CINCINNATI – You know something is a big deal if the Blue Blob is running around.
Monday was a big day for Xavier. It was the official beginning of the new Big East conference, the merging of the so-called Catholic 7 that were part of the former Big East – Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, DePaul, Marquette, Providence and Seton Hall – with newcomers Xavier, Butler and Creighton.
It was such a big day that Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory gave it the really long name of “Xavier University joins the BIG EAST Day in Cincinnati” and a pep rally was held on Fountain Square this afternoon in honor of the situation. The Reds are planning on hosting Xavier dignitaries, including basketball coaches Chris Mack and Amy Waugh, at tonight’s opener of a four-game series against defending World Series champion San Francisco.
The new Big East emerged as an answer to all of the conference re-alignment that has engulfed college athletics the past few years. Football (and television revenue) have been driving the changes in the landscape of Division I college athletics. These schools don’t play football – not at the Division I, BCS-level – and got ahead of the storm last year by positioning themselves in the best possible way to handle the changes.
This new Big East hasn’t been in the news much since the official announcement of the league’s formation came on March 20. That’s what happens when stability takes hold.
“What I’ve said is that conferences first and foremost are about common ideology,” said new Xavier athletic director Greg Christopher. “You look at the mess that has been college athletics the last two-to-three years, (and) this is the one conference that makes tremendous sense. You have 10 schools that have common ideology, they all have the same values proposition, which is great, and there is also a really tight budget bandwidth. I think that makes a big difference.”
Christopher is still settling into his office at the Cintas Center after succeeding Mike Bobinski at the top of the Xavier athletic department. Bobinski, who was chair of the NCAA men’s basketball committee that past two years, left in March to take over as AD at Georgia Tech. Christopher was hired after spending the last seven years in the same position at Bowling Green State University.
Xavier has been climbing the Division I athletics ladder for the past 30 years. It began when Bob Staak was the basketball coach. The people at Xavier don’t like being referred to as “mid-major” – and certainly won’t be in this new league – but in 1983 they would’ve loved to be viewed so kindly.
“When we got Xavier on Channel 19 back in 1983, they’d never had a TV package,” said Andy MacWilliams, a veteran broadcaster in Cincinnati and long-time voice of the Musketeers. “I was looking for my own gig and I thought they’d be good. I had seen some games. We got 12 games on that year and then right after that we got them on WLW. Perception is reality. You’re on the big signal? People pay attention. A lot of people have been invested in this.”
What Bob Staak started, Pete Gillen raised to another. Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller and now Mack have continued to raise the level of success and expectation in the flagship program of Xavier athletics. That’s been good for the entire university.
“I don’t think this move is as much about athletics as some people think it is,” said Christopher. “The move is much more about Xavier the institution than it is Xavier the athletic department. It’s about the growth, it’s about the enrollment and the opportunity to put Xavier on a stage and a platform to fuel growth student-wise. That’s why you do Division I athletics if you’re Xavier.”
The Big East has partnered with FOX Sports 1, which is set to begin broadcasting on Aug. 17, and will be a major focus of the network’s college basketball programming.
“It’s going to be important for the Big East to be thought of in the same vein as those BCS conferences because the goal of the Big East is to be one of the preeminent Division I athletic conferences,” said Christopher.
For many reasons, Xavier has put itself in a good position for whatever the future holds.
