On New Year’s Eve, 10 private colleges took part in the (re)inauguration
of BIG EAST basketball. The BIG EAST*
kicked off the fall season several months earlier, but the primary purpose of
the “new Big East” was basketball. If
the conference was born (again) with soccer and volleyball, New Year’s basketball
was its baptism.
*OK, that’s enough of that
all-caps thing
As a graduate of the school on the western heel of the new
Big East’s footprint, I was concerned that the new conference would neglect much
of the news out of Nebraska. Just as
Stephen Colbert does not see race, I do not see regionalism. However, with this anecdote, my friend showed
me that it is a legitimate concern. He went
to school out east and, when he introduced himself as being from Minnesota, his
fellow student responded with “Oh, cool.
Is that in Wisconsin?”* Almost a month has passed since the coronation
of the new conference and I wanted to check in on my concerns. So, as I think to myself almost daily, thank
goodness for Twitter.
