Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn’t sure if West Virginia is definitely leaving the Big East for the Big 12.
But if they are, he would like to see the Big East add Temple and Memphis for basketball.
“We must take Temple and Memphis into the Big East,” Pitino told SNY.tv by phone Tuesday night.
“We must replace Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia, if that’s the case, with Temple and Memphis. One Top 10 program, the other a Top 30 program that fit into everything we are all about.”
Pitino said West Virginia to the Big 12 was not a done deal, despite reports to the contrary.
“There’s a lot of things out there that may not necessarily be true,” he said. “I’m not sure what the landscape will be in a couple days, but I can assure you that it’s not 100 percent that West Virginia is going anywhere.”
If they do go, Pitino said he believes that both Memphis and Temple could also compete in the Big East in football.
“Temple has a good football program,” he said. “Memphis has a lot of money behind them and they could build up their football program.
“But let’s not say what their football programs have to do. Let’s understand. We have got to become the Big East in basketball.”
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey echoed similar comments in a recent interview with SNY.tv, saying he would like to see the league add Memphis, Houston and Temple for basketball.
The Big East is interested in adding Houston for all sports, but has not extended invitations to Memphis or Temple.
Villanova reportedly tried to block Temple from joining the Big East, but Pitino isn’t buying that.
“I don’t care if you’re seven miles from Villanova, that’s irrelevant,” he said. “That’s irrelevant right now. We have got to build up basketball, build the core strong. If the core is strong, the rest of the body will be strong.
“When the whole thing started, it was not football it was basketball. And we gotta get back to building the core. And it means we have to take Temple and Memphis. Memphis would be an awesome addition.”
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ksdksdksd / October 25, 2011
FACTS:
1. 2010 average football attendance: Temple 20,515, Memphis 23,918.
2. Average home basketball attendance: Temple 5,925, Memphis 16,768. Last year Memphis would have finished #3 and Temple #15 in Big East attendance.
3. Memphis has sold 18,000 basketball season tickets for this upcoming season (700 are being reserved for visitors and the university).
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USAGooner / October 25, 2011
FACT:
Temple University is the 6th all time winningest college basketball programs.
Memphis is not in the top 50.
Both would be perfect.
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doogie / October 25, 2011
Fact:
1. After 4 fball games this year, attendance – Memphis 22000, Temple 34000
2. Sagarins Fball ratings – Temple 46, Memphis 172
3. Temple, Philly – 4th largest TV market. Memphis – 48th.
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LS / October 26, 2011
Pitino should be commissioner. He’s the only one saying what needs to be said.
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TickleMeJake / October 26, 2011
Memphis is a great add, and so is Temple. Both are large public research institutions that generate a lot of revenue for their respective cities.
Memphis has 23k students, Temple hosts 39k students.
Memphis revenue 1.5 Billion annually, Temple 2.7 Billion Annually.
Temple has 270k alumni, 150k alumni in its tri state area Philadelphia, which is the 4th largest media market.
Lots of potential for Memphis and Temple.
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ksdksdksd / October 26, 2011
RE: Doogie
Sure, I guess you should be happy that Temple can only pull 33,000 students (including all of those Penn State fans that came to the Nittany Lion blow out) with a winning season. Where are all of those alumni? Memphis is the city’s team and don’t rely on students only.
Let’s look back at the 2005 average attendance win Memphis was winning and Temple wasn’t:
Memphis: 39,991
Temple: 12,735
If Temple has a bad season in the BE will they have to get kicked out again?
Will Temple actually bring more TV sets to the BE than Memphis that are not already taken from Villanova, Drexel, Penn, Penn State, etc.(ask DePaul how many tv sets it brought from the Chicago market?).
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LS / October 26, 2011
ksgksgksg:
We get it: You are either a Memphis fan or a bitter Villanova fan, but the Big East needs BOTH teams. Basketball is the conference’s flagship sport, and it should be not sacrificed for football by taking in crummy BB programs that happen to play football.
If you are indeed a Villanova fan, why are you guys so threatened by Temple?
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JonHuskyMS / October 26, 2011
LS – standard message board naysayer. Doesn’t have any team affiliation but just likes to come on here to get on people’s cases.
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