B1G/NCAA basketball

[Dr. Strangelove]

Dickie V somewhat surprised Duke wasn't a #1 seed. SHOCKING

[entropy]

he'd be the only one... he's turning into the Beano Cook of CB

[Dr. Strangelove]

Earlier today he was lobbying heavily for Kentucky to get in. There's only three teams he would do that for: UK, UNC, Duke.

Thank the committee for sending Coach Cal to the NIT

[lineygoblue]

Now maybe they'll send Dickie Vee to the NIT

[THE_WIZARD_]

NIT is awesome baby!

[entropy]

Steven M. Sipple: Bluejays make move that is both right and risky
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FRANCIS GARDLER/Lincoln Journal Star file photo

Creighton's Doug McDermott (3) tries to drive past Nebraska's Brandon Ubel in the second half of their December game at the Devaney Sports Center. The Bluejays appear to be headed to the revamped Big East.

9 hours ago • By STEVEN M. SIPPLE/Lincoln Journal Star(3) Comments
Creighton clearly made the correct move by accepting an invitation to the newfangled Big East.

It's a step up in class that CU essentially had to take.

It enhances the university's profile. It enhances Omaha's profile. It enhances the profile of the annual Creighton-Nebraska hoops shindig. Big East vs. Big Ten. It's not exactly Georgetown vs. Indiana. But you get the picture.

The move means a $3 million-per-year boost, at the least, to the Creighton athletic department thanks to an anticipated TV contract with FOX Sports 1, a national network set to debut Aug. 17.

St. Louis was a fun enough place for a conference tournament. Creighton fans flooded Scottrade Center for the Missouri Valley event. But it doesn't quite measure up to a Madison Square Garden party, even if some New Yorkers aren't familiar with your name.

Creighton, a 7,700-student Jesuit institution near the heart of downtown Omaha, starting in 2013-14 will compete with universities in metropolitan New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; and Cincinnati instead of outposts such as Wichita, Normal, Peoria, Evansville, Springfield, Carbondale and Des Moines.

The move should do wonders for Creighton's ability to find and recruit people who value a Jesuit education, and are willing to pay for it.

Make no mistake, Creighton had to make this move. It comes down to a chance to improve its lot in life. Balk at such rare opportunities and you appear, well, weak.

Yeah, it's a no-brainer. That doesn't mean it's without risk.

"Creighton basketball is over," a veteran Division I college men's coach told me Sunday.

That's going too far. But I understand the sentiment. Competition will be exceptionally rugged in the new Big East, which will consist of the so-called Catholic 7 (St. John's, Georgetown, Villanova, DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall and Providence) plus Xavier, Butler and Creighton.

Is the move good for Creighton men's basketball? Yes, potentially, for obvious reasons. In the immediate future, however, the Bluejays are going to absorb their share of bruises. They're going to have to change the type of player they recruit, pronto. They're going to need bigger and stronger athletes -- Big Ten-type bodies. Backboard breakers. At least a couple of them.

That won't happen overnight.

Creighton has enjoyed a nice season, earning a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays (27-7, 13-5 Missouri Valley) defeated Wisconsin, a No. 5 seed, early in the season. Late in the season, the Jays dropped three straight league games -- to Indiana State, Illinois State and Northern Iowa. CU pulled itself from the morass with wins against Evansville and Southern Illinois.

You don't have to be Jay Bilas to understand the Big East and Missouri Valley are worlds apart. The Big East schedule will be a physical, mental and emotional grind. If Creighton falls into a late-season swoon in the Big East, it won't have an easy game against Southern Illinois to fall back on.

Never mind what he says publicly, you wonder what Creighton coach Greg McDermott really thinks about the move. As it stands, he has arguably the best gig in the Missouri Valley. He will have perhaps the toughest gig among Big East coaches.

Creighton in 2011 reported its athletic budget at roughly $15 million. The Catholic 7 athletic budgets averaged nearly $28 million.

Still, if you're a Creighton fan, you applaud the move, but understand the risks.

If you're Tim Miles, you don't sweat it.

Creighton's impending rise in stature will have little-to-no impact on Nebraska's recruiting -- that is, unless the state of Nebraska begins producing big-time Division I talent (Akoy Agau) on a regular basis. In that case, the Huskers and Bluejays often would knock heads. The recruiting battles would become high-profile. That would be compelling theater.

The schools soon may bump into each other a bit more on the recruiting trail, but they already were recruiting many of the same players (Mike Gesell, Benny Parker, Corey Hilliard, Terran Petteway, to name a few), especially in the region.

Asked Sunday about the monumental Creighton news, Miles declined comment. He greatly respects CU, his comments in September notwithstanding.

During a Big Ten Network sideline interview at Memorial Stadium, Miles was asked about the challenges of recruiting at Nebraska.

"The good part about that," he said then, "is we're the only show in the state, we're the only show in the area."

Miles won't make that mistake again. Nobody will.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 402-473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.

[hack]

It's a real shame what's happened to the Big East. A good and legitimate basketball conference and a legendary G'town/Syracuse rivalry had to die because Jim Delaney may or may not have a workable plan. Sigh...

[Hannibal]

a ... legendary ... rivalry had to die

Get used to it. There's more where that came from.

[Jeff Buchanan]

.....at the alter of the mighty dollar.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's a real shame what's happened to the Big East. A good and legitimate basketball conference and a legendary G'town/Syracuse rivalry had to die because Jim Delaney may or may not have a workable plan. Sigh...

The Big East was a troubled conference the day it decided to sponsor major college football. And it was on life support after the ACC raided it in 2003.

But yeah. Jim Delaney = the debil

[WM Wolverine]

ACC is the one who added 6 Big East members in the past decade, not Delaney.

[entropy]

BE is going back to being a basketball conference.

[hack]

Those are good points, but the Big East was still the Big East in basketball as long as G'town and Syracuse were in it. JMO. You say Big East and I immediately think of those two playing each other.

[iam416]

The Big East was a troubled conference the day it decided to sponsor major college football.

The problem was that BC, Pitt and Syracuse wouldn't have lasted if they didn't. It was a game effort on their part. Miami, VT and WV were good additions, IMO. They just proved to be weaker than the ACC b/c they had too many hoops only schools.

I think the Big East maybe survives if they added FSU instead of the ACC. But, that probably a longshot.

In the end, they were doomed b/c there wasn't complete alighment of goals. Syracuse, Pitt and BC always had football programs to attend to. Villanova, Providence, Georgetown, St. John's and UConn (at the time) did not. It was great while it lasted, but there was an inevitably about the collapse.

[Hannibal]

The Big East would have survived if Penn State had joined them. We would probably still have six decent BCS conferences in that event.