Not Going Down With the Ship

March 19, 1995. With a team built to make a run, the only obstacle impeding the Syracuse Orangemen from an elite eight birth is the final six and a half seconds while maintaining their one point lead. With Arkansas trying to inbound the ball, Lucious Jackson flies out of nowhere and manages deflect and steal the ball as he goes to the ground. Precious seconds tick away as the Razorbacks desperately try to remove the ball from Lucious. Knowing the arrow is in his favor with no time outs to use, Jackson makes no attempt to pass and instead wisely keeps iron grip and hopes for a long count before the referees call for the jump ball. In those two seconds, the excitement is mixed with the reality that after the jump ball, even more time would elapse before Syracuse free throws and a half court heave from Arkansas would propel the team in Orange another step closer to their first championship. The whistle blows and play stops while the elation still hangs in the air. Next thing I remember is the play by play announcer screaming that Jackson had called a time out. Not knowing what this meant, I watched in confused horror as Arkansas was awarded two free throws and sending the game to overtime and inevitable defeat.

                Overtime never stuck in my eight year old brain and neither did the fact that only seconds after Jackson was blamed for a poor decision that would end his college career did the announcer refute his claim and tag Lawrence Moten as the scapegoat. Thankfully, every contest I have followed since did not end in such tragedy. The team rebounded and overachieved to play for the national championship just one year later after I had turned nine. I’ll never forget sprinting onto the field at eleven after Donovan McNabb hit Steve Brominski to beat the Hokies and then scouring the benches for any keepsake to remember the day by, barely comprehending where I was. Every second of the six game run to win twice in New Orleans and cut down the nets right after my driver’s test is etched so firmly in my brain it would survive a lobotomy. I remember cutting classes and sprinting to the closest dorm after tests to catch Gerry McNamara’s one of a kind week at the Garden my freshman year of college. As much as I love all sports, no team could ever scratch the surface of how entrenched orange and blue is in who I am. My experiences with this program during my formative years have led to a connection that I simply will not be able to achieve with another team.

Hand in hand with my team, this connection extends to the Big East conference. I loved and will continue to love everything that the Big East was about. After nearly two months of reflection in which I needed every moment to digest what had happened, I have finally come to grips with the reality that the Big East that I grew up with is dead. Please do not confuse this with the long standing debate of whether the conference will retain its BCS bid, if a basketball and football schism is necessary, or even if the conference will remain competitive. The feel, the styles, the rivalries, the fans, and the teams that we have all became familiar with are no longer intact. It is not fair to blame Darryl Gross or Nancy Cantor because after looking at all the facts, the present situation dictates that joining the ACC is the best move for the football program and in turn the university. I do believe they made every attempt to keep the Big East a viable football conference before washing their hands of the situation. When an agreement between Big East schools could not be reached to accept a nine year $1.4 billion television deal, it became clear another option needed to be found. The ACC offers stability that comes with a larger conference and financial security from a more lucrative television deal. On top of that, with West Virginia itching to leave, Pittsburgh and Syracuse’s departure promised to leave Rutgers as the only long standing football member. Reality is, more of our football rivals are actually now in the ACC. Unfortunately, even though moving to the ACC makes too much sense to pass on, what has happened to the football conference from the departure of Miami and Virginia Tech to the escape of the Orange and both halves of the backyard brawl does have collateral damage.

The three headed departure that created a football conference of walking dead had the opposite effect on Big East basketball. Six years after bringing in three new full members and two more without football programs, the Big East starts this basketball season with six ranked teams, four in the top ten, and boasting the reigning NCAA Champion. Three of those teams, Marquette, Louisville, and Cincinnati, were brought in as upgrades versus the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. None of teams that jumped ship even received a single vote for the top 25 this week. In those six years and counting, the Big East has put 48 teams in the NCAA tournament, produced 18 Sweet Sixteen appearances, collected seven number one seeds, and put five teams in the Final Four. This was capped off by unprecedented 2011 NCAA tournament that included 11 Big East schools and its tournament champion. With no disrespect to the 1980’s which saw two champions from the Big East and six different schools make the Final Four including three in the same year, the conference is at its peak right now. Despite all these numbers, my point is not to prove that Big East basketball is ‘the best.’ I have always found the argument about which conference is best to be a waste of time.  No Big East fanatic is ever going to convince an ACC crazy of their conference’s superiority on the hardwood. Likewise, despite the outcome in title games, a Big Ten supporter is never going to concede to SEC dominance on the gridiron. That is why I have spent the last seventeen years trumpeting to anyone who would listen not about why the Big East has superior teams, but why the way the teams play and how they are coached make Big East games the purest and most entertaining product. That is the largest hole left by the departure of the Orangemen for the ACC.

After playing the same teams years in and year out, the teams each conference in college basketball take on a similar identity. It is no secret that the Big Ten plays a slowdown game below the rim that emphasizes half-court defense, high IQ passing, and execution. The same attributes supported by fans of women’s basketball. By the same token, the staple programs of the Big 12 use their superior athletes in run and gun offenses that lead to exciting and high scoring affairs. Every year it seems another Midwest forward is in the news shattering records be it Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Blake Griffin, or now maybe Perry Jones III. Even though more often than not, programs like Maryland, NC State, and Wake Forrest contend, everyone knows the ACC lives and dies with Duke, UNC, and their praises heaped on by Dick Vitale. And they cater to it. It can be difficult to watch conference games with these two teams because of the weight their programs lean on fans, announcers, and officials. Hopefully that will change.  The Pac 12 and SEC always have a similar place in my mind because they each have one member of basketball royalty in UCLA and Kentucky and then always seem to find one or two other teams that annually vie for national recognition be it Florida, Washington, Tennessee, or Arizona. Finally, I will always have a soft spot for the Missouri Valley Conference and Horizon League who diagram how to compete annually as mid majors. Like Billy Bean, they have figured out how to exploit the undervalued talents in the one and done era. Every year teams from these leagues that shine in March are well coached, senior filled, shoot the ball well, and will not beat themselves. What separates the Big East from all of these conferences is the combination of the better qualities from each one.

At the top, the class of the Big East over the last twenty years has been Syracuse and Connecticut. The heartbeat of both teams comes from their coach. Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun are one and two in every Big East coaching statistic even though they do it in very different ways. Over the last two decades, these two teams have made 17 conference championship appearances, won 10 Big East crowns, and are the homes to the Big East’s four NCAA championships over that span. Syracuse plays a game of percentages using the 2-3 zone to force teams to shoot from the outside. Also, keeping a tight rotation retains the most amount of talent on the floor which allows their stars to win or lose games. UConn uses their quick guards and athletic, rangy wingmen to funnel opponents to their formidable shot blockers that lead the NCAA seemingly every year. For the remainder of their tenure in the conference, both programs have cemented their status as the Big East elite.

Georgetown and Pittsburgh both play a style of basketball that would be right at home in the Big Ten. John Thompson III brought a version of the Princeton style offense with him when he took the job in our nation’s capital. Although the Hoya version is jazzed up a little because of athletes that are superior to the Ivy League, it is still based upon back cuts, intelligent basketball, and limiting possessions by milking the shot clock. Pittsburgh has adapted a mirror image of the style utilized by Tom Izzo at Michigan State. The Panthers will punch you in the mouth on both sides of the court. They take pride in shutting down easy points for their opponents while creating their own by sending everyone to the offensive glass. The Panthers are not known for producing lottery draft picks, but they always play tough and never back down from any opponent.

The three guard offense has also proved very successful for college teams in recent years. With many athletic big men departing straight to the NBA from high school or playing collegiately for a limited time, there has been an excess of talented guards filling out rosters. Villanova and Marquette have chosen to make use of three guards a staple for their program. Over the last decade these two teams have used NBA talent like Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Wesley Mathews, and Dwyane Wade to run circles around larger teams. Intense man-to-man pressure defense, attacking the rim, and superb shooting have proven smaller lineups produce Final Four teams.

Cincinnati and St. John’s have a storied college basketball history that includes NBA hall of fame stars. Each have seen a recent resurgence after a few tough years. Both teams recruit elite athletes that are ideal for a fast paced game that will challenge any team. They get up and down the floor, rebound and score above the rim, and play in your face opportunistic defense that often leads to points on their own end. Each team rebounded from near .500 seasons in 2010 to win double digit conference games and enter the field of 68.

Louisville and West Virginia stand out from the crowd because they use defenses used by most teams only as a change of pace. The Cardinals get after their opponents by pressing full court for most of the game. Rick Pitino utilizes his bench as well as anyone frustrating and tiring opponents while keeping his own players fresh. Playing 10 guys at least 10 minutes a game makes foul trouble almost a nonfactor. Louisville makes people run while they are on offense as well by spreading the floor and having seven different players shooting the long ball every game. West Virginia has used a mixture of different defenses to disrupt opponents including my personal favorite, the 1-3-1 zone. The biggest advantage to this defense is that it causes other teams to run their offense from spots on the floor they are uncomfortable with. With three players positioned in the middle of the floor, it forces players to find other avenues to the basket. Often, offenses end up stuck using one half of the floor with two or three players while the defense has four people involved in the play. Both of these programs have maximized their game plans collecting NCAA one and two seeds and each advancing to the Final Four in the last six years.

My favorite underrated part of the Big East is the reality of the little guy. No other major conference is home to schools that do not have an FBS football program. The Big East provides Providence, Seton Hall, Depaul, and the aforementioned Villanova, Georgetown, St. John’s, and Marquette with a chance to compete on the biggest stage of college hoops. Every program has historical significance including hall of famers, Final Fours, and NCAA Championships. In an era focused on the cash cow of college football, the Big East has kept alive schools that have competed at the highest level for decades and deserve more than being an afterthought in a mid-major conference. Away from the Big East, Providence and Seton Hall especially qualify as mid-majors. After reaching the Final Four in the 1980’s, they each have remained competitive as small schools do by recruiting four year players, building around heady team leaders, and taking advantage of opportunities. Schools like these deserve to remain relevant.

I left Notre Dame out of the picture so far because even though they play a style that could qualify as a rich man’s mid-major, the fact that they were allowed to stick around while not joining the football conference always felt skeezy and they should not be allowed to do it. Moving on.

My first memory of Syracuse athletics is not as gruesome as the poor souls who had to watch a Keith Smart baseline jumper fall in a month after I was born, but young as I was I do believe that file in my brain has affected my relationship to a program that means so much to me and its namesake city. As a fan base we hope for the best and expect the worst. I am here to instill confidence that ACC is the right move for our school. For all intents and purposes, Syracuse is the captain of the Big East. Even though the saying states that the captain is supposed to go down with the ship, it is time to hold tight to our memories, in good time shift our loyalties, and savor the precious time we have left with our conference because the war is not over. Watch every game. Taste all the rivalries. Absorb everything on the walk up the steps to the dome. Experience the Big East on its finest stage at Madison Square Garden and file it all away in your head and heart. It is time make our imprint elsewhere and prove Big East greatness by taking over as Captain of another ship.