NEW YORK -- The Big East is a basketball-centric league and Rick Pitino says that’s a plus when it comes to college realignment. The Naismith Hall of Fame St. John’s coach says the lack of “strong” football teams in the Big East helps keep the league relatively safe from losing schools to the Big 12 and other Power-4 conferences.
“If you have a very strong football program you have the chance of being poached, like the Mountain West right now is going through it,” Pitino said in response to a question from NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “We don’t have strong football programs so..
.” Two weeks ago, the Big 12 announced a “pause” in conversations with UConn after the two sides had had discussions. The loss of UConn would have been a devastating blow after the school re-joined the Big East in 2020.
“We’re fining UConn for thinking of leaving, they’re getting a major fine,” joked Pitino, who has enjoyed a colorful but heated rivalry with UConn coach Dan Hurley since Pitino’s return to the Big East last season. The UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams are traditional powers -- the men have won back-to-back NCAA championships under Hurley -- while the football team is 10-18 over the last two-plus seasons. For now, UConn remains in the Big East, where it has natural geographic rivalries with schools like Providence, St.
John’s, Seton Hall and others. “I think it’s huge,” new St. John’s AD Ed Kull said in response to a question from NJ Advance Media.
“I know it’s scary to lose UConn, obviously what they represent for hoops. “But they still have football and they need a place to play football and it’s an expense to play football.” Want to bet on College Basketball? See the best NJ Sports Betting sites Kull credited Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark for his aggressive expansion plan that featured adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah as the league lost Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
“We know what’s going on in the Big 12,” Kull said. “Our friend Brett Yormark has been super aggressive in terms of doing things differently. What he’s done to save that conference is remarkable.
And it’s something I know the Big East is strategizing for, to make sure we find alternate revenue streams and try to get additional dollars to help the UConns and St. John’s of the world because that’s the race, right, the dollars of conferences, the dollars that are being generated per school and the members and I think that’s important so whether it’s this time or the next time, we need to continue to look forward to try to find more revenue streams.” The Big East in June announced a new media rights deal with FOX that also includes some coverage from NBC Sports and TNT Sports.
“Big East Basketball is among the most prestigious in all of college sports, and we’re proud to be able to feature the men’s and women’s teams across our NBCUniversal platforms,” said Rick Cordella, President of NBC Sports. “The Big East has a storied basketball history, and we look forward to showcasing these games as the conference creates more memorable moments.” Kull said there’s a natural “beauty” to the Big East being a basketball-centric league that helps keep it somewhat immune from realignment, but that fact also presents financial challenges.
“I think there’s a beauty to it and a purity to it as well not having football,” he said. “But how do we offset that difference? There’s a big gap between the football money and the basketball money so how do we continue to push forward on that?” RECOMMENDED • nj .com Big East drops 2024-25 hoops schedule: What are the Top 10 dates on the calendar? Sep.
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He added: “We need to be as aggressive as possible and protect schools like UConn and the purity of what the Big East is. We all know here in the Northeast what that conference means to us, and that’s really the motivation here at St. John’s too, we gotta make sure we’re moving things forward.
” Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @ AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.
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