Big East Val Ackerman.JPG

The Big East conference is not looking to expand, commissioner Val Ackerman said today.

(Ray Amati/NBAE via Getty Images)

NEW YORK -- One thing was abundantly clear today, no one believes that the Big East is worse off after the split it underwent last year. Coaches are confident that the quality of the league is still among the best in the nation, if not the best.

And the conference began parading its new order and its new allegiances. It showed off the new voices of the league, Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery. Commissioner Val Ackerman reiterated the conference will move its headquarters to New York City, away from its traditional home in Providence. And it highlighted the new additions in Butler, Xavier and Creighton.

There was much that came out of today's media day at Chelsea Piers, here is some of the news and the best of what we heard.

NO EXPANSION

For now, the carousel has stopped. Ackerman said that the Big East is not looking to expand at this point, "right now."

Seven old Big East teams splintered off last year and three teams were added. Everybody today seemed to say they liked the new contingent of 10, noting that it makes for a perfect number in terms of scheduling (each team gets to play twice) and competitiveness.

Ackerman said that 10 works because it allows the schools to be "cohesive" and "common."

But if the conference does choose to expand down the road, it will not do so lightly.

"We're going to be selective," she stressed.

OVERHEARD

A collection of quotes and thoughts from today, whether it came from scrums or direct questioning.

"This is a great day. Basketball season is around the corner. I'm exhausted." -- Ackerman at around 2:30 today, while speaking to The Star-Ledger in what seemed like her 30th interview of the day and operating on little sleep as she helps to guide the league in its new direction.

* * *

"I think the three teams we added are terrific. I do like the fact that we've added some short trips to Cincinnati from DePaul. Giving those west schools some closer rivals is really good for them. I think it expands the league. I think we've gotten into some great cities…We've added great cities, we've added great schools. Everybody now has rivals. It's not just DePaul coming to the East coast. Everybody has somebody they can look at that's similar to them." -- Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard on what the three new teams bring.

* * *

"Rysheed Jordan is a player that has special gifts for a player at this stage or juncture of his career is as impressive as any player I've coached. That goes back 26 years in basketball. He has kind of an old-school, old-soul approach to the game. No nonsence, very functional, I call it economy of the bounce, economy of emotion." -- St. John's coach Steve Lavin on freshman guard Rysheed Jordan, the Big East preseason Rookie of the Year.

Buzz Williams said he thinks St. John's is either first or second in the Big East in talent. With Jordan, JaKarr Sampson, D'Angelo Harrison, and Chris Obekpa, he has a point.

* * *

"I'd say we're probably a year ahead of our recruiting and personnel. But we lost a year when I was out a year with the cancer. So we're probably right where we should be." -- Lavin on where the team stands.

* * *

Buzz Williams was talking about the preseason coaches' poll results and where teams placed when he had this exchange.

"I don't even know who votes for them."

"Y'all do," he was told.

"I don't. I've never voted."

* * *

"I can give two carrots what the ACC does." -- Providence coach Ed Cooley when asked about, obviously, the ACC.

* * *

Doug McDermott will be a walk-on this year at Creighton, despite being an All-American player. It came to be after teammate Grant Gibbs was granted a sixth year of eligibility. It was the idea of his dad, the coach, Greg McDermott. Doug was fine with it.

"It's coming out of his pocket," he said smiling.

* * *

"When you get to looking at the strength of schedule, the more recent RPI, how you finish a season, you sometimes need an Alan Greenspan to figure the formula for success. I think that this conference, coaches, and league office have a strong sense for what it's going to take to be successful in terms of NCAA tournament bids. I think we're going to find out more as we go through these next couple of years and that would be informative or instructive and help us moving forward in terms of how we schedule. I think there needs to be a balance of enough high level games in the non conference but we need to be careful to not overschedule because we're going to beat each other up." -- Lavin on figuring out the right mix of non-conference schedule and working the tournament selection committee standards.

* * *

"We don't need to worry about football...and whatever football is doing." - Gus Johnson, the Fox Sports announcer who led off the opening remarks today.

* * *

"We are going to do everything Dave Gavitt set out to do in 1979. We are going to make this basketball conference a force." -- Val Ackerman

* * *

"They blitzed us off the court my first two years. Actually my first year and the second year I had to watch on the television, I was out. It was painful to watch. I needed another hit of morphine." -- Steve Lavin.

* * *

"Can we leave yet? I think said that too loud." -- A player at a barely attended dais at the end of a long day.