Still Big but No Longer East, League May Sell Its Name

[rebeljim]

The Big East Conference that will emerge from a punishing course of realignment will soon have a new name.

It certainly needs one. The made-over Big East will reflect little of its Eastern roots, its history or its rivalries.

Realignment has so thoroughly upset the conference that, by 2014, only one of its founding colleges, Connecticut, will be left — unless it relocates by then.

The conference is negotiating to sell its 34-year-old name to the seven defecting Catholic universities — St. John’s, Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul, Georgetown, Villanova and Providence — that are creating their own basketball conference.

The cost of the name will be based, in large part, on how valuable Big East history is, and how badly the Catholic colleges crave it.

An established name for a new, basketball-based conference would be a valuable asset. “The reason there’s even a discussion at all points to the fact that there’s equity in the name,” said Phil McIntyre, chief executive of the Brand Gallery, which develops branding and promotional strategies. “And the Big East is entitled to money for its name: it was arguably one of the big power conferences.”

The price to be paid by the Catholic colleges will most likely be based on how much money they leave behind in pools of revenue that include exit fees from departing universities, entry fees from new members and cash earned for games played in the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament. From 2006 to 2011, the conference amassed $17.7 million from those units, according to the N.C.A.A., which would not say how much of that money was earned by the seven departing universities.

A deal on the name could be announced in a few weeks.

And then a new task will begin for the Big East: finding a name that embraces the geographic hodgepodge that the conference has become in its scramble to maintain its viability, if not its former stature. Mike Aresco, the Big East commissioner, has a challenge not faced by his brethren in other conferences that have undergone some changes. He declined to comment.

The Big Ten kept its name as it grew to 12 universities. The Pacific-10 became the Pacific-12 without worrying that Colorado and Utah were even farther from the ocean than Arizona State. The Big 12 shrank to 10 universities, but that did not prompt a name change.

For a Big East by another name, questions abound. Will “Big” remain part of it? With multiple regions in a remade conference that do not add up to national scope, what, if anything, about the universities will the name try to convey?

And, of course, something as amorphous as Conference USA is already taken.

“The geographic element has been turned on its head,” McIntyre said. “You don’t want to be overly committed to the intrinsic DNA of the schools remaining and those who would potentially join because they change. You don’t want to limit the evergreen nature that every brand builder wants to build into this exercise. You want the name to be impenetrable to change.”

The corporate world has witnessed the type of name-changing that the Big East will face. Datsun became Nissan. Esso morphed into Exxon. Andersen Consulting turned into Accenture. The World Wrestling Federation turned into World Wrestling Entertainment.

And the N.B.A.’s New Orleans Hornets will soon be rechristened the Pelicans.

Once upon a time, the Big East made perfect sense when the athletic directors of Providence, St. John’s, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Boston College and Connecticut gathered in 1979 to form the conference.

“One of the great misnomers about the name of the Big East, which has been written through the years, is that Dave and I hired a P.R. agency and it came up with the name,” said Mike Tranghese, a former Big East commissioner, referring to Dave Gavitt, the conference’s first commissioner. That September, he said, “we met with the track coaches who recommended the Big East name.”

He added: “I like the name. It’s recognizable to fans and it’s a marketing tool. But the name means more to the basketball group because of the history of the league. I think the Catholic schools could use it.”

The decision by the Catholic seven to bolt, this year or next, was a big addition to the news of other universities relocating: Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville chose to join the Atlantic Coast Conference (where Notre Dame is also headed for all sports except football); Rutgers opted go to the Big Ten; and West Virginia has joined the Big 12. Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech left for the A.C.C. a decade ago.

Meanwhile, there are myriad regional flavors in the universities that will join the conference: Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, Southern Methodist, Tulane, East Carolina (football only, for now) and Navy (football only).

They will join the universities that remain: Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple and South Florida. A 12th member is expected to be added.

Those colleges will almost certainly play for a conference that is not called the Big East.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/sport ... .html?_r=2&

[digger]

poor Memphis. After years of trying to get into a "major" conference, they finally managed to get an invite into the Big East. Now the Big East seems destined to become Conference USA, Version II.

[rebeljim]

poor Memphis. After years of trying to get into a "major" conference, they finally managed to get an invite into the Big East. Now the Big East seems destined to become Conference USA, Version II.

I've been loving every minute of it. They are all moaning and groaning about all this. They deserve everything they get.

[Titles 'R Us]

poor Memphis. After years of trying to get into a "major" conference, they finally managed to get an invite into the Big East. Now the Big East seems destined to become Conference USA, Version II.

I've been loving every minute of it. They are all moaning and groaning about all this. They deserve everything they get.

No sympathy here, either. This is The Big Leftover League, which is what Conference-USA still is. Now there are two leftover leagues. This new one is a nightmare from a travel expenses standpoint, not that C-USA is a bargain, either. I mean, there will never be natural rivalries between Houston, SMU, Tulane, etc. and UConn. How many fans of those schools will travel across the country every year to see away games?

Memphis State Commuter College will remain in its nowhere state. They'll continue to dominate a weak basketball league and struggle to come close to decent crowds in the Liberty Bowl. They are what they are.

Hey, I just thought of a great name for the new conference: The Lipstick On A Pig League.

[Rebchuck18]

Memphis State Commuter College will remain in its nowhere state. They'll continue to dominate a weak basketball league and struggle to come close to decent crowds in the Liberty Bowl. They are what they are.

Hey, I just thought of a great name for the new conference: The Lipstick On A Pig League.

But their benefactors to the South will nonetheless try and prop them up by giving them a home and away series with an SEC School!

[Titles 'R Us]

Greatest irony in all of college football: Memphis State fans hate our guts, but the few moments they've had on the gridiron (and they are pitifully few!) are due to Vaught and Spook Murphy being such good friends way back when, and Vaught agreeing to play them all the time--quite often in Memphis. Then Vaught created another monster when he agreed to play Southern in the mid-60's when Tulane left the SEC. I agree. Propping up bush league programs didn't help us at all--but those programs built their season ticket sales around us.

However, I think the time is fast approaching when Southern and Memphis State will fall so far behind in the AQ scheme of things that they will have to consider other options, such as dropping down a division, at least in football.

[GtownRebel]

Greatest irony in all of college football: Memphis State fans hate our guts, but the few moments they've had on the gridiron (and they are pitifully few!) are due to Vaught and Spook Murphy being such good friends way back when, and Vaught agreeing to play them all the time--quite often in Memphis. Then Vaught created another monster when he agreed to play Southern in the mid-60's when Tulane left the SEC. I agree. Propping up bush league programs didn't help us at all--but those programs built their season ticket sales around us.

However, I think the time is fast approaching when Southern and Memphis State will fall so far behind in the AQ scheme of things that they will have to consider other options, such as dropping down a division, at least in football.

Correct

[bbqit]

i prefer to look at it as memphis is who put the killing shot into the big east. they get there and it dies.

[BobReb]

i prefer to look at it as memphis is who put the killing shot into the big east. they get there and it dies.

That thought occured to me as well. Another thought in the same context: upgrade the city (leadership) and you upgrade the university.

[GtownRebel]

Upgrade the city of Memphis? There isn't enough money in the deficit to do that. Too many crooks running things and even if they were able to do it, it would still look bad.

[BobReb]

yup.