Rick Pitino joins Coach K in calling for ACC-Big East merger

Back in January, Mike Krzyzewski made headlines when he pitched the idea of the ACC and the Big East merging to form a “mega conference” to keep up with the SEC and Big Ten. Another prominent voice has joined him: Rick Pitino.

On a podcast with Jon Rothstein, Pitino said that the Big East teaming up with the ACC would be “an awesome thing” for college basketball, combining the traditional powers of Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville with the Big East brands of UConn, Villanova, St. John’s, etc. Last season, Pitino brought St. John’s back to prominence in year two, leading the Red Storm to a 31-5 record, including an 18-2 mark in conference play, and the Big East championship.

“In order for the Big East and the ACC to survive this football mania — because a bad college football game will surpass an NBA playoff game as far as viewership is concerned,” Pitino said. “So, if we want to survive basketball-wise with the ACC and the Big East and to preserve the Dukes, the Carolinas, the Louisvilles of the world, and the Big East, combining it into a mega conference would be an awesome thing.”

Awesome, yes, but realistic? Not exactly. Most of the schools in the Big East don’t play football, so it’s hard to see the ACC agreeing to a merger from a financial standpoint. There are also TV rights to consider. Pitino said he would like the Big East to expand to 16-17 teams “yesterday” in order to give each school a natural partner/rival; however, he said the league’s presidents are against expansion because adding more schools would mean distributing more money.

“Unfortunately, outside of Coach K and myself, I don’t think there are a lot of feelings that way,” he said of a potential ACC/Big East merger. “I don’t think the NCAA is very proactive, I don’t think the ACC and the Big East are very proactive. I don’t think they think outside of the box.”

Even at age 72, Pitino is still thinking outside of the box. Later in the conversation with Rothstein, he said coaching “keeps [me] young” and opened up about a recent conversation he had with his son Richard, the head coach at Xavier.

“My son and I, Richard, had a huge discussion the other night. He said, ‘Why would you ever retire?’ And I said, ‘Well, you get on in age.’ He said, ‘Yeah, but what would you do? You suck at golf. What else would you do?’ I said, ‘I’ll go watch you play, Richard, and hopefully see you get to a Final Four. And he said, ‘No, let’s talk seriously.’ I said, ‘No, I agree with you. I don’t know what else I would do.’

“I think the blessing for me is I was two years out of the game, and boy, did I miss it. I can’t do what Jay Wright does. He’s just such a together person; he really is. He’s just great at so many different things. If I’m without basketball, I think I would age considerably.”

One thing is for certain: Pitino being back and good makes college basketball a much more entertaining sport.