Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

The addition of Butler, a private but nonreligious school, helped cool off any dreams of a faith-based league. Should the league expand further -- an option not currently on the table -- Holtschneider said the league wouldn't limit the search to Catholic schools exclusively, such as the much-rumored Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton in Ohio.

For now, the new Big East has turned its attention to more pressing tasks. The league bylaws could be completed by the end of the week, then attention can turn toward getting a commissioner in place by the summer. Add to that hiring a conference staff, locating its headquarters, and finalizing schedules and officiating.

Dew wrote:I am glad the focus is on all the millions of things they need to decide very quickly rather than spending precious time and energy on future additions. I think most of us feel the day will come for that but right now there are more pressing issues to address.

BillikensWin wrote:The Big East has a lot to do.

EXPANSION IS NOT HAPPENING PEOPLE.

Does it need to be any clearer than that?

BillEsq wrote:

BillikensWin wrote:The Big East has a lot to do.

EXPANSION IS NOT HAPPENING PEOPLE.

Does it need to be any clearer than that?

Consider this a warning SLAP--- the sky is not falling....

Put it this way expansion one way or another is one of the many things the BE has to do. If the BE is seriously planning on expanding at any point in the near future it will need to prepare for that as it sets up the league. Second even if the league stays at 10 teams it will need to expand by admitting in associate members to fill out all of its sports. Regardless of whether or not Slu gets in the BE has to address this in some way or another by the early summer so the fall sports teams can get their schedules ready.

marquette wrote:We have a decent league at this point. We can run for next season without too many hiccups. Fact is that adding other schools eventually will likely be a necessity. We have too many non-rev sports that are within a team or two of being a legit conference. That being said, of course they need to put the league together before adding more members. It's the smart thing to do. More teams are probably coming, just not right now.

As for future possible members, Williams couldn’t definitively say whether the Big East would expand past ten members in the near future.

“We want to make sure we have the correct size. It’s impossible to put a timeline on it but we will take a close look at it,” Williams said. “It will be a data driven decision and I would expect that the deliberations on that will be ongoing as a matter of business in this world of conference realignment. I think we’ll be looking at that for some time, what the right size is.”