by Michael Hunt of the Journal-Sentinel 12-12-12
As the Big East continues to fragment into unrecognizable and far-flung pieces, membership in what has become a lower-tier conference may no longer have appeal for basketball schools such as Marquette.
But whether Marquette could make a go of it in a basketball-only league is the question no one can answer at the moment.
MU athletic director Larry Williams represented the university at a New York summit this week between Big East commissioner Mike Aresco and the seven league schools - Marquette, DePaul, Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall - that either do not play football or do not field a BCS team.
Williams said Tuesday it would be premature to assume the seven are prepared to secede from the Big East and form their own conference.
"No one has made a decision," Williams said.
Marquette deputy athletic director Mike Broeker said basketball games bring in one dollar for every three generated by football games. Under those circumstances, it might be difficult for a basketball league to get a profitable television contract.
Yet the Big East's deteriorating condition has become such an issue that Williams said university presidents are finally exploring options.
Williams and other athletic directors from basketball-first schools have been talking for months about which direction to take. Now, the Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, MU president, has become active in trying to determine the university's future athletic affiliation.
It's clear that the Big East is becoming less and less of a long-term option.
A number of long-standing members that once made the league nationally prominent - Notre Dame, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and Louisville - have left. As a response, the Big East has taken on schools such as Tulane and SMU, which would do nothing for Marquette's RPI rating come tournament time.
The replacement of national powers with less prominent schools caused vulnerable basketball-only schools such as Marquette to join the other six schools to ask hard questions of Aresco.
"It has become a question of where the league in its new guise is heading," Williams said. "It was hard to tell who's coming and who's going."
For example, Marquette basketball coach Buzz Williams did not know Tulane was joining until the day of the announcement more that two weeks ago. Like many associated with the Big East, he is at a loss for an explanation.
"For six months I gave the politically correct answer," he said. "Now, I just don't know."
Fact is, football drives the market and Marquette could be left fending for itself or remaining aligned with a football conference. There is speculation that the seven Big East basketball schools could join with splintered teams from the Atlantic 10, but the reality of a viable TV contract will determine the future.
Buzz Williams recently mentioned the universal scenario that college sports may soon be dominated by four super conferences - the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and SEC - as TV contracts continue to grow for football-dominated schools.
Where that could leave Marquette is anyone's guess, but Larry Williams said he remains confident that the school's athletic and academic reputation will make it attractive as it continues to navigate an unchartered future.
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