Temple?

[Burrito]

I wouldn't touch Uconn or Cincinnati with a ten foot pole. But I would be very interested in getting Temple and Memphis. Very solid basketball schools located in the C7 footprint with zero chance of being invited into one of the 5 power conferences.

[pki1998]

Getting Temple would be great from a basketball perspective, however we know that tv dollars are all that matter. I like the add because it gives another top notch school. An added bonus is they have a large enrollment. One of my concerns with a Private school only league is the fan base will be smaller because of few students / alumni. It would be a good idea to gauge interest in some state schools. Obviously there are risk with Memphis and Temple getting a call to a BCS conference, but the reward far exceeds the risk. UMass has almost no chance at a BCS conference and should also be considered. VCU and George Mason should also be considered.

Cincinnati and UConn are tougher questions. If you want to build the strongest conference you should consider the best available teams. But both of these schools have a high probability of being poached by the ACC the next time the Big Ten SEC or Big 12 make a move. I also don't see Cincinnati moving their football team to the MAC. So the bearcats are probably a lost cause anyways. UConn on the other hand just might be willing to sacrifice football to remain in a great basketball conference.

[LabRatScott]

I also don't see Cincinnati moving their football team to the MAC. So the bearcats are probably a lost cause anyways. UConn on the other hand just might be willing to sacrifice football to remain in a great basketball conference.

I don't think so the way things are going. Only the football schools matters so giving up the bell cow would be potential suicide, even if it helped the basketball program.

[novajoe]

Nova will never agree to take Temple or St. Joe's(Pa)....

[pki1998]

Nova will never agree to take Temple or St. Joe's(Pa)....

Does Nova have the ability to unilaterally block a team? If you are forming a conference everyone needs to be treated as equals, if the Catholic Seven aren't willing to do what is best for the league, then I hope the A-10 schools, including my Xavier Musketeers, tell them to pound salt. Temple should definetly be considered! Of course we all know that media money is driving all the conference realignment, so the media powers may have concerns about having a duplicate school in Philly and if that is the case I am okay with Temple being excluded. However if its becuase Nova is afraid to be in the same conference as Temple, that speaks volumes about what type of conference mate Nova would be. My hope is that these types of sentiments are shared only by the fans and not the administrators of Villanova.

The real concern should be making the best basketball conference you can. I would argue that The New league could be superior to some of the BCS conferences. But if they only consider private schools for membership, its hard to say they will be better than the Big East. Say what you will about Tulane, but a league centered on Temple, UConn, Cincinnati, and Memphis, is going to be a good league, and will challenge the new Catholic 7 league for the title of best of the non BCS Leagues. Why not pouch one or more of their stronger members if you can.

Being an Xavier fan I would love to see St. Joe's come stay in the same league as X. I love games between Jesuit schools! With that being said considering the significantly smaller fan base of St. Joes, I don't think adding them as the second team from Philly would work from a financial persepctive. Hopefully X will keep them as an out of conference opponent.