Big East working to regain national profile

[Brad]

Big East working to regain national profile

Thursday, July 29, 2004

By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Commissioner Mike Tranghese helped create the Big East football conference, then watched it blossom into one of the nation's elite conferences in less than a decade.

And while he won't go as far as saying the Big East is starting over, he admitted yesterday that the conference has a whole lot of work to do in order to regain its national profile. He also knows it won't be quite as easy to get to the top again without a flagship program such as the University of Miami leading the way.

"I'm excited when I think about where we'll be in five years," Tranghese said at the Big East's annual preseason media day at Giants Stadium. "But you obviously can't replace Miami. I think we can become a great conference again from top to bottom, but I'm not sure we'll have a dominant team. All of our teams have to continue to improve and the new teams have to also.

"There is a lot of potential here, but there is also an uphill climb for us."

Tranghese, who announced the Big East has entered into an agreement with the Motor City Bowl, referred to the upcoming season as an "unusual year" because the conference is in transition. Miami and Virginia Tech have left the conference, Boston College and Temple are in their final season and Connecticut is in its first.

The conference will have seven teams this season, then add three members -- Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida -- next year. Tranghese said there is a chance the conference could add a fourth team -- a football-only member -- to making scheduling easier, but that isn't a priority.

Miami and Virginia Tech were two of the conference's top teams and much of its credibility stemmed from their presence. The challenge ahead is simple -- improve and do so quickly.

"Hey, we built it before and we can do it again and, frankly, I don't think we are all the way back to square one," Tranghese said. "In fact, we're much further ahead because back then, we didn't have television contracts, we didn't have bowl affiliations, we were on an island, we started from scratch.

"This isn't starting from scratch, it is more like an adjustment and a realignment. I think, however, we need to put all of that political stuff aside because we have seven teams who all think they can win this league this year. And the beauty of this is, the team that wins the league will get to play in a BCS bowl."

Although the Big East has retained its BCS berth, Tranghese said it is certainly no time to relax. BCS affiliations will be re-evaluated after the 2007 season, and the conference could lose its automatic bid at that time.

Most of the coaches in attendance agreed with Tranghese that the pressure is on, most are optimistic that the conference will again rise.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, whose Mountaineers are the favorite to win the conference this season, said the Big East has potential to be one of the best conferences in the country.

"If you're asking me to cry because I don't have to play Miami every year, I'm not going to, that's for sure," Rodriguez said jokingly.

"But obviously losing them and Virginia Tech is hard to overcome. But the thing is, the teams in this league are improving every year. And we will be a much stronger league than probably people nationally perceive us to be.

"It isn't going to happen this year, or next, but each year we will improve and, sooner than later, will be right back up where we were. I know we're supposed to be rooting for everyone else in the conference to do well, but I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time with that one. I want us to be good and everyone else to be awful, especially the week they play us."

Despite having only seven teams, the Big East could have as many as five bowl berths this year. The conference still has contracts with the Insight Bowl, Continental Tire Bowl, Gator Bowl and the BCS berth. Those spots are guaranteed provided the conference has four bowl-eligible teams.

The conference's affiliation with the Motor City Bowl doesn't guarantee a spot for a Big East team but could provide a fifth spot if circumstances are right.

The Motor City Bowl already has a contract with the Big Ten and Mid-American conferences, so the Big East can get a berth if the Big Ten doesn't have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the spot.

But, if a spot is open, the Big East is guaranteed the berth only if the conference has a team with at least seven wins that hasn't been selected for another bowl. A six-win Big East team could earn the berth, but it isn't guaranteed.

"There are some circumstances where [a 6-5 team] might not be invited, but there would have to be a team from another conference who has distinguished itself exceptionally, and, by that I mean eight or nine wins, which is probably not going to happen," Tranghese said.

"It was hard to get something done because we're trying to make an adjustment in mid-year contracts. After next season [2005], there will be new contracts and we believe we'll have five solid bowl berths for our conference."

[Apis Bull]

We all have a lot of work to do.  Got to win those BCS OOC games.

[bulls96go]

just win!

this is WVU year, they either step up or fall behind

[smazza]

big east simply must take care of business

[WVUNo1Fan]