For as long as anyone can remember, college sports has been the place where historic rivalries flourish and hatred runs deep between teams in the major Division-I conferences. In basketball this has been especially prevalent. While Duke v North Carolina will always be the end-all, be-all of college basketball rivalries, the Big East Conference has always been the benchmark for success throughout the sport. The Big East, created in 1979, has been the place where great programs like Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Villanova, and Syracuse have loved to hate each other. Come tournament time, the Big East has always put out among the highest amount of teams into the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. However, the landscape for college sports and the Big East has taken a dramatic change in the last few days.
Early Sunday morning, Syracuse and Pittsburgh both finalized deals to join the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) within the next 27 months. ‘Cuse and Pitt represent two of the most popular programs from the Big East since its inception, but that is not where the story ends. Recent news says that the ACC is also looking to add (potentially) Connecticut and Rutgers to form a 16-team “super conference”. Connecticut, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers represent 14 Big East titles in the last 31 years. Some of the most polarizing players, like Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony, came from these programs. This process of realignment is leaving other Big East teams like Louisville and Georgetown left in the wind. It is said also that West Virginia is likely to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC) after all is said and done.
Last year, millions watched as the Connecticut Huskies put together the most exciting title run in history, winning five games in five days to capture the Big East Championship while on their way to a National Championship victory over Butler. The Big East seemed to be more popular then ever before, and now a few months later the conference is on life support. The future is uncertain for the conference, with talks of combining with the Big-12 if they lose Texas and Oklahoma (among others) to the Pac-12. With all of this realignment cluttering news outlets everywhere, the question is simply, why?
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has been coaching in the Big East since 1976, Jim Calhoun with Connecticut and the Big East for a quarter of a century. These coaches have helped create the winning identity that the Big East carries today, so why would they want to leave a conference they helped build?
The simple answer, and the reason behind all of this, is money. Money is the same reason why Texas and Oklahoma are intrigued by the possibility of bolting from the Big-12 and play in the Pac-12. The football, basketball, etc. teams of these programs stand to make boatloads of money for their respected universities.
While history and rivalries have their perks, major D-I college programs would much rather maximize their monetary value than compete in conferences that don’t bring in as much money as another could. The thought of Calhoun and the Huskies matching up against Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils every year is enough incentive for UConn to make the move. The ratings, the money, thats all that matters in today’s sport.
While history and rivalries have their perks, major D-I college programs would much rather maximize their monetary value than compete in conferences that don’t bring in as much money as another could. The thought of Calhoun and the Huskies matching up against Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils every year is enough incentive for UConn to make the move. The ratings, the money, thats all that matters in today’s sport.
Gone are the days of a universities pride in their conference, pride in the rivalries they’ve established. We may never see another captivating championship run like UConn in the 2010-2011 Big East Tournament. The history will always be factored in by programs when considering realignment, but when it all comes down to it, all college athletics see now are the dollar signs. Just ask TCU, do you think they wanted to join the Big East because of its rich football history? Wonder how they feel about all of that now.
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