Pitt Post-Gazette Big East Notebook

[Brad]

Big East Notebook: Two Pitt players to miss season; WVU favored to win conference

Thursday, July 29, 2004

By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Pitt coach Walt Harris said yesterday that wide receiver Terrell Allen (wrist surgery) and kicker David Abdul (broken right leg) are out for the season.

Abdul's leg was broken in three places in a car accident earlier this year, but he had hoped to recover in time for the season. With Abdul out, newcomer Josh Cummings, a junior-college All-American, likely will handle the kicking this fall.

Harris also said Charles Spencer has been moved from defensive tackle to offensive left guard and Vernon Botts from defensive end to tight end. Spencer, 6 feet 5, 330 pounds, has an excellent chance to win the starting job, said Harris, if he progresses as expected in preseason camp.

"Charles is one of the best athletes we've had at his size, maybe the best since I've been here," said Harris at Big East media day. "But it became clear last year that he wasn't going to reach his potential on defense.

"So I moved him, and, hopefully, he'll get it done on offense. He is too good of an athlete to not be a starter."

Pitt-Temple on TV

Pitt's game at Temple on Oct. 9 will be the Big East Game of the Week. It will start at noon and be televised regionally (locally on WTAE). That means the Panthers will be on television at least seven times, including four of their five road games.

Pitt's game against Rutgers Oct. 23 is one of two games being considered for the Big East Game of the Week. Temple-Connecticut is the other.

West Virginia the favorite

West Virginia was picked as the favorite to win the Big East in a poll of media members who cover the conference. The Mountaineers received 25 of 28 first-place votes. Boston College received the other three and was picked to finish second.

Pitt was third in the poll followed by Syracuse, Connecticut, Rutgers and Temple. This is the second time the Mountaineers were the preseason favorite. The first was in 1998.

Wicks eligible

West Virginia freshman Eric Wicks from Perry Traditional Academy will be eligible this season after sitting out last fall after entering school as a non-qualifier academically. Wicks, who recently completed his freshman year in good academic standing, will play either outside linebacker or safety.

"We've always taken one or two nonqualifiers and have had a lot of success with them," Rodriguez said.

"He can certainly help us now."

BC in or out?

This most likely will be Boston College's last year in the conference, as the Eagles are scheduled to begin play in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. But that issue is being fought in court, and there is a chance the Eagles may be forced to stay in the Big East for another year.

Before last year, Big East rules held that if a school left the conference, it had to pay a $1 million exit fee and give at least 12 months notice.

After Miami and Virginia Tech left the conference in June 2003, conference presidents amended the constitution and established a $5 million exit fee and required schools to give at least 27 months' notice.

Under the new guidelines, Boston College, which didn't decide to leave until the fall, would not be able to leave the conference until after the 2005 season.

But the school has sued the Big East, claiming it shouldn't have to pay the higher fee or be bound by the 27-month rule because the conference presidents didn't follow established guidelines for amending the league's constitution.

In all likelihood. a compromise will be reached. The ACC is pushing for a deal because it wants to have a conference championship game next year but can't without Boston College. NCAA rules mandate that a conference have 12 teams to have a championship game and, without Boston College, the ACC has only 11.

"It is all in the hands of the lawyers right now," Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said. "Something may get worked out, but, as of right now, they are still a Big East member until after next year."

What about Temple?

This will be Temple's final season in the Big East, but, unlike Boston College, the Owls are not leaving by choice. Temple was kicked out by the other members for financial reasons and for lack of football success.

Temple has not joined another conference and likely will play as an independent for at least the next two seasons. The Owls, however, have no plans to drop to I-AA.

Temple is reportedly working on forming some sort of an affiliation with the Mid-American Conference but nothing has been agreed on yet.

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[bulls96go]

wvu will dissappoint!

[smazza]

love the intel

[BullDoug]

The moving of Spencer may be signals of OL difficencies Pitt has at those positions.  USF DL should have a game comparable to the NIU game in RJS this Labor Day.  Lets all hope anyway.

[bulls96go]

we can use this game to set tone for our entrance in the big east

kicking arse and taking names