The Big East is getting too big for its own good

[TyBull]

The Big East is getting too big for its own good

http://www.dailymail.com/story/Sports/20...-own-good/

CALL me a skeptic -- still.

It was two years ago Sunday that Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida officially became players in the Big East. The conference needed to save itself -- and it's done much more than that.

Still, 16 members make for a crowded conference table.

Yes, the Big East had a stellar football season last fall, and could have a better one in 2007. It has new football and basketball telecast contracts about to kick in, at about $36 million annually combined.

Without Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech and Boston College, some Big East programs stepped smartly into the void -- most notably Louisville and West Virginia.

The league may be based in Providence, R.I. -- but 16 teams remains anything but a divine situation. Let's just say it's been workable.

When Commissioner Mike Tranghese was hoping to put it back together again, trying to make sure it wasn't Humpty Dumpty, there was more than a notion (a minimum commitment was made) that the eight football players might only stick with the basketball-based brethren for five years, through 2010.

Some early football success, having basketball landing an NCAA Tournament-record eight berths in 2006 and the richer TV deal gave the Big East a stronger feel of togetherness.

However, issues remain. One of the fixes -- a move from 16- to 18-game men's basketball schedules so every school can face one another -- may actually hurt the league in the long run.

In playing 18, these teams are going to beat up on one another. Strength of schedule will be enhanced, but the NCAA selection committee puts great weight on non-conference quality of opposition. If Big East coaches have it tougher inside the league, they may opt for more softies outside.

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim complained that his Orange didn't get an NCAA bid despite a 22-10 overall record and 10-6 in the conference last March. He had a doughy non-conference schedule, mostly at home, and it cost the Orange.

The Big East got only six bids in the 2007 Big Dance. That may be an annual occurrence now. In a recent column for the CSTV Web site, noted computer rankings and Ratings Percentage Index expert Jerry Palm pointed out why.

Big East teams (Palm used the Big Ten, going to 18 league games as well, as a reference point, too) will have stronger overall schedules because two league games will likely replace two guarantee "gimmes."

Palm pointed out that the middle teams in the Big East could be hurt most because won-loss records will suffer and RPI rankings will drop. The NCAA committee uses more selection tools than the RPI, but when Big East teams are being compared to those in the ACC or SEC, two more games (and prospective losses) won't help.

Will 10-6 in one of those leagues be better than 10-8 in the Big East? See what I mean?

(And yes, I know that ESPN's Bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, has the Big East with nine bids in his eight-month-early 2008 field of 65 projection.)

The numbers run by Palm do not show that stronger schedules (thanks to two more league dates) will help the Big East on Selection Sunday.

And if the Big East can't get seven or eight teams into the NCAA, then coaches are going to be asking why they're playing 18 killer league dates ... and something else.

The schools are going to ask again if bigger is better. I still think there's a football/basketball split coming in the Big East in the not-too-distant future. Maybe it's after these new TV deals expire in 2013, but how this hoops scheduling change plays out could be a major factor.

The football eight of WVU, Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Rutgers and USF know they would be deeper in hoops, too, than the remaining eight (Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, Notre Dame, DePaul, Marquette).

They're through the Bowl Championship Series. The Big East's pigskin players -- if Pitt and Syracuse straighten out once-proud programs -- won't need the Catholic dribblers.

OK, maybe they'll still need the Fighting Irish at second-tier bowl negotiation time!

Two years after getting a facelift, the Big East has become better than it was in basketball and better than it expected to become in football, but it also remains something else.

It's still the Too Big East.

Contact Sports Editor Jack Bogaczyk at jackb@dailymail.com or 348-7949.