OT: D1

[Chuck Norris]

Rumors swirling that boosters have assembled enough money for Pitt's AD to negotiate a buyout for Jeff Capel.

It’s just not a desirable job. I know we’ve discussed it a ton before and since it happened, but the move to the ACC just killed Pitt basketball and I have no idea who could possibly resurrect it. But good luck to them in their search. We’ll see if this AD can pull out a miracle.

[Ship69]

It’s just not a desirable job. I know we’ve discussed it a ton before and since it happened, but the move to the ACC just killed Pitt basketball and I have no idea who could possibly resurrect it. But good luck to them in their search. We’ll see if this AD can pull out a miracle.

Pitt is a natural for the Big East in basketball. Going ACC never made much sense.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Pitt is a natural for the Big East in basketball. Going ACC never made much sense.

They didn't give two sh!ts about basketball. That was purely a football decision.

[Fightingscot82]

They didn't give two sh!ts about basketball. That was purely a football decision.

I think it was both/and - and disagree with your first point. Pitt football had been bad so long that their big booster and loudmouth alumni were pariahs the same way we'd be at our schools barking about stadiums and attendance. This is why Pitt leaned heavily into basketball and built a modern arena instead of a major, major renovation to Fitzgerald. Part of me thinks Pitt also set itself up to consider dropping football down the road. Pitt's athletic leadership saw the writing on the wall for the Big East as a football conference and made the best decision available to them. For several reasons, a lot of the flagship universities like to be in athletic conferences with similar academic profiles, similar to how the Ivy League exists. Academically, Pitt also was head and shoulders above the rest of the Big East, the only school comparing academically was Syracuse (and Boston College when they were members). The power also still rested with the original Catholic schools that started the conference, much to Pitt's chagrin. The ACC allowed Pitt to escape rumors swirling about the demise of Big East football and get into the top basketball conference, where basketball was king and schools better aligned with Pitt's academics (plus some aspirational schools like Duke and UNC). But a lot has changed since those folks were in charge: Mark Nordenberg and Steve Pederson.

Pitt will always be an academics-first university more so than any average alum or booster will ever understand. If Pitt administration could choose to have a Nobel or another Jonas Salk by dropping athletics, they'd choose the former before the ink dries. A lot of people think of Pitt as a public university because they get state funds and have public figures on their trustees, but Pitt still runs itself like a private university. They don't give a sh*t what the largess of students & alumni think (this is the thinking that led them to bankruptcy in the 1960s).

[Chuck Norris]

Pitt is a natural for the Big East in basketball. Going ACC never made much sense.

They did what they had to to find football a viable home, basketball was always going to be collateral damage. Of course the “bad fit” excuse doesn’t really hold up well anymore, since a bunch of P4 teams don’t really fit in the conference they’re in, geographically or otherwise.

[bballfan03]

Watching Hurst play in NEC Championship.. PSAC ties on both ends. Obviously, we know Blunt plays for Hurst and played for Boro. Former Rock guard Goings plays for Long Island.

[Chuck Norris]

Miami just made Selection Sunday a little uneasy on themselves by losing to UMass in the MAC quarterfinals. 31-1 with no Quad 1 or 2 wins. I think they squeak in, but it’ll be interesting.

[Ship69]

Miami just made Selection Sunday a little uneasy on themselves by losing to UMass in the MAC quarterfinals. 31-1 with no Quad 1 or 2 wins. I think they squeak in, but it’ll be interesting.

I don't think they're world-beaters, but keeping a 31-1 MAC team out of the dance when pundits are talking about 15-loss P4 teams being "on the bubble," etc., would not be a great look. The MAC is no P4, but it's not a joke conference.

[IUPalum]

I don't think they're world-beaters, but keeping a 31-1 MAC team out of the dance when pundits are talking about 15-loss P4 teams being "on the bubble," etc., would not be a great look. The MAC is no P4, but it's not a joke conference.

It's about making money. Auburn brings in more money. That's the big problem and it's not right!

[Ship69]

It's about making money. Auburn brings in more money. That's the big problem and it's not right!

This tournament makes more money than anything the NCAA does. They can afford to let MIami play. Nobody outside of Auburn is interested in a 17-15 Auburn team.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This tournament makes more money than anything the NCAA does. They can afford to let MIami play. Nobody outside of Auburn is interested in a 17-15 Auburn team.

The SEC is.

And, they carry a lot of pull.

I could care less either way. If they get to the Final Four, I'll see them. That's really the first time I tune in.

[Fightingscot82]

The upside of including Miami is that if they lose, big deal. We stop talking about Miami. If they win, that gets more eyes watching and butts in the seats. A Cinderella run is icing on the cake.

Oddly enough, the last time the MAC had two teams in the tournament was 1999. That's the year Wally Szcerbiack led Miami to the Sweet Sixteen. That year Miami was a 10 seed with a 24-7 record and came in with an at-large bid after losing to Kent State in the MAC tournament. Their schedule wasn't much better. Their non-conference games were Notre Dame (unranked), Tennessee, Dayton, Boston U, Xavier, Wisconsin-Green Bay, San Diego, and Fresno State. Better but not much.

[Chuck Norris]

CBS Sports and ESPN’s projections still have Miami in the field. CBS actually has them up to a 10 seed which seems a bit high, but it seems pretty likely they’re going to make it.

Another tournament tidbit, Queens College, a regular in the D2 tournament and multiple time Elite 8 qualifier is headed to the Big Dance in their first year of being eligible to participate, winning the Atlantic Sun. I can honestly say I didn’t even know they had moved up.

[Fightingscot82]

Autry is out at Syracuse - should be an interesting first domino to fall.

[IUPalum]

This tournament makes more money than anything the NCAA does. They can afford to let MIami play. Nobody outside of Auburn is interested in a 17-15 Auburn team.

I don't disagree.