Big East

5 quick hits: Navy's future football home settles on "American Athletic Conference"

By Kevin Lilley on April 4, 2013 Football, Navy

Big East, we hardly new ye. Or, in Navy’s case, we never knew ye. At right, a nice graphic of the 12 schools that will make up the American Athletic Conference in 2015; all but Navy will be in place by 2014 for all sports, the Mids will be football-only members. Leave your take on the new name in the comments section. Here’s five quick hits while you ponder some logo possibilities: 1. Branding 101. The name “suggests a national scope and quality membership,” an ESPN official said in the news release announcing the change. Some might say the name…

Reports: Departing hoops schools keeping Big East name

By Kevin Lilley on March 1, 2013 Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Navy football fans who didn’t want the Mids in the Big East will get their wish. Sorta. Per multiple reports, including one from the network that landed the conference’s future media rights, the so-called “Catholic 7” basketball teams that are leaving the Big East will purchase the name and take it with them when they depart next season. No fee has been announced, but one report speculates the name could be worth $8 million to $10 million. The move has generated positive publicity for the departing basketball schools, who’ll return the league name to the hoops roots it began with…

Big East TV deal set, but questions remain for Navy football

By Kevin Lilley on February 25, 2013 Football, Navy

Navy football fans will be tuning into the ESPN family of networks to watch the Mids’ conference debut in 2015, thanks to a seven-year, $130 million deal expected to be approved by conference presidents as early as today. The package reportedly pays $20 million a year for football and basketball rights by the time Navy joins up; right now, the league would have 11 members in 2015, so that’s about $1.8 million per school — less if the league expands to a more stable 12 teams, and even less for Navy, which wouldn’t get any basketball-related revenue. It means less…

Bargain-basement Big East: Navy's future home could have TV deal as low as $20 million

By Kevin Lilley on February 11, 2013 Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Navy football fans line up on both sides of the should-we-have-joined-a-conference debate. One side just got a bunch more ammunition. The Big East, which will be the home of the Mids come 2015, reportedly has been offered a deal by the NBC Sports Network that would be worth between $20 and $23 million a season. That works out to less than $2 million per school, and likely would be even less for the football-only Naval Academy. But it will be much, much less than previous estimates. In December, before seven of the league’s nonfootball members took their legacy basketball programs…

Latest Big East departure means big change for … Air Force?

By Kevin Lilley on January 17, 2013 Air Force, Football, Navy

The Big East is going through another painful breakup. San Diego State joined the list of schools leaving the conference (here’s a roundup) Wednesday, announcing its football program would remain in the Mountain West along with the rest of its sports in 2013. SDSU had committed to join the Big East as a football-only member; instead, it’ll be the third school — along with Boise State and TCU — to leave the conference without playing a conference game. Navy’s been an interested spectator throughout this process, watching its future conference add and subtract teams before the Mids join up as…

Big East breakdown: 5 things Boise State's departure could mean for Navy football

By Kevin Lilley on January 2, 2013 Football, Navy

The Big East has had better Decembers. First, Big Ten-bound Rutgers sued the conference in an attempt to avoid paying its exit fee. Then, the “Catholic 7” — the conference’s legacy basketball programs — broke ranks. And just before the ball dropped on 2013, Boise State announced its football program would remain in the Mountain West Conference; the Broncos join Texas Christian on the list of football programs with a national presence to bail on the conference before playing a single game. What does this mean for Navy football, which is scheduled to join the Big East in 2015 and…

Navy football to face Notre Dame at Redskins' FedEx Field in 2014

By Kevin Lilley on December 13, 2012 Football, Navy, Uncategorized

It’s not Ireland. It’s not even scenic. But it’s much closer to home. The Mids will host Navy at FedEx Field, home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, on Nov. 1, 2014, the Naval Academy announced Thursday. It’ll be the first time Navy’s played at FedEx since defeating Army there in 2011, and the first time the Mids have met the Irish at FedEx since 1998, when they were on the wrong end of a 30-0 shutout. Next year’s game is set for Nov. 2 in South Bend, Ind. The 2014 Mids will have four games in NFL stadiums — two…

Big East shuffle continues: Louisville reportedly leaves for ACC

By Kevin Lilley on November 28, 2012 Football, Navy, Uncategorized

Sooner or later, fans of Navy football will know who to root against when it comes to conference play. The latest shuffle: The Louisville Cardinals will leave the Big East and join the Atlantic Coast Conference, according to an ESPN report, replacing Maryland, which will bolt for the Big Ten in 2014. This leaves the Big East with 13 football programs for 2015, Navy’s inaugural season: The Mids; current members Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida and Temple; previous expansion announcements Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and Southern Methodist; and recent additions East Carolina and Tulane. For those…

Big East makeover: Meet Navy's new-look football conference … so far

By Kevin Lilley on November 27, 2012 Navy, Uncategorized

Navy football has existed outside the mess of conference alignment for more than a century. Now, two-plus years before it joins the Big East, Navy fans have reason to pay attention to who’s moving where. And if they’re paying attention, they’re not liking what they’re seeing. First, Rutgers announced it would leave the conference to join the Big Ten in 2014, a year before the Mids make the move to the Big East. Then, rumors swirled that the Atlantic Coast Conference could poach either Connecticut or Louisville from the Big East to fill a spot left by Maryland, which is…

Big East announces future football divisions … how will Navy fit in?

By Kevin Lilley on November 14, 2012 Air Force, Football, Navy

It’s been a running joke for the last few years — the ongoing conference realignment in college football could eventually stretch the bounds of common sense to the point where someone would create a “Big East West” division. Well, welcome to that point. For the next two football seasons, the Big East Conference will have eastern and western divisions. Well, sort of — any geographic realignment that puts Philadelphia-based Temple in the same division with San Diego State hasn’t ironed out all the kinks. What does this mean for Navy? And what could it mean for long-rumored Big East expansion…

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