Big East Wants Better Bowls (Two Articles)

[macphisto]

I think the Big East needs to work on making the Gator Bowl a Big East exclusive.  They may be able to get the Champs Sports Bowl to dump the ACC and give the Big East a matchup versus the Big Ten.

I'd be more in favor of establishing a second bowl game at current site over going to the Trop.  The Citrus Bowl hosts two events, though Jacksonville and Tampa Bay both have NFL teams to worry about for their stadiums.  Why not a bowl on December 26 in Tampa?

[BrahmanBulliever]

I think with the fairly northern bias the conference as a whole has, that travel shouldn't be a problem. The problem is that their just isn't the same level of fan interest in BE teams. I think if WVU wins the NC that will really invigorate the whole conference as every team (short of cuse) will think that could be them next year or in 2 years etc. I see USF fans as being the largest stumbling block to travel perception as basically where could you have a bowl game that would have better whether than Central to South Florida? Put someone in the middle of farmland or norther frigistan and people fall all over themselves to get out there.

[DELdaBull]

I would too if I were the Big East!

[JoeB]

Gator Bowl is an NBC Bowl.  ND plays all of its home games on NBC.  That is how the Gator Bowl and ND and the Big East all joined hands back in the '90s.  Without ND on board, I'm not sure the Gator would pick up the Big East by themselves.

[BrahmanBulliever]

Gator Bowl is an NBC Bowl.  ND plays all of its home games on NBC.  That is how the Gator Bowl and ND and the Big East all joined hands back in the '90s.  Without ND on board, I'm not sure the Gator would pick up the Big East by themselves.

This is why the Gator should not be our 2nd best conference bowl. It's downright embarassing to have the second best team in the conference viewed as unwanted leftovers to a 4th place Big 12 or a 7-5 independent. I'm not saying we should drop the bowl but we shouldn't be in the position to be treated so poorly.

[Joe]

the GB moved to CBS last year.

[DELdaBull]

Good!  Maybe ND won't be a necessity then.

[TyBull]

Big East mulling improved bowl destinations

By KEITH SARGEANT

STAFF WRITER

Imagine a bowl game in New Jersey, played just a few hours before the ball drops across the river in Times Square.

Or imagine a holiday week in St. Petersburg, Fla., a vacation centered around a bowl game pitting your favorite Big East Conference team against a Southeastern Conference foe.

Those are among several scenarios being discussed by Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese and his braintrust as they try to improve the conference's current bowl lineup.

"We're looking at a creation of new bowls in places that might be attractive to us," Tranghese said. "We're also talking to our current partners about upgrading what we currently have. And I think we've had some very low-level conversations with bowls who have said that when the next wave of contracts come out, they're going to be interested in us."

So if you're a Rutgers fan who isn't looking forward to spending the first week of January in Toronto, know this: Tranghese and Co. are doing their best to please you. In fact, just because the Scarlet Knights are likely headed to the International Bowl on Jan. 5, it doesn't mean your future vacation plans won't be a tad more appealing.

"We're trying to identify bowls where our fans and teams want to go," said Tranghese, adding that upgrading of his conference's bowl alignment "is a big priority" for the Big East.

Still, Tranghese makes no apologies for the critics bemoaning the Big East's current postseason tie-ins, pointing to where the league was in the aftermath of the Atlantic Coast Conference raid.

"I know where we are today versus where we were four years ago, it's like night and day," Tranghese said, noting that West Virginia will play for the national championship with a win over Pitt this Saturday. "When we negotiated these contracts, this league (with its current eight teams) had not even played a football game. So we had no leverage. To be quite blunt, we were lucky to get what we got."

What the Big East got was a four-year deal that maintained its ties with the Bowl Championship Series, and that was no small feat considering there were those who called for the weakened Big East not to be one of the six power conferences affiliated with the major bowl and national championship format.

But what Tranghese had to settle for was a bowl configuration that's been widely-panned in media circles and by fans alike.

Consider:

The Big East's marquee game, the Gator Bowl, has a loophole that allows it to pass over the conference's top non-BCS-bound team in favor of a Big 12 team twice over the four-year period.

Worse, if Notre Dame is bowl-eligible and doesn't get picked for a BCS game in the next two years, Gator officials can (and probably would) favor the Irish over a Big East team. If that happens, even the Sun Bowl won't be an option, since the El Paso-based game would take a Big 12 team.

While the Meineke currently gets the third choice, that second-tier bowl wasn't an option last year when Charlotte officials entered a one-year pact to pit Navy against an ACC foe. Because of this, a 10-2 Rutgers squad was sent to the inaugural Texas Bowl in Houston  not exactly a prime destination for fans wanting to drive to see their team play.

"Rutgers was a play away from going to the Orange Bowl," Tranghese said, "but they ended up going to Texas. I think the Rutgers people will tell you they had a good experience, but they were disappointed because they could've gone to a BCS game. But that's just the world we live in."

The Big East's other games, the Papa John's Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., and the International Bowl in Toronto, aren't exactly destinations in which travel agents are pitching around the holidays, either.

"Our priority is the (matchups) we play," Tranghese said. "Currently we do not play the Big 10 and we do not play the SEC, so I would like to play both of those conferences. If I took an SEC or a Big 10 team and put them against a Big East team, I don't care where we play, the game would have tremendous meaning."

That's where games in plush spots such as New York City or Florida come into play, according to Nick Carparelli, the Big East's associate commissioner, who acknowledged the possibility of bowl at the Meadowlands has been discussed.

"We've talked about it," Carparelli said. "We actually went down the path with the Jets, and had planned for the Big Apple Bowl pending the construction of their domed stadium. Once that fell through, and now that they're building a stadium at the Meadowlands that isn't going to be domed, certainly that project has lost a little bit of steam. I wouldn't rule it out, but I think without a dome in the Northeast, it would make it a little more difficult."

The prospects of playing a bowl game in St. Petersburg appear more feasible, Carparelli said.

"We've had meetings with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and all the local sports commissions in the area about this and we've received very positive feedback about the concept of a bowl game in St. Petersburg," Carparelli said. "It's not very far along."

More likely, the Big East will look to broker a deal with an existing bowl that currently has ties to another conference.

"I think bowl organizations like to see conferences with depth, and we've proven that we've had that," Carparelli said. "We've received interest from bowls already about the next phase of contracts and we feel good about the fact that we're going to be able to explore some other opportunities."

For now, Tranghese has a message to anyone bemoaning their team's upcoming bowl destination.

"It beats the alternative of not going to a bowl game," the Big East commissioner said. "I know that."

[TyBull]

RE: BE Mulling Improved Bowl Destinations

Basically the same article from the Syracuse perspective

http://www.syracuse.com/printer/printer....xml&coll=1

Bargaining Power

The Big East looks to leverage itself into better bowl games

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

By Dave Rahme

Staff writer

The Big East football conference has been building a substantial pile of chips over the last three seasons, and commissioner Mike Tranghese is about to cash them in.

With the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl serving as a backdrop if No. 2 West Virginia defeats Pittsburgh at 7:45 p.m. Saturday in that storied rivalry in Morgantown, it will play for the national championship Tranghese pledged Monday morning to snare more television money and better bowl opponents the next time his once-faltering league sits down at the bargaining table.

"I know where we are today vs. where we were four years ago is like night and day," Tranghese said. "There is no more talk about whether we belong in the BCS. You don't even hear that anymore. And the fact that we may have a school playing in the national championship game is another giant step forward for our league."

Four years ago, Tranghese admitted, the conference featured six teams, among them lame-duck Boston College and first-year member Connecticut. The national media bashed it before a game was played.

"We had no leverage," Tranghese said. "To be quite candid and blunt, we were lucky to get what we got."

What it finally got was a chance to continue to dine at the BCS banquet, the critical ingredient for retaining its national presence, but it also had to settle for scraps when it came to bowl destinations and prime-time TV slots. Friday night games were put on its plate. So were trips to the International Bowl in Toronto and the PapaJohn's.com Bowl in Alabama.

"People were telling us our league was lousy. They were telling us we didn't deserve a BCS bid," Tranghese said, "and we had to negotiate a television contract. Candidly, we were going to play on Friday night or we weren't going to have a contract. We were left with little, little choice. But things are changing."

It began two years ago when West Virginia defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. It continued last year when Louisville defeated Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. Now, if the Mountaineers can avoid the same sorry fate that has befallen so many other teams with a title shot within their grasp this season, the conference will be displayed on the biggest stage out there.

"We have done very, very well," Tranghese said. "Our goal is that the next time we negotiate a television contract and the next time we negotiate bowl deals we're going to be in a significantly better position."

The commissioner said he will use the newfound clout to gain more prime-time appearances and more television dollars for his teams. He will use it to entice teams from the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, which shunned Big East members as possible bowl foes in the last BCS deal, to jump aboard the next time around. There is talk of new bowls in Tampa and New York once the new Giants/Jets stadium is completed.

"We're trying to identify bowls where our fans can go, but our other priority is who we play," Tranghese said. "If we could somehow find a way to play teams from those leagues (Big Ten and SEC) in our next wave of bowl negotiations, that would be something I would put great emphasis on. If you play those teams, everything else will take care of itself."

Tranghese was quick to point out that the negotiations will not begin for at least another year, as the current four-year BCS deal a system that includes not just the major bowls but all of them is only in its second year.

"We're talking about a lot of things," he said. "We're looking at the creation of new bowls at places that may be attractive to us. We're also talking with current partners as a way to perhaps upgrade some things we currently have, and I think we've had some very low-level but initial conversations with bowls that have other teams and have said to us the next time around they are going to be interested in us."

It is a far cry from four years ago, when the reconfigured conference was branded a loser before it had played a game. Players of the week Offense:Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk completed 29 of 42 passes for a career-high 431 yards and four touchdowns and added a TD rushing touchdown in the Bearcats' 52-31 victory at Syracuse.

Defense:West Virginia linebacker Mortty Ivy registered a game- and career-high 11 tackles, including three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble that led to a West Virginia touchdown, in the Mountaineers' 66-21 victory over No. 20 Connecticut.

Special teams:WVU kicker/punter Pat McAfee scored 11 points, going 8-for-8 on PATs and hitting a 46-yard field goal, and averaging 52.7 yards on three punts. He dropped all three of his punts inside the UConn 20-yard line.

Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson was named to the conference's weekly honor roll after completing 29 of 47 passes for 419 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Cincinnati.

Dave Rahme can be reached at 470-2148 or drahme@syracuse.com.

© 2007 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.

Copyright 2007 syracuse.com. All Rights Reserved.

[TyBull]

Big East mulling improved bowl destinations

By KEITH SARGEANT

STAFF WRITER

Imagine a bowl game in New Jersey, played just a few hours before the ball drops across the river in Times Square.

Or imagine a holiday week in St. Petersburg, Fla., a vacation centered around a bowl game pitting your favorite Big East Conference team against a Southeastern Conference foe.

Those are among several scenarios being discussed by Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese and his braintrust as they try to improve the conference's current bowl lineup.

"We're looking at a creation of new bowls in places that might be attractive to us," Tranghese said. "We're also talking to our current partners about upgrading what we currently have. And I think we've had some very low-level conversations with bowls who have said that when the next wave of contracts come out, they're going to be interested in us."

So if you're a Rutgers fan who isn't looking forward to spending the first week of January in Toronto, know this: Tranghese and Co. are doing their best to please you. In fact, just because the Scarlet Knights are likely headed to the International Bowl on Jan. 5, it doesn't mean your future vacation plans won't be a tad more appealing.

"We're trying to identify bowls where our fans and teams want to go," said Tranghese, adding that upgrading of his conference's bowl alignment "is a big priority" for the Big East.

Still, Tranghese makes no apologies for the critics bemoaning the Big East's current postseason tie-ins, pointing to where the league was in the aftermath of the Atlantic Coast Conference raid.

"I know where we are today versus where we were four years ago, it's like night and day," Tranghese said, noting that West Virginia will play for the national championship with a win over Pitt this Saturday. "When we negotiated these contracts, this league (with its current eight teams) had not even played a football game. So we had no leverage. To be quite blunt, we were lucky to get what we got."

What the Big East got was a four-year deal that maintained its ties with the Bowl Championship Series, and that was no small feat considering there were those who called for the weakened Big East not to be one of the six power conferences affiliated with the major bowl and national championship format.

But what Tranghese had to settle for was a bowl configuration that's been widely-panned in media circles and by fans alike.

Consider:

The Big East's marquee game, the Gator Bowl, has a loophole that allows it to pass over the conference's top non-BCS-bound team in favor of a Big 12 team twice over the four-year period.

Worse, if Notre Dame is bowl-eligible and doesn't get picked for a BCS game in the next two years, Gator officials can (and probably would) favor the Irish over a Big East team. If that happens, even the Sun Bowl won't be an option, since the El Paso-based game would take a Big 12 team.

While the Meineke currently gets the third choice, that second-tier bowl wasn't an option last year when Charlotte officials entered a one-year pact to pit Navy against an ACC foe. Because of this, a 10-2 Rutgers squad was sent to the inaugural Texas Bowl in Houston  not exactly a prime destination for fans wanting to drive to see their team play.

"Rutgers was a play away from going to the Orange Bowl," Tranghese said, "but they ended up going to Texas. I think the Rutgers people will tell you they had a good experience, but they were disappointed because they could've gone to a BCS game. But that's just the world we live in."

The Big East's other games, the Papa John's Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., and the International Bowl in Toronto, aren't exactly destinations in which travel agents are pitching around the holidays, either.

"Our priority is the (matchups) we play," Tranghese said. "Currently we do not play the Big 10 and we do not play the SEC, so I would like to play both of those conferences. If I took an SEC or a Big 10 team and put them against a Big East team, I don't care where we play, the game would have tremendous meaning."

That's where games in plush spots such as New York City or Florida come into play, according to Nick Carparelli, the Big East's associate commissioner, who acknowledged the possibility of bowl at the Meadowlands has been discussed.

"We've talked about it," Carparelli said. "We actually went down the path with the Jets, and had planned for the Big Apple Bowl pending the construction of their domed stadium. Once that fell through, and now that they're building a stadium at the Meadowlands that isn't going to be domed, certainly that project has lost a little bit of steam. I wouldn't rule it out, but I think without a dome in the Northeast, it would make it a little more difficult."

The prospects of playing a bowl game in St. Petersburg appear more feasible, Carparelli said.

"We've had meetings with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and all the local sports commissions in the area about this and we've received very positive feedback about the concept of a bowl game in St. Petersburg," Carparelli said. "It's not very far along."

More likely, the Big East will look to broker a deal with an existing bowl that currently has ties to another conference.

"I think bowl organizations like to see conferences with depth, and we've proven that we've had that," Carparelli said. "We've received interest from bowls already about the next phase of contracts and we feel good about the fact that we're going to be able to explore some other opportunities."

For now, Tranghese has a message to anyone bemoaning their team's upcoming bowl destination.

"It beats the alternative of not going to a bowl game," the Big East commissioner said. "I know that."

FYI...below article comes from the Bridgewater, NJ Courier News.

Here's the link:

http://c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID...2/SPORTS02