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NEW YORK — Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman is familiar with Rick Pitino’s idea of turning the Big East into a “super league” to “combat” football — and she says it’s not happening.
“I’ve heard the idea before, it’s not anything we’re pursuing at the moment,” Ackerman told NJ Advance Media at last week’s Big East media day.
Pitino, the Hall of Fame St. John’s coach, was asked by NJ Advance Media at media day to expand upon his idea of the “super league” which he had previously Tweeted about. He proposed an 18-to-20-team conference to combat the growing power of football in college sports.
“I don’t have a say in that at all,” Pitino said, emphasizing that it was his idea, not the Big East’s. “If I was to, I’d want something to combat football. Whether it’s 18 teams, 20 teams super league, something needs to combat football because it’s just taken over our whole landscape.”
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Pitino didn’t get specific other than to say Dayton of the Atlantic 10 would be a good addition for the Big East. Theoretically, the Big East could attempt to pick off the top of the A-10 including VCU, Dayton and St. Joe’s.
Pitino reiterated that he’s not a fan of adding a West Coast school like Gonzaga. Last season, he said “100 percent, no” on the Bulldogs.
It’s moot now anyway since the new-look Pac-12 is adding Gonzaga as a member in all sports the school plays starting in July 2026.
“I would not go to the West Coast,” Pitino said last week. “I heard about Gonzaga. I thought that was foolish, to be honest with you. I think it’s foolish for UCLA to go to play Penn State. I think it’s too long a trip, but that’s what football will do for you.
“So I think a super league of 18 teams, whoever those teams may be, to define the future of college basketball would be great. But if it’s 12 teams in the Big East, that’s up to them.”
Ackerman pointed out in her opening remarks last week that the Big East has won four of the last eight NCAA championships, with Dan Hurley and UConn capturing the last two and now seeking to make history with a three-peat.
For his part, Hurley said the Big East “is the best conference” in the country in men’s basketball, and called out other leagues that “claim” to be the best without “championship trophies.”
Asked by NJ Advance Media about possible Big East expansion, Ackerman said: “I think expansion decisions for us are going to be tied to the usual checklist. It’s geography, basketball strength, values fit, the kinds of things [University] presidents care deeply about and, importantly, are they additive in terms of the economics.”
VCU, Dayton and St. Joe’s aren’t exactly the biggest brands in college basketball, although Ackerman did not address them specifically.
“I think you need big brands,” she said. “Brands big enough to command the absence of dilution with your network partner and that’s what we got with UConn. UConn joined the league and FOX played pro rata, they paid as much as all the other schools were getting so none of our other schools had to go backward and get a diluted share because UConn was joining.
“So that’s an important consideration for our schools is how much are they adding on all those fronts and is it going to help us financially? We’ve been approached by a lot of schools to come in, we haven’t seen fit to bring anybody other than UConn. Are we monitoring it? Yes. Could their be opportunities re-actively in the future? Maybe. If something happens to a league like what happened to the Pac-12, who knows?”
As for Pitino’s idea, she said, “It’s a good idea to keep on the board, but at this point it’s not anything that’s imminent.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.
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