UPDATE 5pm EDT Sunday: A press conference has just been scheduled for tomorrow at 12:30 EDT at Madison Square Garden. The speakers will be Bill Raftery, Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President, Providence College, Dan Gavitt, NCAA Vice President of Men’s Basketball Championship and Jim Delany.
There will also be current and former Big East and B1G head coaches in attendance for the announcement. Smoke: Meet fire.
The B1G/ACC Challenge is already the highest-profile conference throw-down in college basketball. Could another series be in the works?
Such an alliance, which could be in place by the 2015-16 season, would be similar to the early-season challenge series that pit teams from the Big Ten against the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Southeastern Conference against the Big 12.
Ackerman declined to specify which league or leagues the Big East might be holding discussions with. Several people associated with Big East schools indicated the Big Ten could be a likely candidate.
Current Big East basketball schools include Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier. That arrangement would leave four B1G schools on the outside looking in with no dance partner.
Regardless, the Big East isn't the basketball conference it used to be, but it isn't too shabby either - and considering how weak non-conference scheduling has been around marquee opponents this would be seen as a holistic upgrade.
Verdict: Please be true.
