Conference Realignment - May 1

[uniftw]

I'd be surprised if someone gave the Big East a big TV deal. It's all about Football and Big East football is crap. Louisville is their best football team this year.........nuff said.

ESPN is the one working on the deal right now, with exclusive negotiating rights for the next 50 days or so...NBC Sports Group has said they have interest as well.

[TheAsianSensation]

The Big 10 doesn't take emerging academic institutions. They take institutions that are already there.

Louisville can easily elevate in a couple decades to a bonafide Big 10 institution, but they're not now, and that's all that matters.

In any event, Delany and friends are boxed in. If Louisville is 13, who's 14? In any event, Delany got completely outplayed in this realignment drama. Completely outplayed.

[DoubleJayAlum]

If Louisville is going anywhere, it is the Big 12, not the Big 10.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Louisville belongs in the Big Ten about as much as Murray State does. Sheesh. Academically it is just not a fit and I am being charitable in the words I use. They aren't AAU which every Big Ten member is save Nebraska. Checkmate. End of discussion.

In terms of their athletes, in football and baseball in particular they recruit the heck out of Miami. They get their share of miscreants, undesirables, and academic castoffs that others won't take a chance on. They push the envelope on the term "student-athlete" in ways that would make Mark Emmert blush. Remember our AD came from there and has not found our culture to be as conducive in replicating that. And thankfully so I might add.

I don't claim to know the Big East payout in the new television deal but they are letting Houston, SMU, and Central Florida in their conference. Willingly too, not by some court order. If that can get them a better TV deal then the Big XII then that just says that Bowlsby is not doing his job.

You're a moron if you honestly believe any of that....


The new AD at Louisville is 1000times better than their last one. Take a drive over to campus some day and look at what they have going...step on campus and actually research what their academics are doing these days.

I believe all of it wholeheartily. But I will take you up on driving around their campus the next time I am in Kentucky. I absolutely reserve the right to change my opinion if there is evidence/data that suggests otherwise. I'm not sold at the moment however. I have long viewed that school as pretty much nouveau riche.

In the last decade they have gone to the CWS, been in a BCS bowl game, and been to a Final Four. That is impressive but I can't help but believe they have cut corners to get there particularly in football and baseball. In basketball I agree they have the pedigree.

My challenge to you uniftw is to look into the ascendancy of both their baseball and football programs. They have done it with some unsavory characters. Their football team was effectively the University of Miami when Petrino was there. Meanwhile, I will study their academics more thoroughly and see if I was wrong in my assertions.

[uniftw]

Louisville belongs in the Big Ten about as much as Murray State does. Sheesh. Academically it is just not a fit and I am being charitable in the words I use. They aren't AAU which every Big Ten member is save Nebraska. Checkmate. End of discussion.

In terms of their athletes, in football and baseball in particular they recruit the heck out of Miami. They get their share of miscreants, undesirables, and academic castoffs that others won't take a chance on. They push the envelope on the term "student-athlete" in ways that would make Mark Emmert blush. Remember our AD came from there and has not found our culture to be as conducive in replicating that. And thankfully so I might add.

I don't claim to know the Big East payout in the new television deal but they are letting Houston, SMU, and Central Florida in their conference. Willingly too, not by some court order. If that can get them a better TV deal then the Big XII then that just says that Bowlsby is not doing his job.

You're a moron if you honestly believe any of that....


The new AD at Louisville is 1000times better than their last one. Take a drive over to campus some day and look at what they have going...step on campus and actually research what their academics are doing these days.

I believe all of it wholeheartily. But I will take you up on driving around their campus the next time I am in Kentucky. I absolutely reserve the right to change my opinion if there is evidence/data that suggests otherwise. I'm not sold at the moment however. I have long viewed that school as pretty much nouveau riche.

In the last decade they have gone to the CWS, been in a BCS bowl game, and been to a Final Four. That is impressive but I can't help but believe they have cut corners to get there particularly in football and baseball. In basketball I agree they have the pedigree.

My challenge to you uniftw is to look into the ascendancy of both their baseball and football programs. They have done it with some unsavory characters. Their football team was effectively the University of Miami when Petrino was there. Meanwhile, I will study their academics more thoroughly and see if I was wrong in my assertions.

I posted their academics already, dummkopf. They don't rank that far behind any of the B10 schools in most areas. Are they Michigan or Northwestern when it comes to academics? No. Are they what you are making them out to be? Hell no. I'll post exactly what I posted earlier...yes it's from Wiki...but like I said I applied there (turned them down for UNI), my wife applied to get her masters there (turned down acceptance), I have family members with bachelors and masters from the U of L who are now fairy high ranking officials at Ford. What this says matches every piece of literature the U of L puts out...

Innovations at the U of L:
World's first self-contained artificial heart transplant 2001
World's first successful hand transplant 1999
Development of Pap Smear 1970
Development of Autotransfusion 1935
First Emergency Room 1911

The University of Louisville offers bachelor's degrees in 70 fields of study, masters' degrees in 78 fields of study, and doctorate degrees in 22 fields of study. The Center for Measuring University Performance at Arizona State University, in its 2009 annual report, ranks U of L in the top public research universities in the United States.The ranking is based on nine different measures: Total Research, Federal Research, Endowment Assets, Annual Giving, National Academy Members, Faculty Awards, Doctorates Granted, Postdoctoral Appointees, and SAT/ACT range.[11] The University ranks in the First Tier by U.S. News & World Report.[12] The school's admission standards are considered "more selective" by U.S. News & World Report.[13]

Academically, U of L boasts a College of Business that is ranked among the top 7 percent in the nation, a dental school ranked in the top 10 regularly according to board scores, a law school tied with two other colleges for the 97th ranking in the nation,a top 100 College of Education and Human Development, and nationally respected programs in engineering, social work, and music. The College of Business at the University of Louisville offers a distinctive Ph.D. program with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) has named the college its 2010 National Model PhD Entrepreneurship Program award winner. Its programs in Entrepreneurship are ranked among the best in the world, including a Top 20 ranking in 2006, 2007, and 2008 (#17) by U.S. News & World Report, a Top 10 ranking by Entrepreneur Magazine and the Princeton Review, and a Top 26 ranking from Fortune Small Business.[14] UofL is also the only U.S. college to offer a minor in African American theatre,[15] among only 21 schools in the U.S. to offer a graduate degree in Pan-African studies, and among the first five to require public service in its law school curriculum.

The Brandeis Medal is awarded by the law school's Louis D. Brandeis Society, and is given in tribute to Brandeis, a former U.S. Supreme Court justice from Louisville and the namesake of the university's law school.

As far as athletics goes - Papa Johns Cardinal stadium is one of the nicest stadiums around. It needs a new sound system (I can tell you that from earlier this year), but the newly finished video/scoreboards on the south side are fantastic, the new terrace on the south side is amazing, they just added over 15K seats to the stadium on the East side with plans to do the same on the west side relatively soon - brining capacity to over 70K. They are adding seating all the way around the outfield of their baseball stadium (nicest NCAA facility I've seen...I don't count venues also used by AAA teams and what not). The softball stadium is one of the nicest I've seen. The KFC Yum! Center seats over 22k (home for mens and womens basketball, as well as volleyball)

APR and GPA ratings have Louisville rated high as well.

http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062012aaa.html

Two University of Louisville athletic teams are among the nation's top 10 percent within their sport in the most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA.

U of L's men's indoor track and women's golf teams are among the top 10 percent in their respective sports in the latest APR, which measures academic eligibility, retention and graduation for student-athletes. Seven U of L sports had a perfect 1000 score for the 2010-11 year in the APR, including men's basketball, men's cross country, field hockey, women's golf, women's rowing, softball and women's tennis.

U of L's men's basketball program ranks among the nation's top 40 percent within its sport in the APR. The 3.13 grade point average for the men's basketball team from the 2012 spring semester was its sixth straight semester above or near a 3.0 GPA. Thirteen of 17 players earned a 3.0 or better GPA in the spring semester. The Cards had a record 3.16 combined GPA for the 2011 fall semester when 14 of 17 achieved a 3.0 or better GPA.

All of the 23 Cardinals sports teams -- including 10 men's and 13 women's sports -- are above 900 and none are subject to any penalties.

The football team is still lagging behind (thanks to scum bags who coached there like Petrino - who by way is hated by every U of L fan...most wish he would have been injured to a much greater extent in his accident earlier this year. He ruined U of L's football academics in the name of producing wins. That, however, is changing with Charlie Strong. The football team put a 948 APR up last year.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/18838582/u-of-l-football-up-uk-iu-programs-all-post-passing-apr-scores

When Charlie Strong arrived as head coach before the 2010 season, he compared the academic support system in place at Florida with what he found at U of L and made some immediate changes.

Among his first moves was to add at least three full-time academic support positions within the football program. Dawn Aulick, a learning specialist who worked with many athletes, had her office moved right into the Howard Schnellenberger football complex.

Then Strong went to work on the players themselves. More than one was surprised that when he met face-to-face with the coach and the subject turned to academics, Strong picked up the phone and got the player's parents on the phone right then. Brandon Heath was one of those players.

Strong dispatched coaches to classes, which is pretty common, but he spent hours in the morning checking classes himself, which is not.

U of L's APR score a year ago -- reflecting the 2009-10 academic year, Strong's first on campus, with turnover from the previous staff still shaking out, was 869, and the multi-year score of 908 cost the Cardinals three scholarships. The jump to 948 a year later might only have represented a three-point bump in U of L's four-year average, but it's a significant shift in direction for the program.

Baseball U of L has an APR of 971 from the latest numbers, and has never been at a point where NCAA sanctions were ever entered into the equation. Heck, that 971 puts their baseball program a head of a couple of the B10 programs. The U of L mens basketball APR is top half of the B10 as well.

Do you wish to continue to have me prove you wrong, or should I stop?


So please, feel free to carry your views about the U of L as they are....I'm not the one who will continue to degrade a university without knowing the facts - which point directly against you

[uniftw]

If Louisville is going anywhere, it is the Big 12, not the Big 10.

Also pretty much this.

If the new TV deal that I was reading about works out, they will be in the Big East for a while....HOWEVER, with WVU going to the B12, and the B12 wanting to expand they are a very very good fit there.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Last time I will comment on Louisville. It is nice to see that WIKIPEDIA says nice things about Louisville. I am sure they have some nice programs here and there academically. My instinct tells me that you can cherry pick all sorts of data to make a school look good. What it all boils down to for Louisville academically inspite of the specious data on WIKIPEDIA, is this: A. commuter school B. Not in the AAU. The Big Ten are giant snobs, perhaps the biggest on the planet. Their school presidents would laugh at Louisville as they would laugh at the entire SEC, Big XII sans Texas, etc. That is just how it is.

APR should never be used for much. Using it as the sole source to counter my argument that Louisville recruits questionable characters is laughable. They have had plenty of arrests. At the end of the day who hasn't but they were notorious in football for stomping on logos during the Kragthorpe era and just being punks. They don't project the lily white aura that the Big Ten wants. Think Wisconsin or Michigan. And never mind the great irony that two of their great giants PSU and tOSU are not even bowl eligible this year for their transgressions.

Louisville was on their knees last year trying to get into the Big XII. If that rumored move of Clemson and Florida State to the Big XII happens then they will be in business. My one final thought on Louisville is this: what does it say about your school if a conference is desperate to add another member and picks West Virginia over you?

[ihsi]

It looks like there will be five football leagues- PAC12, Big10, SEC, ACC, Big12. If schools aren't making every attempt to join one, they are going to be in a bad place. I'd think UCONN and Louisville have to be willing to sell their souls to get an invite somewhere at this point.

[ihsi]

The Big East is a train wreck I can't look away from. Now they're fighting over who should be the 14th football member BYU or Air Force. I'd think both schools are smarter than joining but maybe not.

[DoubleJayAlum]

The Big East is a train wreck I can't look away from. Now they're fighting over who should be the 14th football member BYU or Air Force. I'd think both schools are smarter than joining but maybe not.

I think BYU ought to take it. If/when the Big East explodes, BYU can go back to being an independent if they truly desire. In the meantime, at least the Big East has a few bowl tie-ins...