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Mike Tranghese on Big East Expansion

TyBull

By TyBull
in American Athletic Conference

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TyBull Toro Magnifico

TyBull

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

The ninth member

My colleague Donnie Webb does a fantastic job covering the daily happenings of the SU football team on his blog at syracuse.com. My job for The Post-Standard has been more of an analyst, trying to get inside the X's and O's. I also spend a lot of time writing about SU's opponents, as I am in the opposing locker room on game days. This new blog will bring some of the analyses I write for the paper onto the website. I will also ask for the opinions of fellow Monday morning quarterbacks and share them here.

As SU's season is still more than two weeks away and there will be plenty to discuss as it gets closer, let's open with a broader topic, the Big East football conference.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese told me emphatically last month that there are no plans to add a ninth football-playing team to the conference. The current eight-team setup is a scheduling nightmare because it forces members to play three home conference games one season and four the next, meaning another home game must be found every other year to balance the schedule. It is why many deals call for a team to play somebody at home or away and then often not complete the series for four or five years with the return game. Tranghese said he understands the problem but is not prepared to address it yet.

"We have this scheduling issue that our members really want us to solve," he told me. "But we're not going to solve it by just making a ninth team. We said to our people, 'Let's talk about what a ninth team would have to be.' It would have to be somebody our presidents are comfortable with academically, from a geographic standpoint it would have to provide more television opportunities and more bowl opportunities for our conference. Are we going to take a ninth team just to solve schedules and then just give that ninth team our money?

"It's just too soon for us. We haven't even had a chance to rebuild. The last thing we need to be doing . . . we've been raided. The last thing I need to be doing right now is going other places."

Fair enough, although in fact Tranghese did turn around and raid Conference USA after the ACC threatened his league with destruction by recruiting Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College. The league does have wounds to bind and rivalries to build, but the scheduling dilemma can't be ignored for long.

With that in mind, and considering Tranghese's criteria, what team would be the best fit as a ninth member for the league? And let's be realistic (forget Notre Dame and Penn State, please). I used to think East Carolina would be a perfect fit, considering the way the Pirates and their charismatic coach, Steve Logan, loved to give Big East teams, SU among them, fits. But my vision was too focused on football only, and that team offers little when considering Tranghese's criteria. Now, with Logan gone the football hasn't even been that good. So who is it? Memphis? Navy? Central Florida?

Send me your suggestions and why, and I'll share them here with other SU football fans.

- Dave Rahme

drahme@syracuse.com

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BullsFanInTX Toro Magnifico

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Hey guys, first time poster, Bulls fan since DAY 1.  How about TCU for future expansion.  This is probably the ONLY team that would benefit us from the get go.  I hear teams being tossed around like ECU, UCF, Memphis, etc.  Forget them.  TCU has been a top 25 program in a fertile recruiting state like TX, where HS ball is as big as it is in FL.  They jumped at the chance to bolt CUSA and would jump at the chance to join BE.  Why not??

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USFan Toro Magnifico

USFan

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Hey guys, first time poster, Bulls fan since DAY 1.  How about TCU for future expansion.  This is probably the ONLY team that would benefit us from the get go.  I hear teams being tossed around like ECU, UCF, Memphis, etc.  Forget them.  TCU has been a top 25 program in a fertile recruiting state like TX, where HS ball is as big as it is in FL.  They jumped at the chance to bolt CUSA and would jump at the chance to join BE.  Why not??

I think that they don't fit the "East" geography.

PS- Welcome aboard!

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BullsFanInTX Toro Magnifico

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Hey guys, first time poster, Bulls fan since DAY 1.  How about TCU for future expansion.  This is probably the ONLY team that would benefit us from the get go.  I hear teams being tossed around like ECU, UCF, Memphis, etc.  Forget them.  TCU has been a top 25 program in a fertile recruiting state like TX, where HS ball is as big as it is in FL.  They jumped at the chance to bolt CUSA and would jump at the chance to join BE.  Why not??

I think that they don't fit the "East" geography.

PS- Welcome aboard!

Thanks,

DFW has one of the best airports in the country.  I don't think they are any farther from the rest of the BE schools than USF.  If we can't get a TCU like program then I say don't expand.  Never ever let UCF in.   ;)

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smazza Toro Magnifico

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i like it

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deathrow95 Enthusiast

deathrow95

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 Good call TCU is the only real option.  Big city, new market, big airport.  Great football.

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SRQ Toro Magnifico

SRQ

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Nice thought, but it won't happen.  TCU won't take a football-only position and BE won't add a 17th.  Power in BE conf. still resides with hoops programs.

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Nice thought, but it won't happen.  TCU won't take a football-only position and BE won't add a 17th.  Power in BE conf. still resides with hoops programs.

Don't be so sure.  TCU bolted out of CUSA as soon as they could when they saw it going down the tubes, and I bet they would jump ship from MWC for chance at BCS conf.  They would take a football only, if they thought they might eventually get full membership, and maybe even without full membership.  Don't add any teams that don't immediately bring something to the table.  I'd rather see us stay at 8 teams.

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South_Florida_Flip Toro Magnifico

South_Florida_Flip

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They would take a football only, if they thought they might eventually get full membership, and maybe even without full membership.  Don't add any teams that don't immediately bring something to the table.  I'd rather see us stay at 8 teams.

As noted in other threads, the Big East isn't going to add for football only. The non football playing schools will not vote in a school for football only membership, nor would the Big East expand to 17 basketball teams.

Keep it as is for a while and see if a current member can eventually join.

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