The breakup of the Big East

The breakup of the Big East, of course, creates two brand-new conferences, one of which will keep the Big East name. It also brings up an interesting question: Will the Big East (both old and new) now be considered a mid-major conference? Neither one will be at the same level as the Big East once was. Neither will come close to being far-and-away the best conference in college basketball, which the Big East has been for several years running. But I think it’s a stretch to say that both leagues (or either) would be considered a mid-major. Not with the teams comprising the two conferences.

Let’s start by taking a look at the new Big East. Of the 10 teams that will make up the league, three (Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette) have won National Championships, three others have played in National Championship Games (Butler, St. John’s, Seton Hall), and two more (DePaul, Providence) have been to the Final Four at least once. That leaves just two of the 10 members (Xavier, Creighton) that have never been, although Xavier reached the Elite Eight as recently as 2008. And if, as expected, Dayton joins the Big East in 2014, that’s another school with a Final Four on its resume that you can add to the list.

In fact, I’d argue that’s a better basketball conference than the American Athletic Conference, which is the name that has been chosen for when the old Big East rebrands itself. (Still lukewarm on the name, but it could’ve been much worse.) Now, both of this season’s National Champions will be members of the AAC come July, but for Louisville it’s a one-year stopgap before they join the ACC (I already know that’s going to get confusing). As for the teams that will be AAC members in 2014-15 and beyond, only UConn and Cincinnati have won national titles, although Cincinnati’s came 50 years ago when Oscar Robertson was their star. UConn, Cincinnati, Temple and Memphis are the only schools in the conference that have any sort of national relevance in the last 10 years.

But the bottom of the AAC is going to be really, really bad. East Carolina? Tulane? Central Florida? SMU? (Although, I do think Larry Brown is going to make them at least competitive.) I have a feeling the AAC will be very top-heavy, with UConn, Cincinnati, Temple and Memphis dominating every year, with Tulsa a potential sleeper. Sure you’ll get a decent Houston or South Florida team that makes the Tournament once every couple of years, but let’s face it, the AAC has four programs. The Big East has at least six, if not seven or eight.

So what does this all mean? The Big East will most certainly lose its lofty status as the King of College Basketball. The seven or eight Tournament berths that became commonplace in the 16-team era are a thing of the past. But it won’t suddenly get relegated to mid-major status either. Same thing with the AAC. While it will clearly be the weaker of the two leagues, there are still enough nationally significant programs to think the AAC will manage to claim multiple Tournament berths every year. For that reason, I can’t in my heart call it a true “mid-major.”

I’ve never liked that “high major,” “mid-major,” “low major” classification system. I think it’s too restrictive. Leagues like the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 aren’t mid-majors. But they aren’t high majors either. The high majors are the five BCS leagues, the ones responsible for all this realignment nonsense. The Big East used to be the sixth high major. But you want to tell me that a league that good that plays its tournametn in Madison Square Garden is a mid-major? Not buying it.

I think there needs to be a fourth category. One between “high major” and “mid-major.” I like to call it “major.” Conferences with schools that are nationally relevant and are more likely than not to put multiple teams in the Tournament every year. That’s where both the Big East and AAC should fall, joining the ranks of the Mountain West and Atlantic 10. Conference USA used to be in this group, as well, but with every significant Conference USA member now a part of one Big East or the other, that league I think has now become a true “mid-major.”

Same thing with the West Coast Conference, which, thanks to Gonzaga, is perhaps the best mid-major in the country. Ditto with the Missouri Valley Conference, which landed Wichita State in the Final Four, but is losing Creighton to Big East 2.0. The CAA, WAC, Sun Belt and Horizon League also fall into this category, along with a couple other leagues. Basically, those that have a team that either gets or is in the discussion for an at-large berth. Everybody else, meanwhile, is a low major. The so-called “one-bid” leagues.

With the Big East being stripped for parts, most people expect a significant drop-off and an even greater disparity between the Big Five (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) and everybody else. But don’t count the Big East out just yet. It was left for dead and rose from the ashes before. I’m not saying it’s definitely going to happen again. But don’t be surprised if (or, shall I say, when) it does. The original Big East was a radical idea when Dave Gavitt created it. And it turned into the greatest college basketball conference that ever existed.