I regret the destruction of the Big East conference as we knew it. It was as legendary for its great basketball as the ACC. Villanova seems to be one of the few teams left that kept its Big Boy status. I think the lure of big-time football by a lot of its members destroyed a great basketball conference.
I had a similar discussion on the SEC Rant to discuss what was football blue blood status criteria and could it be lost (with specific reference to if UT was one or not).
A bit dated, but a good article on criteria for CFB blue bloods is
Here:
Criteria:
-70 percent or better win %
- multiple national titles
- sustained success over time (not mentioned but 800+ wins seems to be a trend with the bluebloods listed, which seems a good mark for this category to establish history of success)
-iconic coaches
-longstanding tradition and rabid fan bases
Result for CFB Blue Bloods (no particular order):
Nebraska*
Texas
Bama
Michigan
USC
ND
tOSU
OU
*article is two years old, so obviously some data has changed. For instance, I'd bet Nebraska had fallen below the 70% win mark as they were at .699 2 yrs ago, which, like UTenn, would move them out of blue blood status
On the cusp (no order, but UT seems the closest to meeting the criteria):
- UTenn
- Penn St
- UF
- Auburn
- LSU
- UGA
- FSU
- Miami
Using similar criteria as above seems fair for BB as well, but i would adjust 800 win mark to 1700+ wins, which currently is the cutoff for the NCAA BB top 25 all time wins list through 2017. And win % to .650+, which is about 11 teams overall and better accounts for the length of BB season and parity overall. Some could argue final four appearances as well, but I'd keep it multiple Champs only.
That said, Villanova would be a blueblood using this adjusted criteria used for the football discussion.
As would,
UK
Ku
UNC
Duke
UCLA
Louisville
On the cusp, but outside .650+ win %:
Uconn
Cincy
Sparty
Indiana
Ncsu
