Things are looking way up for Big East

[bullwark]

And it goes beyond Mountaineers-Cards

By Brian Bennett

bbennett@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

Thursday's showdown between No. 4 West Virginia and the sixth-ranked University of Louisville could be the biggest football game in the history of this state.

It also will serve as a showcase for the state of the Big East Conference.

 

Less than a year after being roundly ridiculed, the reconfigured Big East has plenty of reasons to crow. It has three undefeated football teams ranked in the top 16 that demand attention this week and beyond. The men's basketball alignment, which some feared would prove unwieldy with 16 teams, put a record eight in the NCAA Tournament last season and has several strong contenders again.

Once left for dead, the Big East not only is alive and kicking, it might be stronger than ever before.

"This is what we were hoping for," commissioner Mike Tranghese said. "But it probably happened sooner than a lot of us thought."

Many probably thought Big East football wouldn't recover after Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College bolted for the Atlantic Coast Conference. A deflated Big East sent its mediocre 2004 champion, Pittsburgh, to the Fiesta Bowl for a 35-7 drubbing at the hands of Utah.

The addition of Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida didn't immediately boost the league's football reputation, but then West Virginia got on a roll and beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl for instant credibility.

"That was the biggest shot in the arm for us," Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said. "It was something we needed to quiet the doubters."

The momentum picked up steam this season. That U of L and West Virginia are 7-0 isn't a huge surprise, but Rutgers has emerged as one of the season's best storylines. Coach Greg Schiano has turned around the formerly moribund Scarlet Knights, who will be 8-0 if they beat UConn tonight.

"We could have three teams undefeated heading into November," Tranghese said, "and in an eight-team league, that's pretty special."

It also should make for an exciting stretch run. The Big East purposely backloaded its conference schedule to maximize exposure, which seems to be working out brilliantly. One week after Thursday's game, Louisville will travel to Rutgers for what could be the biggest game in the New Jersey school's history. The Scarlet Knights will play West Virginia in Morgantown in the season finale, and both the Mountaineers and Cardinals still must travel to vastly improved Pittsburgh.

"The schedule looks pretty tough down the road, doesn't it?" U of L coach Bobby Petrino said.

The conference race sizzles because of what the teams did outside of the league: 32-8. Before yesterday's action, Jeff Sagarin rated the Big East as the nation's third-toughest conference, behind the Pacific 10 and Southeastern. The ACC, which won't have any teams in the top 10 when today's polls come out, is ranked fifth by Sagarin.

There's very little question that the Big East is one of the nation's strongest men's basketball conferences. U of L, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida joined an already stacked group of powerhouses.

But many, including some of the league's coaches, doubted that a 16-team format could hold together. At last week's Big East Media Day in New York, though, coaches were unified in their praise for how the alignment succeeded in Year One.

"Initially I was very cynical about expansion," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "But it was much better than I would have anticipated. I think expansion rejuvenated the league."

Half of the conference teams made it to the NCAA Tournament, though none reached the Final Four. Five are in the preseason USA Today coaches' Top 25, with Pitt and Georgetown in the top 10.

When the coaches met during the off-season in Florida, there was no talk of anyone wanting to leave the league, Villanova's Jay Wright said.

"It was more that we were all privileged to be in it," he said. "Everyone was so committed and so proud to be a part of the Big East."

Issues still remain on the basketball side. Some coaches, including Calhoun, would like to see all 16 teams make the conference tournament instead of just the top 12. But Tranghese said the logistics of that wouldn't work, and he likes the added excitement late in the season when teams battle for the final tournament spots.

Also, for the second straight season, not all Big East teams will play each other in the regular season. U of L, for example, won't face West Virginia. That will change next season, when each team will play everyone else at least once during an 18-game league schedule.

"I think it's working 90 percent," U of L coach Rick Pitino said. "When everybody plays each other next year, then it will truly be working. But it is working great right now in terms of competitiveness and fan interest and recruiting. It's opening a whole new world of recruiting for Louisville."

Louisville will be the center of the college football world Thursday night. And the state of the new Big East will be on display.

Brian Bennett can be reached at (502) 582-7177.

[USFan]

GO BE!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) :)