Quote:
Originally Posted by Swaggs
I'd hate for the Big East to lose any team, but if it is one of Rutgers, Pitt, or Syracuse -- I would rather it be Rutgers. As mentioned, I think the NYC market angle is overblown (otherwise, the Big East would have a television contract more in line w/ the other BCS conferences) and Rutgers athletics, overall, are not quite as good as those of Pitt or Syracuse, in my opinion. It would suck to lose the New Jersey market and a longtime rival.
Hopefully, the Big Ten votes to not expand or makes the entrance (combined w/ the exit fee from the Big East) so unattractive that a Big East school will consider sticking around, but I'm guessinng that won't happen b/c if a team like Rutgers passes it up, Pitt or Syracuse may accept.
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I feel like this is the best possible move for the Big East, if a team is going to leave. Rutgers isn't the weak link, but they're not so integral to the league's success that anyone will perceive them going as a net loss for the league in the long-term.
I mean, anyone they get to replace RU as an all sport member (Memphis? UCF?) will probably invest more, have lower academic standards and be generally more committed to succeeding in one of the two major revenue sports if not both and so...I just feel like it's not going to hurt the league in the grand scheme, whereas if Syracuse left or Pitt or a program like that, it'd be a much bigger problem for the league.
My hope is that it would convince them to get that alignment fixed and set the league up into 12 football schools, but even if they don't...I just feel like it's a net positive for Rutgers as an athletic program and a neutral move for the league and long-term, might end up being positive even. I'd love to see them convince UMass to move up. It won't happen, but...at least it'd be a school within the region since Villanova won't move up in football and Delaware won't consider it either.