AE: Expansionocalypse Theories?

Although many see the AE as being somewhat below the major tides of realignment that are sweeping through the FBS conferences, a couple recent stories have intrigued me in terms of mentioning how this conference could be impacted once the major dominoes begin to fall. The New York Times reported in the last couple of weeks that the CAA had reached out to several schools, including Charlotte, Richmond, GW and Boston University. I think at this point that it’s a no-brainer move for BU if they are invited. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cross-sport rivalries with UVM, Maine and UNH that come over from Hockey East, but BU will never become a mid-major basketball contender in the AE. It would be a waste after Coach Chambers’ hard work before leaving to go to Penn State if BU again turned down the CAA. And on a side note, I’d personally love a home-and-home in conference against Northeastern every year. Could be a great rivalry as it is on the hockey side. On the other hand Sporting Vermont has a somewhat melancholy article in response discussing Vermont’s lacking prospects for joining another conference despite being the AE’s best hoops program in recent years by some distance. Personally wherever BU goes I wouldn’t mind seeing UVM follow given how great that rivalry was during my time at the school the last 4 years but I suspect it will not happen once one of the schools moves on.

Another interesting (albeit speculative) article showed up on the UnrankedAE blog recently regarding how a football realignment could change the conference in all sports. Although the UNH football fan in me would not like to see them leave a very strong CAA football conference, the fact is that once URI and UMass leave for the NEC and the MAC respectively, Maine and the Wildcats are basically on an island alone as far as being near their conference mates. Delaware and Towson would become the team’s closest trips and travel budgets would expand. Forming a new AE football conference, if Albany and Stony Brook could be enticed would be tempting for the sake of saving travel costs. If the conference seemed to be a competitive improvement over the NEC (Albany and SBU both have also had success recently and Maine is perhaps the best team in the CAA this year), then other teams could be perhaps enticed to join. To get to a minimum of 6 all-sport members in order for the AE to sponsor football, the ideas from URAE that I liked the best personally were bringing in CCSU (fits profile of an NE state school) and Bryant or Fordham (having the NYC school intrigues me if they’d be willing to leave the A-10, which I’d doubt) Even Sacred Heart or Wagner would be intriguing filler options for all sports. URI might even be a possibility as a football-only school once the conference filled out its roster. Obviously this football part is all fun speculation at this point but very interesting to discuss nonetheless.

BC: DeFilippo Shows His True Colors and Donahue Signs 2012 PG

Well, I realize I am a little late to the party getting my two cents in on this, but obviously the big CBB story over the weekend was an article in the Boston Globe where BC AD Gene DeFilippo revealed that BC was (according to him) the influence which caused Pittsburgh to join Syracuse in the ACC rather than UConn. "We didn't want them in," DeFilippo stated, "It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team."

In the interest of full disclosure I'll state that I am by nature prejudiced against BC for two reasons:

1. I grew up in Storrs, CT as a fervent UConn fan who hated BC before they left the Big East and even more after they left
2. I just graduated from BU, and was a big fan of the Terriers hockey team, major rivals to BC on the ice

These two reasons only serve to amplify my dislike for BC in this particular moment. I'll come out and say it that until now, I had absolutely no interest in UConn joining the ACC. The Big East (excepting the C-USA stowaways) has a much more Northeastern USA feel to it than the ACC does. UConn is joined by many local schools such as Providence, St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse and even Villanova. UConn even has great history with further afield schools like Pittsburgh, WVU, Notre Dame and Georgetown. If I had my way, the Big East would still be the pre-2005 schools minus Miami and Va. Tech. Maybe with UMass now that they're a 1A school and Temple (The Big East in my mind is best centered around NYC, Philly and Boston).

But if the Big East is going to mean playing East Carolina, Air Force, Houston, SMU and Central Florida, among perhaps other geographically disparate schools, I no longer want UConn to be a part of it and if joining the ACC is necessary to continued relevance then so be it. UConn, BC, Pitt, 'Cuse, Maryland, UVa. and VTech in an ACC North would definitely be an idea I could get behind (if divisions were adopted in basketball) but I would miss playing the basketball only schools from the BE. It is a jaded basketball fan in me that accepts UConn leaving behind the Big East for the ACC, but in these desperate times I further hate BC for their AD's inferiority complex (no championships in hoops or BCS bids) putting the Huskies' future in jeopardy.

On a lighter note, Steve Donahue got BC's first 2012 commit by signing PG Joe Rahon from Torrey Pines, CA. He is the fifth signing from what is turning out to be an unexpected pipeline state for the Eagles' second year coach. Rahon selected BC over several Power 6 schools on the west coast (USC, WSU) and mid-major powers such as SDSU and St. Mary's. He should eventually develop into a solid drive-and-kick point guard with the right size to play either guard position.

Schedules and Freshmen: Patriot League

Holy Cross: Schedule

Big Games: 11/15 vs. Harvard, 11/18 vs. BC, 1/7 vs, Lehigh, 2/18 vs. Bucknell

If the Crusaders can put up a good fight against the Crimson and the Eagles, it'll certainly indicate that they are prepared to put up a fight in the Patriot League. Harvard will be an almost-certain NCAA team and BC will be rebuilding but is still the state's highest-profile program, so these will be the team's most legitimate chances at getting attention. If they also can pick up surprise wins at home against conference favorites Lehigh and Bucknell, the Crusaders may be in the mix for a bid at the end of the year, but that's probably unlikely.

Freshmen: PG Justin Burrell comes from Virginia with shooting and passing abilities but will need to overcome a lack of size. SF Malcolm Miller is somewhat less heralded, but his athleticism could make him effective on the perimeter if he can develop an outside game. PF Taylor Abt could be a sizable presence on the inside once he develops into a college-level player.