Scott Cordischi On Sports: Jim Boeheim On The Mark
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
What do we make of this game of college musical chairs?
Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim said it best at a speaking engagement in Alabama. “We’re going to end up with mega-conferences and 10 years from now either I’m going to be dead wrong – and I’ll be the first to admit it – or everybody is going to be like, why did we do this again?”
What’s happening right now in college sports may make cents but it doesn’t make sense.
This is all about football and money and nothing else.
Does it benefit Syracuse or Pittsburgh basketball to be playing in the ACC as opposed to the Big East? Absolutely not. But these moves were never about basketball or any of the other sports besides football.
Clearly the moves make no sense geographically. Syracuse, Boston College and Pitt in the ACC? Texas and Oklahoma in the Pac 12? Please.
There are rumors that the leftovers from the Big East and the Big 12 will get together to form a conference. Will that benefit the basketball-only schools like Providence College? Not really.
Most of the damage has already been done to the Big East but it’s not over yet. You can expect UConn to likely join the ACC with Rutgers, Notre Dame, Louisville or West Virginia possibly to follow.
Texas is a highly sought after school at the moment and rumor is that they may prefer the ACC over the Pac 12. Last time I checked, Austin, Texas wasn’t even close to the Atlantic or Pacific coast. Not that this matters.
Texas also may want to bring Texas Tech along with them if at all possible. Would the ACC or Pac 12 be willing to accept the Red Raiders as well?
Some have Texas and Oklahoma going to the Pac 12 which makes sense. Like Texas with Texas Tech, the Sooners would like to bring Oklahoma State with them as well. All four schools could go to the Pac 12 to give them the 16-team super conference Boeheim was talking about.
Word is that the ACC would love to have Texas and Notre Dame round out its 16-team mega-conference. However, the Irish would prefer to keep their football independence if at all possible. If that’s the case, then UConn appears to be the next strongest candidate for the ACC to pursue. They say that Rutgers could be next in line behind Connecticut because of their proximity to the New York market but West Virginia and Louisville represent much stronger athletic programs particularly in the sports of basketball and football combined.
There are so many possible scenarios that could unfold. Unfortunately, none of them seem to be in the best interest of the average fan which will have to travel halfway across the country to see their favorite team play a conference opponent.
-Big East commissioner John Marinatto is taking some heat for Pitt and Syracuse bolting to the ACC. In all fairness, these moves were inevitable regardless of what Marinatto did or didn’t do.
-Boeheim took a nice shot at the ACC by saying, “where would you want to go to a tournament for 5 days? Let’s see: Greensboro, North Carolina or New York City? Jeez. Let me think about that and get back to you.”
-John Lackey’s 6.49 ERA is the worst of any starter in Red Sox history who has pitched at least 150 innings.
-3,000 yards passing through 16 games is considered to be a very good season for an NFL quarterback. Tom Brady is almost a third of the way there having thrown for just under 1,000 yards in the first 2 games.
-I actually felt bad for Dolphins’ coach Tony Sporano this offseason when Miami was openly courting other coaches to replace him. Now, after losing the first 2 games of the season at home, Miami is 1-11 in its last 12 home games which may be reason enough for a coaching change.
-I think we now know how important Peyton Manning is to the Indianapolis Colts.
-It was a thrill to be able to take my 7-year old son to his first Red Sox game the other day. But, not being able to see the batter at home plate because a steel post was in our way made me think that it’s time for a new Fenway Park as opposed to continually refurbishing the old relic.
-80-year old broadcast Larry Merchant scored big points with me when he told Floyd Mayweather that he would “knock him on his ass if he were 50 years younger.”
-Dave Gavitt was a very good man. And he may have meant as much to sports in this state as anyone ever has.
-And Patriots fans were worried about Deion Branch after not having a single catch in the preseason. He now leads the team with 15 receptions through the first two games.
-I love fall for football but hate that it means that winter is just around the corner.
-I’ll be the first to admit that I never thought that Buffalo Bills’ QB Ryan Fitzpatrick would turn out to be as good of a pro as he has turned out to be when he was playing at Harvard.
-I guess Theo Epstein was wrong about Johnny Damon, wasn’t he?
-If the Red Sox are fortunate enough to make the playoffs, their rotation should be Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Alfredo Aceves. If they need a fourth starter, Erik Bedard would be the choice.
-The best part of Bill Belichick on the NFL Network’s “A Football Life” last Thursday was his expletive filled exchange with former Ravens WR Derrick Mason.
-Maybe the ACC and the Pac-12 should switch nicknames to really screw us all up.
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It