BCS Is A Big Sell For Big East

[Papa_Bull]

BCS Is A Big Sell For Big East

By BRETT McMURPHY bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

Published: Jul 20, 2005

NEWPORT, R.I. - When the 2005 Big East football media day began Tuesday morning, the heavy fog that blanketed this coastal Rhode Island hamlet for the past 24 hours had finally lifted.

And as far as Commissioner Mike Tranghese is concerned, so had any clouds of doubt about the league's future.

``Two years ago people were telling us we were going out of business,'' Tranghese said.

``We were losing our BCS bid, we were going to lose our television contract and we're going to lose all our secondary bowl games.

``I stand here before you two years later - and none of that is true.''

Critics claimed the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference would decimate the league. Instead, it achieved something different - it gave Big East teams easier access to a BCS bowl.

``If you're recruiting against USC, Oklahoma or Miami, those are hard recruiting sells,'' Tranghese said. ``There are a whole bunch of teams in those leagues who are never getting to a BCS game. I told our coaches, every one of you has a chance to win this league and get to a BCS game.

``There are a lot of schools in the so-called other power leagues who are never going to and that's the benefit of being in this league.''

Welcome to the new Big East, where less is more. With only eight schools, no championship game and no league powerhouse - not yet, anyway - every team has a legitimate shot at a BCS bid.

``Certainly some people you recruit against in [the other] BCS conferences have no chance of going, they'll never make it to that game,'' Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. ``We have the opportunity in front of us, as well as everyone else in this room, and the odds are a little bit better.''

University of South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said the league's balance and easier access to a BCS bowl will be a powerful recruiting tool.

``Recruits should seriously look at the Big East, a league with a lot more opportunity and potential,'' Leavitt said. ``You don't have as many teams, so who's going to be `the team?' ''

Tranghese called Tuesday, ``a pretty historic day'' and the ``most exciting day in [his] 26 years'' with the Big East.

``We were in the plight that everyone thought we were going away,'' Tranghese said. ``It was an act of resurrection for us in a lot of ways. This isn't just about football. If we hadn't gotten our football reorganized and straightened out in a positive way, I just don't know if our conference would have been able to continue.

``When you're on the scrap heap and people are counting you out, it's nice to get off the canvas and do what you have to do.''

Petrino, Leavitt and Cincinnati's Mark Dantonio, whose club lost 27 seniors including 10 to the NFL, all realize the challenge moving from Conference USA to the Big East.

``The biggest difference is you're not going to have a couple of games each year when you step on the field and have better personnel than the other team,'' Petrino said. ``There were some teams you stepped on and you should beat. That's not going to happen here.''

Tranghese and the Big East coaches agreed it was imperative to maintain a Florida presence with USF.

``Maybe it's not great for us, because now there's another Florida school that has an immediate BCS bid if they win their league,'' Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. ``But overall for the league, it was what was needed.''

West Virginia senior defensive back Jahmile Addae said he strongly would have considered USF if the Bulls were in the Big East when he was at Riverview High School. A BCS berth is that big of an incentive.

``The Big East is in the upper echelon,'' Addae said. ``You're shooting to be your best in the conference and the nation. When you reach BCS status, that shows you are at the pinnacle of college football.''

For USF senior defensive tackle Tim Jones, he wasn't supposed to have this opportunity. But he redshirted last season, giving him one year in the Big East.

``In Conference USA you can't go to a BCS bowl and have a chance to play for a national championship,'' Jones said. ``To go to a BCS bowl, it doesn't get any bigger than that.

`National championship, national championship.' I just keep saying that because when I first came to USF, you couldn't say that.''

The Bulls can now, along with the rest of the Big East. And with the fog finally lifted, the Big East is hoping for a bright and sunny future.

http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGBOT5F2DBE.html

[bulls96go]

BE rules

[cygnus34]

Let's face some facts, the Big East now has to share the GATOR BOWL with the Big Twelve and Notre Dame, which will get the first pick over the B.E.team , if the records are comparible.   Outside of the BCS bowl and sometime GATOR, all the bowls in the BIG EAST repituoir are of the minimum payout type.

This can change and I do hope it does but it will take awhile.  There are some very good new coaches in the league and hopefully the league as a whole will get stronger.