Sports on Earth
College basketball fans are sick of seeing great conferences torn apart in the name of big-time football.
The Big East used to be hoops heaven. By next season, with SMU, Houston and other GPS-defying programs coming aboard, it will have morphed into a wishful-thinking version of the Big 12. Conference USA began life as safe harbor for schools like Louisville and Cincinnati that treated football season like a four-month pep rally for basketball. With Memphis leaving next year, it becomes a clearinghouse for square pegs. Venerable Midwestern schools without major football programs are forced to pretend they are located in Connecticut. The hoops-only schools on the West Coast with national buzz consist of Gonzaga and thanks for playing.
It’s time to create a...
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