cubuffsdoug

How much of a lock can McGee be if he's schedule for an official visit this weekend (1/30-2/1) to Rutgers?

This glass house is about to come down.

The toss up games... Really? UConn and SMU are likely wins, but Rutgers, Cincinnati and UCF are not. Rutgers has USF's numbers and it in December. UCF has more than enough offense to give USF trouble, plus it's at their place and a rivalry game. Cincinnati catches more breaks with the schedule this year where their don't have back to back hard games. Cincinnati has USF sandwiched between Miami (OH) and Temple... fixed!!!

But for some reason they look down on most of the teams in the BE except for Cincy. Their fans are still talking about winning the BE this year. Some of their fans even said the offense is just strong enough to win the BE because they already know they have the best defense in the league.

Was USF too quick to give Holtz an extension on his contract?

Choke City for USF... ****

We can get revenge on Hofstra. Kinda. The starting center returned to practice today and he's expected to start on Thursday. Alexander was and still is listed as a co-starter with Civil. Rutgers gets their kick returner Deering back this week as well as their starting TE. Only backups DE Thompson, RB Huggins and co-starter RG Civil are expected not to play on Thursday.

just read another article that all 4 are highly unlikely due to the short week The starting center might actually play Thursday. Ankle injury is not as bad as first reported. Backups Huggins and Thompson affect depth more than anything else even though Thompson was starting to make some noise.

This is old news b/c the Big 12 had agreed in principle to the extension on their current contract which was suppose to run out 2015-16. The new deal run through 2023-24, but there is one holdup. The GOR is the problem and the lesser teams of the Big 12 are debating on should they sign away their rights for the next 6 to 8 years. Teams like Texas and OU can walk away from the Big 12 and think nothing of the penalty from the GOR, but the rest of the league can't. This is why the Big 12 commissioner is making the rounds to every school to convince them this is in their best interest. Both Iowa St. and Kansas have said the commissioner is a yes man for UT. There was the issue of Texas Tech willing to pull out of a game against Texas St. because they were being force (league office & ESPN) to show the game on the Longhorn Network (UT tier 3 rights). Texas Tech doesn't want to help UT at their expense. TT was willing to go as far as dropping the game. TT was able to avoid the situation when the Big 12 commissioner caved in under pressure from local Texas state politicians. Believe it or not the Big 12 is still on shaky grounds. It's part of the reason they start a lot of rumors to keep others unsettled and looking around while they patch up their problem. Anyone who thinks the Big 12 is better and more stable is fooling his or herself. They lost 4 teams which is greater than anything the BE has ever experienced. Nebraska can't not be replace by the schools the Big 12 have invited. In 20 seasons in the Big 12 NU has won 3 national championships. A&M may not win enough, but there is no denying A&M adds to the myth of the Texas rivalry. Missouri is a solid team that takes away 2 large markets from the Big 12. Colorado hasn't been much since the Dan Hawkins hiring, but before him they have won 3 Big 12 titles in 20 seasons and do have a national championship to their name back in 1990. The Big 12 is doing a solid job of hiding their pain by hitching a ride with the SEC and bad mouthing BE and the ACC which both represent a serious threat to the survival of the Big 12. If the BE gets the huge TV contract as some expect ($17 to $20 million) and FSU and Clemson say thanks but no thanks, then the Big 12 has probably reached it max in earning potential. BYU is likely off to the BE for that type of money and there isn't much left for the Big 12 to choose from. Why Colorado St.? Tulsa? Nevada? The Big 12 is running a hellva propaganda story and so far folks are buying it. Look pass the BS and see the hardcore facts and events that have taken place over the last 2 years to see the Big 12 might be in worse shape than either the BE or ACC. Why do you think the BE commish Aresco has taken a few comeback shots at the Big 12 commish. There was a report, I believe on CBSsports.com, that mentioned the Big 12 has the least growth potential of any of the Big 6 conferences. In fact it stated that it could be endangered unless they go completely outside of the box to grow. In other words there are few teams in that region that offer much and they would have to go to the east coast or weast coast to expand with worthwhile teams. That why FSU, Clemson have been mentioned, but it's a long shot b/c of Texas presence.

Here's what I found in the Sagarin ratings which is used to judge the quality of a conference: 2011 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS WIN50% 1 BIG 12 (A) = 83.61 82.83 ( 1) 10 83.08 ( 1) 2 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 80.88 81.60 ( 2) 12 81.27 ( 2) 3 BIG TEN (A) = 75.55 75.30 ( 4) 12 75.49 ( 3) 4 PAC-12 (A) = 74.72 75.38 ( 3) 12 75.14 ( 4) 5 BIG EAST (A) = 72.41 72.86 ( 5) 8 72.82 ( 5) 6 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 71.92 71.49 ( 6) 4 71.59 ( 6) 7 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 71.23 71.03 ( 7) 12 71.06 ( 7) 8 CONFERENCE USA (A) = 66.04 65.79 ( 9) 12 65.98 ( 8) 9 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 65.86 66.22 ( 8) 8 65.85 ( 9) 10 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 63.73 63.94 ( 10) 8 63.92 ( 10) 11 MID-AMERICAN (A) = 63.53 63.31 ( 11) 13 63.51 ( 11) 2010 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS WIN50% 1 PAC-10 (A) = 80.87 81.43 ( 1) 10 81.14 ( 1) 2 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 79.84 79.56 ( 2) 12 79.72 ( 2) 3 BIG 12 (A) = 75.42 75.64 ( 3) 12 75.66 ( 3) 4 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 74.32 74.18 ( 6) 12 74.20 ( 6) 5 BIG TEN (A) = 74.18 74.72 ( 4) 11 74.52 ( 4) 6 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 73.88 74.27 ( 5) 3 74.21 ( 5) 7 BIG EAST (A) = 73.27 73.00 ( 7) 8 73.04 ( 7) 8 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 70.19 70.24 ( 8) 9 70.03 ( 8) 9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 66.63 67.69 ( 9) 9 66.90 ( 9) 2009 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS WIN50% 1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 80.48 81.07 ( 1) 12 80.87 ( 1) 2 BIG EAST (A) = 77.33 76.97 ( 2) 8 77.06 ( 2) 3 PAC-10 (A) = 76.23 75.45 ( 5) 10 75.77 ( 4) 4 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 76.04 75.90 ( 3) 12 75.92 ( 3) 5 BIG 12 (A) = 74.61 75.54 ( 4) 12 75.32 ( 5) 6 BIG TEN (A) = 73.74 74.49 ( 6) 11 74.30 ( 6) 7 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 71.04 69.61 ( 8) 3 70.09 ( 8) 8 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 70.92 71.48 ( 7) 9 71.29 ( 7) 9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 65.46 66.03 ( 9) 9 65.52 ( 9) 2008 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS 1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 78.31 79.08 ( 1) 12 2 BIG 12 (A) = 77.86 77.80 ( 2) 12 3 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 77.70 77.67 ( 3) 12 4 PAC-10 (A) = 76.14 75.39 ( 4) 10 5 BIG EAST (A) = 75.23 74.11 ( 5) 8 6 BIG TEN (A) = 73.21 73.49 ( 6) 11 7 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 70.90 71.72 ( 7) 9 8 CONFERENCE USA (A) = 65.88 65.75 ( 8) 12 9 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 64.26 63.74 ( 10) 4 2007 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS 1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 81.99 81.83 ( 1) 12 2 PAC-10 (A) = 79.47 79.63 ( 2) 10 3 BIG 12 (A) = 78.62 78.35 ( 3) 12 4 BIG EAST (A) = 77.46 77.12 ( 4) 8 5 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 75.21 74.98 ( 5) 12 6 BIG TEN (A) = 74.63 74.17 ( 6) 11 7 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 70.95 70.84 ( 7) 9 8 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 61.74 61.79 ( 8) 4 9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 61.29 61.72 ( 9) 9 10 SOUTHERN (AA)= 60.50 59.92 ( 11) 8 11 CONFERENCE USA (A) = 59.54 60.06 ( 10) 12 2006 CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS 1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 81.60 81.23 ( 1) 12 2 BIG EAST (A) = 79.57 79.90 ( 2) 8 3 PAC-10 (A) = 78.78 79.15 ( 3) 10 4 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 75.49 73.79 ( 6) 12 5 BIG TEN (A) = 74.89 75.62 ( 4) 11 6 BIG 12 (A) = 74.34 74.01 ( 5) 12 7 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 68.34 69.30 ( 7) 9 8 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 65.97 65.74 ( 8) 4 9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 63.88 64.92 ( 9) 9 10 CONFERENCE USA (A) = 63.58 64.00 ( 10) 12 This goes back to the last BE raid. Average sagarin rating based on order of finish doing this period: 1) SEC 2) Pac 12 3) Big 12 4) BE 5) ACC 6) Big 10 Big 10 is all hype right now. If you move teams around to their new leagues like BSU to the BE, WVU to the Big12 and A&M to the SEC, etc,. the BE is in a dead heat for 3rd with the Big 12. BSU 10 win seasons and victories against "named" opponents really help. Also, Houston to my surprise since '06 has been 10-4, 8-5, 8-5, 10-4, 5-7, 13-1 with a few victories over some named opponents too.

You mean like Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, NC State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Penn State. While you are absolutely correct, I think that he is an advocate of playing MORE of these road games wihout a return game or 2 for 1's or even 3 for 1's. I will not disagree with that part of his post as it may become necessary in the future. I would like to see a breakdown of payments and expenses of playing some big time teams on the road vs. what we make playing a 1AA at home. It's not just the Big East scheduling 1AA schools. Here's a list for this year: Boston College - Maine Clemson - Furman FSU - Murray State, Savannah State Maryland - William & Mary NC State - Citadel Wake Forest - Liberty Duke - North Carolina Central Georgia Tech - Presbyterian Miami - Bethune Cookman UNC - Elon Virginia - Richmond Virginia Tech - Austin Peay Baylor - Sam Houston State Iowa State - Western Illinois Kansas - South Dakota State Kansas State - Missouri State Oklahoma - FAMU OK State - Savannah State TCU - Grambling State Texas - none Texas Tech - Northwestern State WVU - James Madison Cincinnati - Delaware State, Fordham UConn - none Louisville - Missouri State Pitt - Youngstown State, Gardner Webb Rutgers - Howard USF - Chattanooga Syracuse - Stony Brook Temple - Villanova I think you get the picture. Almost all BCS teams play one 1AA team. So why is it a knock on us when we do it, but not when everyone else does? You are barking up the wrong tree. I know most do. I was merely saying that Steve was not totally out of bounds on his statement about playing 1AA. If there is a perception of the Big East being inferior, the only way to quell is it to beat the other teams in the so called Big 5. I was wondering if USF actually made more money playing a 1AA at home vs a big time school (if you can get one to schedule) on the road. Another thought would be are you risking a bowl berth by losing to a big time team on the road instead of padding the win total. A lot of people on here have complained when USF makes a small bowl (not me) so some may think it is worth it. Two years ago I had no problem with the schedule. Now that things have changed, I merely think that USF may have to consider a change in scheduling philosophy. Unlike Steve, I know that there is no black and white answer to this and know there are positives and negatives to each decision the powers that be make. I agree with kicking the crap out of the other 5 conferences. A lot of schools talk down about the BE, but there is a lot of fear the truth might come out. The BE has some good schools that can play ball except for Syracuse. Everyone wants them on the schedule.

Some people complain just to complain. For once the BE is doing something that will help them to stay ahead of the curve, yet you have people b*tching with no real reason other than the sky isn't a light blue.

Deputy BE Commissioner Caparelli and Interim Commissioner Bailey said by the end of August should be the announcement of the new commissioner. Caparellit said look for the BE (PR firm) to start rolling out info packages to different media outlets highlighting the BE accomplishments and why it's still one of the big boy conferences. Caparelli has made some rounds through radio giving facts about the BE success compared to others like the ACC and Big 12. They have been doing more outside of the BE footprint to get the message out.

Here's a video of the NCAA president talking about the PSU situation: It doesn't sound no matter what the Penn St. pundits say.

Those schools made it known they were leaving long before Boise St. said yes and official committed to the BE on July 1.

Tags was nothing more than a mouthpiece for former commish Meatball. How else do you explain attacking your own league members saying they aren't worth any value to anyone. That's a hellva way to prevent teams from leaving the league. I do believe Tags had a hand in getting Memphis into the league. It wasn't because of their fooball, but due to their basketball being a top notch program.

From what I read and heard Bailey was recommended for the position due to his background with the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys. Bailey worked in the front office as well as in media relations for both. We now know why he hit the glass ceiling in pro football.

The BE, as suggested by the new PR firm, has started limiting Bailey's media contact. Deputy Commish Carparelli has started making the rounds on radio and print media to put the word out on the BE. He's doing a much better job at defending the league by challenging anyone to debate the merits of the BE as deserving a spot at the table. Also, Carparelli said the BE should have a new commish in place by late August.

The BE doesn't suck. Unlike other conferences where 1 or 2 teams dominated year in and year out parity is in play every year with the BE. Due to the parity people say the BE stinks because each year a different team is on top. It hard to build a name brand if no one is consistently on top. The ACC has had either Va. Tech or Clemson win the title in most years. The Pac 12 is usually USC or Oregon. The BE on the other hand has had 5 different teams claim a share of the league title since the first raid. That goes a long way in the perception of being an average league where no one is king yearly. In other leagues the top school or two is far superior to the rest of the league, but the separation of the top BE school isn't that much different than the bottom school in some years. Perception and reality don't always agree. Outside of the BCS bowl games, in which the BE is .500, the league is 15-9 against BCS leagues in bowl games. Still people don't want to believe this. Sometimes a lie becomes more powerful than the true because the true hurt a hellva lot more. People still don't want to give the BE credit for WVU (viewed them as a Big 12 team) smacking around Clemson, but the year before USF beat the same Clemson team in a bowl game too, so it's not a fluke.

Do you real believe anything ESPiN has to say about the BE? Here's a link to a blogger (UConn grad) who spelled out the problem with ESPiN and their treatment of the BE ever since they turn down the last TV bid: Does Anyone Care About The ESPN Smear Campaign Against the Big East? Since this article came out it has spead like fire to other scout, rivals and a few mainstream sites. On a related note BE deputy commissioner Carparelli has been making his way around the the media world (radio sports talk & print) trying to hammer home the strengths of the BE. The interim commish hasn't earned his pay, so deputy commish is doing it. Here's a first, deputy commish openly admitted that pervious commissioners haven't listened to the cat calls about perception or been pro-active. Carparelli said he willing to debate anyone on the BE track record in BCS bowls against the other leagues. He continued to say the BE is working beyond over-time to secure a spot in the one of the bowls games because the playoffs (fine print agreement) hasn't been settled just yet. The deputy said the BE is working over contacts and bowl officails to see what the next move is. Carparelli mentioned a new commissioner will be named by the end of August and the PR firm (Boston based) will be rolling out a full court press about the BE and it deserves it place at the table. The deputy goes on to say expect some outside help (sponsors to play a role). The host of one sports talk show believe NBC (basically has the deal) and companies (ties to league members) like FedEX, NY Yankees will step up for better bowl payouts, status, and TV (offer better bowl time slots compared to ESPN 30+ games). Carparelli would not a address TV renewal with ESPN. The host press him and all deputy said was the BE is moving forward. At least the news I've been hearing lately is sure different from quotes like the "Big Least" or dead on arrival.

You haven't followed the USF-RU series since we joined the BE? I have followed the series. It's been one sided for the most part. I was at the '06, '07, '08 and '09 games. Let's just say USF has a matchup problem with RU and in game coaching hasn't been top notch in those games. Also, blame ESPN for pushing this matchup to Thursday nights. That's who you should be p*ssed with, not RU Bullwinkle The CU/CSU series has been in Denver since 1998 except for the 2009 game.

Why should the conferences that built the football and the bowls into the cash cows that they are today share any of it with the Johnny come lately Big East? Because the BE is one of the founding members of the BCS aka cash cow. Like it or not the BE has held its own since 1998. It's the ACC that should be the one that is questioned about disappointing performances. Even with that ACC is a founding member and like the BE should still be at the table. As much as the other 4 conference like to remove them, it would be stupid to disconnect the entire eastern seaboard from this cash cow. Not only are you missing upto 40% of the nation's population, but advertisers who love to promote things in large markets. Do you really think Madison Ave (marketing mecca aka NYC) really would enjoy marketing a game along with ESPN about a game between Kansas St. and Okie St.? Neither have large population based to address or appeal outside of their region. Even if you're not a USF fan Tampa has appeal to a casual viewer and advertisers know and understand that. Who wants to go to Manhattan, KS or Stillwater, OK besides to see a 3 hour game? Greedy fools from the other 4 conferences don't want to leave that much money on the table because their greedy would get the better of them. Btw, I really haven't read or seen anything from the power players as a group that has said for 100% the BE or the ACC are no longer part of the Big Boys. I've read article from reporters with hearsay or individuals speak without authority take shots at the BE or ACC, but that's about it. There are 11 conferences that vote and last time I check the other 4 need them to pass anything concerning playoffs.

Why would a team want to stay in a conference with 4 D2 teams and no TV deal even possible. I mean talk about media markets Wyoming, have you been to Wyoming? There are more Bigfoots in Wyoming than people. New Mexico, CSU in bustling Fort Collins, CO. Now granted people watch football in LV, but only to gamble on the outcome, and they sure don't bet on UNLV. Yes. I've been to Wyoming. Drove from Sarasota to Anchorage one summer, camping along the way. Drove through eastern Wyoming on I25 through Cheyenne which is the north end of the Front Range Urban Corridor where over 4 million people live. It starts in south eastern Colorado and ends at Cheyenne. I have lived and worked in both of those states. I actually drilled an oil field discovery well right outside of Ft Collins. US Census(2010)- WY 568K- Weld Co CO-FtCollins- 252K. Nice map but only about 3 people on that map watch WY FB. Media market may be the worst in the US. CSU not much better. There is only 1 college FB town in CO and it's in Boulder. Imean if I shaded in that much land around Tampa, it would probably include the entire state of FL. Pretty map though. Colorado Springs is a college FB town too (Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 645,613 in 2010). The Air Force Academy is there. The attendance for Falcons football games is much larger than for CSU games in Boulder. The highest attended Rams game was 30k last year. It was 46k for Air Force. Matter of fact the attendance last year for Wyoming football was close to that of CSU. All but one of the Wyoming games were on TV, either on Mountain's TV (owned by Mountain, NBC and CBS) channel or ESPN or Versus or on ESPN3/game plan. When did the Rams start playing in Boulder? Did I miss something or CSU moved from Ft. Collins to Boulder to play their games? The CU/CSU game has been played in Denver for some time now. Besides, everyone's games are on tv these days. What you should ask who it watching them? Surely not Wyoming. Btw, what has Rutgers done to USF that so many fans dislike them or is that a learned trait from other idiots (Pitt & SU) in the BE?

What's the one thing missing in just about every article that comes out about BSU or some other BE school leaving ASAP... quotes from the source itself. A lot of the times the articles are space-fillers and take what little info they have and build a "what if" into a story that has lots of people believing. By never quoting people directly involved like BSU's AD or President, you save yourself from be liable. There have been articles about UL's departure from the BE for close to 2 years now and where are they... still in the BE. Meanwhile, not a word about SU or Pitt (only they were headed to the Big 10) and they ended up in the ACC. It's the schools that are quiet we should all be concerned about. The only quotes directly related to BSU or SDSU leaders are about their commitment to the BE.

RU beat USF by being one dimensional with the run... 200+ yrds worth by Rice. Now that Teel is improving by leaps and bounds in the passing game expect more to counter Grothe and Ford. Shoulda, coulda and woulda just don't cut it. Hill's dropped 2 pt pass is the same as RU 6 (4 unforced) turnovers the year before that cost RU the game against USF at RU.