cygnus34

Let me be KING for a day instead of Tranghese, the B. B. nut. I am a FOOTBALL NUT. This is what I would have done: EAST DIV........................WEST DIV. 1. Miami.............................1. Louisville 2. B.C.................................2. Cincinnati 3. Rutgers..........................3. Memphis 4. Conn..............................4. Syracuse 5. So. Florida......................5. Pitt. 6. Va. Tech.........................6. W. VA. The B.B. is better in the West but the Football is better is the EAST. This is what could have been, if TRANGHESE thought about FOOTBALL as much as he does about the B.B. To bad this guy can not see past his NOSE.

What do you think of putting all the schools Div. 1-A that have no home or in the wrong home together?  1.  Temple 2.  Army 3.  Navy 4.  East Carolina 5.  La. Tech. 6.  Troy State 7.  Marshall (?) 8.  Florida Atlantic 9.  Notre Dame 10.Buffalo Anymore?

Miami was rated #60 in academics in the country. B.C. was rated #40 just behind GA. TECH. at 39. I did not say Va. Tech. joined the A.C.C. for academics; I said they have always wanted to join since the fifties.

What some people here seem to be missing is the A.C.C. is a strong academic conference as well as athletic conference. The main reason B.C. joined the A.C.C. was because of the academics. Va. Tech. has always wanted to be in the A.C.C. but had no support but when the opportunity came The Gov. stepped in to make sure it happened. They are not as highly regarded academically but are more at home in that conference. Miami on the other hand has A.C.C. high standards academically and are one of the tops athletic wise.

Looks like Ruts., is on a roll, this guy may be the start of something good, for them. Roche Chooses Rutgers By Don Callahan ACC Recruiting Analyst Date: Jul 11, 2004 The rollercoaster ride known as Brian Roche’s recruitment came to an end yesterday after the Don Bosco Prep lineman chose in-state Rutgers over perennial powerhouse Miami. The rollercoaster ride known as Brian Roche’s recruitment came to an end yesterday after the Don Bosco Prep lineman chose in-state Rutgers over perennial powerhouse Miami. The 6-foot-5, 280-pounder cited the ability to help the Scarlet Knights grow into an eventually strong football program as what pushed him to make the decision. “I think after the trip to Miami, it sounds kind of funny but how good the Miami trip was actually made the decision a lot easier,” stated Roche, who at one point strongly considered committing to Virginia. “At Miami, winning is tradition, winning is expected at Miami. There’s nothing knew about All-Americans, first-round draft picks, National Championships and Bowl Games. I think there is something special about doing it for the first time somewhere and I think that is what’s kind of going on at Rutgers right now.” In addition to the challenge Rutgers presents, Roche also has developed a great relationship with the coaching staff and trusts them with his future. He believes they are a rising and feels he can contribute to the cause. “First I think Rutgers is on their way up,” remarked Roche. “I think that a lot of good things are going on there. More important than that, all those coaches [at Rutgers] are great coaches and they aren’t going to let a kid they recruit fail and I believe that. I picked Rutgers because I know I’m going to go to Rutgers and I’m just going to get it done.” As well as focusing on his senior season, Roche will also become an extended member to the Rutgers’s recruiting staff by helping in their efforts to keep in-state talent from crossing over the border. “I kind of want to let some of the better players in New Jersey know now why they should go to Rutgers and what’s going to happen when all the talent in New Jersey stays in New Jersey. “I think Rutgers is unappreciated in New Jersey right now and it doesn’t have the respect that it should,” he added. “But I think Coach [Greg] Schiano is doing a good job of bringing it to where it should be. In a couple of years I don’t think many top ten players will be leaving any more, because when you can stay home and win its so much better then going away and winning.” Roche – a four-star prospect who owns close to 40 offers – should give Rutgers’s 2005 recruiting class a huge boost. Similar to the boost the All-Stater provides the Don Bosco Prep’s offensive line last year on their way to New Jersey’s Parochial 4 Title.

One of the main reasons MIAMI out performs other teams is the weight program, NO IFS ands or BUTS. Swasey - NFL Draft Success By Christopher Stock Last month the University of Miami set an NFL record with six first-round draft picks. It was quite a feat, but what makes it even more amazing is that no other university even had two players drafted by the time the Hurricanes sent their sixth to the league. How do they do it? Strength and conditioning coach Andreu Swasey explains. There are weight rooms all across the country. There is talent at every college. So why is Miami doing things that no other school has ever done? By chance? Not quite, think again. Sean Taylor and Kellen Winslow were selected in the first ten by the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns respectively, followed by Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams, Vernon Carey, and Vince Wilfork. Not all of the six players were considered 'can't miss' prospects coming out of high school. Carey developed slowly and came to Miami at 375 pounds. Wilfork showed up at 365 pounds. Vilma was in the 190-pound range and Taylor had a hard time staying healthy in high school. "Getting drafted in the first round has been something those guys have worked towards," Swasey said. "I hate to say work towards because they work together so good. It is a good feeling as a coach to see them actually reach their dream. It is good to see people put in work and see a reward." In the past four years 19 Hurricanes have been selected in the first round. There is no school that can come close to the recent success that Miami has had in the draft. Throw in a 46-4 record in the 2000's, four straight BCS bowls, a national championship and playing for another, you've got yourself the best collegiate program in the nation. "I think the NFL is catching on to what we are doing here. I tell the guys not to grow weary of doing good and there are no shortcuts in life. The process learned is a mentality. People in the NFL are drawn to the mentality developed here at Miami. If you learn to work and put in your time it will work out." The players that were drafted in the first round did not show up at UM Pro Day and have great numbers. Working hard leading up to Pro Day begins the moment players step on campus as freshmen. They don't show up in the weight room after their final bowl game hoping for good numbers in front of scouts. It is a process. The process begins with the right mentality. A mentality force upon them by the coaching staff and in particular, coach Swasey. He shows the players tough love and the good players strive in the system. "Being hard on them helps their development as a player. Great players won't be driven out, I haven't seen one that has. It usually means you aren't that good. The great ones want to be driven. They know there is no easy way out. If you come here, they know what they will get." The current players have seen their peers drafted in the first round. The freshmen just saw six of their peers become instant millionaires. When people try to obtain success they want to see results. Why work hard if there is no reward? Why is this the right way? At Miami, they see results. Plain and simple. Edgerrin James, Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, and some members of the 2001 National Championship team come back to visit the university and to work out in the weight room. Most of the players on the team did not play with those guys and it is hard to relate with them even though they see their success in the NFL. Seeing their peers and guys they line up next to every day in practice have success gives them more inspiration to work even harder. Swasey, in his seventh year as a strength and conditioning coach, stresses the coaching staff to coach their actions, not the player. He tries to push the walk-ons as hard as the starters despite their obvious numbers in the weight room. "My job is to make these guys well prepared by the time they get back to the coaches so the coaches can do what they do best, coach. I am the one that needs to teach the players both mentally and physically. I teach them about hustle, working hard in the weight room, listening, and communicating. That is my job. If the coaches have to coach them how to do those things then they are a step behind where they need to be." The coaching staff at Miami features four former Hurricane players and has developed a strong chemistry under head coach Larry Coker. Coker has a great ability manage the coaching staff and to oversee the players. His personality reflects amongst the staff and players. "The staff all works together creating a balance," Swasey said. "What we have here that has helped us with the success is a continuity, chemistry, and working relations with coaches. An example is that we can't have everyone ripping on a kid if he messes up. In the weight room I talk to coaches about being hard on the guys. I also talk to them about not compounding it. If I am ripping him, they can't rip him too. We don't want to compound it." Swasey maintains a tough mentality in the weight room and throughout running drills. He wants them to work hard with him so the game is fun. He reminds them that football is a game and it is meant to be fun. The practice field is their games. When they get to the practice field he wants them to enjoy the game and have fun playing. He is quick to get on them if they are not working hard and reminds them, "Bad news travels fast. Good news travels slow."

As written by "ALL4SU"  SU and the NBE - What We've Got (Long) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are a lot of opinions below about the teams and the conference, and perspectives on why one conference allignment or other would have better than what we've got. From my perspective, I'm disappointed with the collection of schools for a lot of reasons. Geography is less a factor to me, because frankly if you look at a map, other than USF and excluding the BBall onlies, the conference kind of follows the northeast into the middle near south. Not really an odd footprint at all. Academics are an issue. Certainly, I would rather SU be associated with schools with as strong - or stronger academics than SU to keep the University vibrant and growing in reputation and standards. But as far as the individual teams are concerned: 1-WVU - I like SU's rivalry with WVU. And while they are not a top national program, they are a program that has been very good on occasion and at least recognized nationally as a football school. 2 - Pitt - Again, I like Pitt as a rival. Perhaps not as strong a rival as WVU but still a rival. I think one of the problems with Pitt is that in the 70's and early 80's when SU sucked, Pitt was killing us. And in the late 80s and 90s when SU was much stronger, we were killing Pitt. (Something like 13 straight wins?) So the rivalry doesn't have the back-and-forth that we've had with WVU. That can change, and Pitt can become a much better rival. 3 - Rutgers - RU is like the little brother in the neighborhood who is always goofing around and trying to hang around with the big kids. You get kind of sick of him always hanging around and his Mom makes you watch after him. If Rutgers was good AT ALL in the last 25 years, they would be a rival. They're not. Even their entry in to the BE for BBall did not build a rivalry with SU. Could they become one? Sure. Maybe. But they've got to grow up and win some OOC games before they're legitimate. Beating SU last year does not make them legitimate. Not when they also lost to teams like UConn. 4 - Which brings me to UConn. They are certainly a rival in BBall. And their proximity (much like Rutgers) suggests that they can be for FB too. The thing about UConn is that, while RU has been TRYING to be a div 1 team for a century, UConn is not even on the national radar. NOTHING. Most of the people in the country still don't even know they play football in UConn. 5 - Cincy - I've always kind of liked Cincy, and thought they should be much better than they are considering their location in football-rich Ohio. It's a good location for SU both in terms of recruiting, and geography. I think Cincy could be a program that we could develop a good rivaly with in time. But, like RU, they don't get much respect nationally. 6 - L'ville. I think LVille has been getting better recently. But they're still not viewed as a national player. 7 - USF - I can't tell you one thing about USF except they're in FLA. And that is everyone's fascination. Could they be good? Sure. They have a ton of talent in their back yard. If they can start to continuously get the scraps from Miami, FLA and FSU that previously were going to other schools, then they will be pretty good. Not great, probably. But pretty good. The big problem with all of the above, from my viewpoint, is that SU is in a NO-WIN situation. Most of those teams represent programs that if we lose, it is viewed as further evidence of our slipping from the top tier of Div.1 football, AND evidence of the improvement of their program. But if we win, it does nothing to help us. Because no one respects them anyway. Our ONLY hope is to win as many of these games as possible, and earn respect OOC. So in that respect I agree completely with people like Zak who aren't thrilled with the realities of the NBE. At the same time, being somewhat pragmatic, I recognize that this is What We've Got. And I will go to SU games against Cincy, and UConn, and RU and L'Ville and enthusiastically cheer like hell...and hope that SU gets back on top ASAP.

Rutgers fans think they are going 6-5 Minimum. should go 7-4.

Bulls96,   Yes the Big East 1st place team did go to the Orange Bowl, if they were not selected to the TITLE GAME.    That changed this year however, and the Orange Bowl has switched to the A.C.C. as their tie-in. The second place team goes to the Orange Bowl, if the 1st place team is in the TITLE GAME. There may be an option on that, depending on the standing of the 2nd place team.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/17408.htm

BULLS96, Maybe I don't understand what you are getting at, but the Big East was part of the BCS and the Orange Bowl was the Big East tie in.

Bulls trade in playbooks for blueprints By Thomas Simonetti, The Oracle June 7, 2004 (U-WIRE) TAMPA, Fla. -- In the fall, South Florida coach Jim Leavitt will ask that all of his football players give everything they can on the field and put the team ahead of themselves. But this weekend, the team put the community -- and one family in particular -- before itself. The Bulls, along with Habitat for Humanity and HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation, started building a house for a Tampa Bay family. "We just felt like [as a team] we could do more in the community. So it's just an opportunity to do more," Leavitt said. He and his men assisted in the construction of the house at 9 a.m. on Saturday. He said it was halfway completed by the end of the day. "All in all, we probably had about 40 to 45 players there and they did a fabulous job," he said. Leavitt said the main reason the Bulls got involved was to give back to the community. Any way the players benefited individually was secondary to the fact that the team was giving back, he said. They put up support beams, worked on the house's exterior and did some landscaping on the property in Wimauma, Leavitt said. "Certainly each player and certainly each coach is going to benefit a great deal, because sometimes one of the most important things in our lives is to feel self-worth," Leavitt said. "And one of the best ways to build your self-worth is to do things for other people. I think it's a part of character building and I think it does help round out an individual's life." The work they do on the football field can translate to helping others. "Our guys understand what it is to work together and do things. There's certainly something we can do here," Leavitt said. "It's a neat thing when you meet the lady and the kids that are moving into the house. They wanted to get a picture of our team and put it up in their living room. I thought it was kind of neat that she suggested that." Joe Wessel of HomeBanc approached Leavitt about the project. "He likes to do some things in the community," Leavitt said. "I've known Joe for a while and he's done this with the University of Georgia and then he wanted to do this with us and the University of Miami." Habitat for Humanity has built more than 150,000 houses around the world. The HomeBanc Foundation has helped fund the construction of 22 Habitat homes in Florida and Georgia.

Big East is better off without the bully By Matt Hayes - SportingNews The boys at the Big East don't know how good they've got it. The departure of Miami will be the best thing that ever happened to the league. And to think that frivolous lawsuit against the ACC still is out there, churning along, clogging the system in search of -- what else? -- money to make the hurt go away. The big hurt, fellas, left in January. In the 13 years Miami was in the Big East, there were only short stretches when the big, bad Canes weren't the only ones who mattered in the conference. That's when when Miami was on probation or when the most dynamic college player of our time -- some dude named Vick -- played a couple of years at Virginia Tech before moving to the NFL. Other than that, the annual Big East race was about as compelling as croquet. When the ACC raided the Big East last year, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese dramatically deemed it "the most disastrous blow to intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime." Meanwhile, back in reality, this is what the Big East lost: television markets. And that's it. The new Big East doesn't have kingpin Miami to hide from. The new Big East still has its automatic BCS bid. The new Big East isn't pressing its face against the BCS window, begging for scraps and desperately following reform gadfly Scott Cowan. The Big East lost the nation's best program, the nation's most overrated program (Virginia Tech) and the Boston television market. Hardly disastrous. Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia have a lawsuit claiming Miami and Boston College conspired to weaken the Big East by leaving for the ACC. Programs aren't weakened by other programs; they're strengthened by winning. Should West Virginia have one of those magical seasons, go unbeaten and play in the BCS title game -- don't laugh, it might happen this fall -- that will do more for the health of a program and the league than the Big East bully staying around. Should UConn win two of the next three Big East championships, those two BCS appearances will help the Huskies hop in the passing lane with Pittsburgh and roll right past Penn State in the Northeast recruiting wars. The Big East is where the ACC was before Florida State joined in 1992: It's one of the nation's best basketball conferences and the worst major football conference. So what? Two years before FSU joined the ACC, Georgia Tech won a share of the national title. It's not good for the collective ego, but the quality-of-life index in the Big East rose when the Canes left town. The league never was going to get two teams in the BCS, anyway, and it won't lose any of its bowl tie-ins. The only uncertainty is the value of television contracts; ESPN is trying to restructure its remaining four years with the Big East because of the shakeup. But winning eventually will cure those ills, too. And if it doesn't, you better believe the BCS honchos won't leave their brethren hooked to life support. The BCS administrators easily could have taken away the Big East's automatic bid but decided against it. At some point, if the Big East is failing, those same men who control college football might take drastic measures and give Notre Dame an ultimatum. The Irish are part of the party because BCS administrators allow it. With Notre Dame interest at an all-time low -- don't be surprised if NBC tries to renegotiate its contract with the school next year after another subpar Irish season -- what better way to re-energize a program and a league than a marriage of convenience? Losing Miami is the best thing that ever happened to the Big East. It's just going to take time and vision to see it through.

Your in the BULL pen and have stuff sticking to your boots?

Bowl Championship Series future to be finalized in June By EDDIE PELLS, AP Sports Writer May 25, 2004 PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- With a few weeks left to make a decision that will shape the future of college football, Bowl Championship Series officials are narrowing their options for adding a fifth game to their multimillion-dollar package. BCS chairman Mike Tranghese said opinions among the six major BCS conferences and the bowls are changing frequently between models that would add a week to the season and those that would simply add a fifth game and leave the structure relatively unchanged. ``I couldn't handicap it,'' Tranghese said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. ``I could tell you exactly what everyone's position was of last week, and I could tell you that I think a lot of positions are changing. They've got to go back, got to study it, got to talk to their membership.'' What Tranghese does know is that models involving adding a week to the season are still meeting resistance from school presidents. ``I think it depends on how much value we can extract out of the models,'' Tranghese said. ``TV wants a playoff. They've been told `No.' Absent that, they want a plus-one.'' ABC paid $525 million to televise the BCS for seven years, ending with the 2005 season. The fifth game is being added to give schools from smaller conferences a better chance to make the BCS. Under one model, the championship game would pit the first and second-ranked teams in the BCS standings at the end of the regular season in a second game at the site of one of the current BCS bowls, the Fiesta, Rose, Orange or Sugar. Another model, widely considered the one favored by TV and the public but least likely to pass, would take Nos. 1 vs. 2 after the first four BCS games were played and pit them in a title game the next week in the fifth bowl. The biggest advantage of a championship game a week later is that it would create a Super Bowl-like week of hype and would stand alone as the biggest college game of the year. The disadvantage is that it would diminish the games being played the week before, especially if one were being played at the site of the title game, which presumably would get the least-attractive teams of the eight to play during BCS week. The logistics of the plans are still be worked out, but Tranghese said the Rose would likely only be interested if it could keep its traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten game in the three years it doesn't serve as host of the title game, unless those teams are ranked first or second. ``I think that characterizes their position,'' Tranghese said. ``Where we end up is another thing.'' The other option would be simply to add a fifth game and rotate the title game among the five, which is how the system works now with four bowls. Nine bowls are in the running for a fifth game. ``It's a process,'' Gator Bowl executive Rick Catlett told the Florida Times-Union. ``They indicated they have a lot of work to do before their final decision and we're going to be patient and supply the BCS with any information or help they need.'' Although BCS officials don't begin negotiating their new contract until September, the Rose Bowl starts talking with the Big Ten and Pac-10 in June, and that's the deadline the BCS has set for deciding on how to handle the fifth game. The fifth game will start for the 2006 season, the first year of the new BCS contract. Tranghese insisted that nobody feels rushed. ``I think the deadline's a positive,'' Tranghese said. ``I think in our heart of hearts, we know we have to make a decision, I think we're going to be ready to make it and I think if we didn't have the deadline, we'd sit here and regurgitate it for three or four months and I don't know what's left to regurgitate.'' Also in June, the BCS will unveil a new, simpler formula for determining the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. In three of the past four years, there have been at least three teams with legitimate claims to spots in the title game. It has been widely reported that the new formula will drop several aspects, like strength of schedule and number of losses, and focus solely on the AP poll, the coaches' poll and the computers. Tranghese wouldn't confirm that, but did say that a simpler formula has been decided upon and is being worked over by mathematicians ``to make sure that what we think it is, it is.'' The goal, he said, was to make it easier to understand. ``We're trying to take all the elements, put them together in a more simplified way, with some adjustments, so the public can understand,'' he said. ``The public doesn't want the minutiae, and we understand that.''

http://dailymail.com/news/Mickey+Furfari-20040525/Mickey Furfari May 25 2004 New-look Big East will do fine Mickey Furfari For the Daily Mail MORGANTOWN -- There's no doubt that the Big East football league won't be as strong following the loss of Miami (Fla.) and Virginia Tech. And in 2005 Boston College will join those two perennial powers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, giving that league 12 members and a championship playoff game. The ACC already is benefiting financially from the expansion. It recently signed a new, seven-year football television contract with ABC and ESPN worth a reported $258 million. While the Big East has lined up replacements, a growing number of people don't think it will ever regain stature among the nation's elite. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia University's fourth-year head coach, concedes that it will be difficult to replace Miami, a Top 5 program, from a standpoint of prestige. "But the other teams that finished near the top in the Big East are coming back," he said recently. "Virginia Tech obviously has been pretty good. But in our league, the Hokies have been closer to the middle the past few years." Rodriguez predicted that people will be surprised how good Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida are when they join the Big East fold in 2005. He believes Connecticut, which makes its Big East football debut this fall, will prove to be an outstanding addition. "The Huskies were very good last year (9-3)," Rodriguez recalled. "From what I've seen on film, I think they can be in the (championship) hunt this year. "They scheduled right and they are just about where they projected to be. They've put a lot of money into the program. "You can see what they've done in basketball (winning both the men's and women's NCAA titles this year). Obviously, when they commit to their programs, they do it the right way. "And I think that's what they're doing with their football program." Rodriguez readily admits that the Big East may not have the prestige nationally now because of the departure of Miami and Virginia Tech. "But in four or five years, I think we'll be back the way the Big East used to be looked at," Rodriguez said. He remembers when the league had to re-establish itself nationally during "down times" in the past. "I'm pretty confident we'll be back up there," the Mountaineer mentor said. "But we have to have some success in non-conference games because that's a key. "Meantime, I do think we'll beat up on each other, like we have been the last four or five years." Incidentally, Rodriguez chuckles a bit when he hears someone say, "Now you have a chance to compete in the league." He's very proud of the fact WVU tied Miami for the championship last season and was runner-up in 2002. The Mountaineers had a combined 12-2 league log. "I thought we competed pretty good and with both Miami and Virginia Tech still in the league," Rodriguez said. "But we've got to play like that every year. "We're looking forward to defending the Big East championship. I think we'll continue to take steps each year." -30-

BCS weighing new bowl plan By Mark Blaudschun, Globe Staff | May 22, 2004 Bowl Championship Series officials are considering a plan that would create "two" Sugar, Orange, Rose, and Fiesta bowls on a rotating basis as a way of handling the expansion from eight to 10 teams in the BCS games. ADVERTISEMENT The concept, called the "Five-into-Four" plan, would have the four bowls played on New Year's Day and then the championship game played the following week at one of those same sites. The BCS must make a change because the NCAA presidents forced the BCS to add a bowl to provide more opportunities for non-BCS schools. The BCS is also being courted by nine other bowls that would like to host the fifth BCS game. According to a source yesterday within the BCS, a decision on the "Five-into-Four" plan could be voted on as early as the conference commissioners meetings in Boston next month. "Nothing is done yet, but it looks like that's where they are going," the source said. Outgoing BCS chairman Mike Tranghese said the process needs to move along because television negotiations between the Rose Bowl and ABC begin June 11 and before any money figures can be seriously discussed, a configuration plan needs to be in place. "I hope it will be done by [the conference commissioners meetings]" said Tranghese, who was in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., yesterday for the Big East spring meetings next week. "We have to start moving." The plan picked up additional speed when the Rose Bowl started pushing for it as a way to maintain its tie-ins with the Big Ten and Pacific 10 each season, as well as hosting the BCS national championship game every fourth season. The plan would be as follows: In a given year, one of the four BCS bowls would be designated as the national championship game, as in previous seasons, with the two top teams in the BCS rankings -- which is expected to be an equal mixture of the Associated Press poll, the coaches' poll, and a consensus computer poll -- playing for the title. With that game in place -- it would probably have to be played at least a week after the conclusion of the other BCS games -- the old BCS formula of four games among the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange would be used. The Rose Bowl would have its traditional Big Ten-Pac-10 matchup, while the Fiesta would be anchored to the Big 12 champion, the Sugar Bowl anchored to the Southeastern Conference champion, and the Orange Bowl would most likely have the Atlantic Coast Conference champion as its anchor team. The Big East would have a slot for its champion, but it would roam each season. The new plan would double the number of available at-large slots to four. The sticking point in this scenario would be the continued opposition from the presidents who oppose playing any games into the "second semester," which they have determined is beyond Jan. 5. If the presidents stand firm, the BCS will likely go back to a new five bowl rotation. In that scenario, the Gator Bowl looms as the likely choice to join the big four. A positive factor of this plan is that ABC, which currently holds the television rights to all BCS games, might push the games into a New Year's Eve, New Year's Day lineup, which would put New Year's Day back as the marquee day for college football, instead of having it dominated by bowl games between conference runners-up, as is now the case.

ACC goes dealing In an era when some sports TV deals have decreased, the beefed-up Atlantic Coast Conference has done well with its football contract with ESPN and ABC. The seven-year, $258 million deal starting this fall, to be announced next week, jumps 58%, from a current average of $23.4 million for nine teams to an average of $37 million for 12 schools. Miami (Fla.) and Virginia Tech join the ACC this year and Boston College in 2005. "The deal is finished," said ACC negotiator Barry Frank of IMG. The ACC stressed keeping each school at $2.6 million in annual football TV income for the regular season, with the ACC championship game starting in 2005 worth $6 million a year to the conference before ticket sales and marketing income are counted. ESPN, in turn, got the ACC to double its Thursday night games to six, and the annual ACC telecasts on ESPN/ESPN2 also increase to 18 this year. And the ACC's new syndication deal with Jefferson-Pilot/Raycom has soared to about $4 million a year to the conference, nearly four times the expiring deal, in negotiations coupled with the league's basketball TV package. Fox Sports Net to the Max

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=1793286

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/knights/orl-sptcusa16041604apr16,1,6465231.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines

Comments at bottom also. This taken from the Louisville board. http://mb4.theinsiders.com/flouisvillefrm17.showMessage?topicID=364.topic

Air Tran would probably be the best bet for AIR SERVICE. They have a hub in Philly and Pitt, which ever is the most convenient.

Yes, the Big East in B.B. is utopia although So.Fla. will be the doormat in the conference. The one big problem though, is that the Big East is a B.B. conf. Mike Transghese has done absolutely nothing for the football teams. The Big East has lost one bowl and is in the process of losing the Gator Bowl. When you have to share revenue with all the teams and only eight produce it, there isn't much left.

The huskerjournal team board.   Your listing is near the bottom of the page under independents, since they do not have a C-USA board.  At least evryone can find you now. http://www.huskerjournal.com/forums.html

http://www.huskerjournal.com/forums.html This address will give you all known team and conference boards. http://louisville.theinsiders.com This is the CARDINAL board and most of the teams are on "theinsiders". Scroll down the front LOU. page for other team boards.