact isn’t as significant. Penn State, Nebraska and Northwestern will always be among the worst programs in the league but the climb to respectability isn’t as difficult. Look at Northwestern. The Wildcats have never made the NCAA Tournament despite knocking on the door in the last few seasons, showing how it isn’t impossible to climb the conference ladder. Now though, the addition of a similarly starved program at Rutgers and a strong program at Maryland makes it more difficult for Northwestern to make a move. It’s uncertain what Rutgers is getting itself into. The Scarlet Knights haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in 22 seasons but have shown signs of progress under Mike Rice. You have to think it can go either way for Rutgers. The new recruiting avenues can help but the school is already situated in the middle of the talent-rich New York City area. That said, road trips to Wisconsin and Michigan State aren’t as simple as heading over to St. John’s or up to Providence. I’d lean towards Rutgers struggling in the Big Ten. Read the rest of this entry »