Tired of getting marginalized by the football-playing schools, Georgetown, St. John’s, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, DePaul and Villanova have finally lost patience and are questioning their commitment as the Big East scrambles for survival by adding Conference USA teams and other far-flung programs.
It’s been a long time coming, but we might have reached a tipping point with Louisville’s recent departure to the ACC (and Cincinnati and UConn openly pining for that spot and being passed over).
It wasn’t hard to see this coming. The question was always whether those seven Catholic schools could make more money by sticking with the Big East and getting its share of the TV football deal or negotiating its broadcast rights as a separate entity.
The figures are still unclear at this point, and there are issues as to whether those schools have the power to break away and not take a financial hit in lost NCAA tourney dollars and having to pay an exit fee. But it’s a development worth watching.
They would need a few more teams to launch a new league, and Dayton has been prominently mentioned as a possible partner along with Xavier, Butler and a few others. That would be a boon for UD, of course, with an enhanced schedule and greater exposure.
The stakes are high, though. Those seven schools could choose to pick Xavier and Butler and skip over the Flyers, luring away their Atlantic 10 rival and leaving the conference in a weakened state.
I’ve also read reports of those disgruntled schools joining the A-10 and making it a 21-team league next year, although that seems more remote.
The Flyers have much to offer any league: a strong fan base, an impressive arena, a great game-day experience and a commitment to basketball that stretches to 1950. Plus, they’ve had across-the-board success in athletics.
Unless the Big East can negotiate a lucrative TV deal for football (and all signs are pointing against that), it’s not hard to imagine the basketball schools forging their own path before an influx of new schools in July. What that might mean for Dayton remains to be seen.
Roberts update: Former UD star Brian Roberts is showing he has a future in the NBA with his play so far as a rookie with the New Orleans Hornets. Although the club is just 5-15 going into Wednesday's game with Oklahoma City, he's seventh on the team in scoring with a 7.7 average and is playing 16.4 minutes per game. He's shooting 44 percent from the field, 38.7 on 3-pointers and 88 percent from the foul line.
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