A Big Ten Big East Challenge is coming! There’s been lot of rumblings about a Big Ten Big East scheduling partnership coming for awhile. And tomorrow the details will be announced. University leaders and Big wigs from both conferences are Madison Square Garden to unveil the Dave Gavitt Tipoff Games (named after Big East visionary Dave Gavitt) to the media.
So what will the new Big Ten Big East partnership entail? Details have leaked
First off, some games in this partnership will no doubt be played at Madison Square Garden, the self-proclaimed “World’s most famous Arena,” we can infer that prima facie.
Here’s some insight from the Creighton beat reporter for the Omaha World-Herald:
Scheduling alliance between Big Ten and Big East could begin as early as 2015, according to one conference official
— Steve Pivovar (@PivOWH) May 4, 2014
And expect Providence to be involved in one of the first few Big Ten Big East games since the speakers at this introductory press conference tomorrow are:
Bill Raftery – Master of Ceremonies (ONIONS!!!!! ONIONS!!!!!!!)
Val Ackerman, Commissioner, BIG EAST Conference
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President, Providence College
Dan Gavitt, NCAA Vice President of Men’s Basketball Championships
Jim Delany, Commissioner, Big Ten Conference
Providence is the only school represented on that list, but select Big Ten Big East coaches will be in attendance and talking to the media tomorrow. Here’s more details via the Chicago Tribune:
The result is a collaboration called the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
The Tribune has learned that Delany and Ackerman will introduce the new annual series in a news conference Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Eight teams from each league will square off at home sites beginning in the 2015-16 season. The contract runs eight years.
The eight yearly Gavitt Tipoff Games will be played on four consecutive days (Tuesday-Friday) in the first week of the season. Fox Sports 1 will telecast the Big East home games, while ESPN and BTN will take the Big Ten home matchups.
As you obviously know, non-conference basketball badly needs a booster shot in the arm. Too many teams schedule mid-majors and low-majors most of the time. This will help create more interesting and meaningful match-ups right off the bat. Also, conference realignment in hoops has gone so far out of control that events like the Gavitt Tipoff are needed to remind the casual fan who’s actually in each conference again.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks is a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, who’s been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)