PC Fans Should Be Angry & Excited!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
You’re a Providence College fan and you’re upset. You’re upset because the Big East Conference as you once knew it is going to hell in a handbasket. You have every right to be upset, and you should be. But there is also reason to be optimistic.
Let’s start with your anger. You may want to direct some of it toward the NCAA. Why, you ask? Because it is the NCAA that created a rule stipulating that any conference wishing to hold a conference championship game in the sport of football must have at least 12 teams. This, in part, is what started this whole game of big time college musical chairs.
College football conference championship games generate substantial revenue for their member schools which are able to secure lucrative television deals because of them. This is why the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1991 adding both Arkansas and South Carolina. The league then created a two-division format with an Eastern and a Western Division. The following year in 1992, the SEC started holding a conference championship game in the sport of football.
This is also why the Big Ten, the Pac 12 and the ACC have expanded to 12 teams. They, too, will now be holding conference championship games in the sport of football which has allowed them to sign big TV deals.
Which leads us to the other reason for your anger – greed! Greed is at the root of all of these moves - greed on the part of all of the individual schools as well as the conferences themselves. Everyone is looking out for their own best interests.
Friar fans, you have a right to be angry with departing Big East members Pittsburgh and Syracuse, just as you were upset with Boston College a few years ago when they joined Miami and Virginia Tech in bolting for the ACC. But maybe this isn’t the worst thing for the school that you love.
Yes, losing Pitt and Syracuse hurts. As will losing UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia which is certainly sure to come at some point. It will most likely mean less money in the Big East coffers and, thus, less money for Providence College.
However, one of the harsh realities in recent years for PC has been the fact that it has become increasingly difficult for them to compete with the “Big Dogs” of the Big East. It is why the Friars have traditionally finished near the bottom of the league in men’s basketball for the past 5-10 years. This is an opportunity to change that.
When the dust settles and the smoke clears, who knows what the Big East Conference will look like. However, it is safe to say that it will lose most, if not all, of its football-playing schools who will try desperately to align themselves with these new “power conferences.” Those Big East football schools who can’t find a home in one of those “power conferences” will likely seek other cast-offs like Baylor , Texas Tech, Kansas, etc. to quite possibly form their own conference.
Which brings us to schools like Providence College. It almost seems inevitable that PC will have to align itself with the other non-football schools to create its own conference. If Bob Driscoll and the powers-to-be at PC are smart, they will be proactive in their pursuit of this new basketball-driven conference so as not to be left out in the cold once again.
In a perfect world, PC could join forces with St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette and DePaul to help create this new conference. St. John’s, Villanova and Georgetown will have the most clout because of the fact that they bring with them the major markets of New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. You could argue that DePaul has Chicago which gives them some clout but the Blue Demons have been an afterthought in that city for some time now.
None the less, these six schools should develop a game plan to put together a powerful 10-12 team basketball driven conference. Keeping Notre Dame would be nice and a distinct possibility because of the fact that the Irish love their football independence and all of the money that comes along with it. However, Notre Dame has to be looking seriously now at whether or not their time has come to drop that football independence and join forces with one of these new power conferences leaving them in flux.
Xavier and Dayton would appear to be obvious choices to join this new league because of their rich basketball tradition and recent success in that sport. Temple would be a nice addition as well but they play football as well so there may be a small degree of uncertainty regarding their interest.
Whatever this new “basketball-only” conference might look like, it is safe to say that Providence College would stand to be on a much more level playing field with its competitors than it currently is in the 16-team Big East Conference with schools like UConn, Syracuse and Louisville.
Yes, uncertain times are ahead for PC. But, if they play their cards right, they could end up in an even better situation than they are right now. And isn’t that what is most important?
Yes, the revenues they receive from the Big East may decline from what they currently bring in. But do you mean to tell me that a school like Xavier receives more from being in the A-10 than Providence would net from a new conference like the one proposed above? I don't think so.
More importantly, it would rid PC and any coach who comes here of the excuses as to why it is so difficult to compete in the Big East. They would now be in a conference with their peers and able to compete on a level playing field. Isn't this what it should be all about?
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