(03-10-2020 10:04 PM)VCE Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 01:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-09-2020 10:23 PM)VCE Wrote:  The notion that Cincinnati was some sort of linchpin of what I'll call the 2nd middle big east is as laughable as the notion that 2005-12 represented something called the Old Big East. Cincy did just a bit more than jack s*** in their tenure in the BE.

OBE teams for peoples' memories:

Georgetown
Syracuse
ST Johns
Providence
Seton Hall
Villanova
UCONN
Boston College

Pitt

The first 8 formed the conference. Nova joined a year later, but was a founding member. Pitt was invited a year or two after the formation.

Rutgers, ND, West Virginia, Va Tech, Miami aren't old Big East.

Cincy, Marquette, Depaul, Louisville and USF certainly aren't OBE.

Our current version certainly looks a lot more like the original than anything since.

Cincy would have absolutely based on where they had been performing would have been counted on as a key program. Think about it- outside of Villanova, Marquette, Georgetown, UConn, Memphis, and Temple- they would have been clearly the next team(and remember they had just been to the sweet 16 in 2012- and Nova had actually struggled some in 2012 and 2013- 2012 they missed the tourney, and 2013 they were only a 9 seed).

It's really remarkable how so many of those programs have struggled. And allowed programs like Providence, Seton Hall on the Big East side, and on the AAC side Houston to ascend. In some ways, it's made it worse on mid-major conferences, as instead of having like 16-17 teams- got 22 between the 2 conferences, and more teams able to do well between the 2 conferences.

Cincy went something like 65-75 in BE play during their tenure. But my point is mostly against the "NBE" people who like to claim Cincy as some sort of super program that made the 2005-12 Big East the "real" Big East. They were very much a middling program throughout that period, much as my Hoyas have been for the past several years.

The difference is that GU, Nova, 'Cuse, Seton Hall, SJU, and UCONN made this conference, and with the sole exception of 'Cuse, we're all back together.

The point is that if the Big East had stuck together- with where the programs were at the time- Cincy would have absolutely been a program that would have been counted on as a top program. 2012 they had just made a sweet 16, and 4 straight tourney appearances.

The programs that would have been counted on-
UConn
Villanova
Marquette
Georgetown
Cincy
Memphis
Temple

Nova and Cincy really only 2 programs that have done consistently well out of that 7.