BCS Title and the Big East

[NCBull]

I like this CFN article...certainly helps get over basketball post-season blues and into spring practice!

http://cfn.scout.com/2/954904.html

2010 Spring Preview - No. 18

Big East - The BCS Title & The Big East

By Pete Fiutak

For a conference that supposedly doesn’t deserve to be among the BCS leagues, at least in the minds of many fans, has sure been close to getting its chance to play for the whole ball of wax.

Want to get the debate started about the BCS and the Big East’s place in it? The Big East was three plays away from having three being in three of the last four BCS Championships, and to really bend your noodle, the league probably would’ve won at least one of the three, probably two.

In 2006, Louisville gave up a big lead and lost to Rutgers on a last-second field goal. Had Jeremy Ito missed, or had the Cardinals not been flagged when he misfired on his first attempt, the game would’ve gone to overtime. Had the Cardinals won, they would’ve gone on to join Ohio State as one of two unbeaten teams from a BCS conference and almost certainly would’ve played for the national championship instead of Florida.

In 2007, West Virginia had the puck on its stick ranked No. 2 in the nation with only a lousy Pitt team to beat. The high-powered Mountaineers gained just 183 yards of total offense and star QB Pat White injured his thumb, but there was still a chance in the final moments to pull off the win. A misfired pass ended the shocker with a 13-9 Pitt win, and instead of going to play Ohio State for the national title, West Virginia went on to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and LSU got in the door.

And then there was last year. Few actually believed that Cincinnati was national title-good like Florida, Alabama, and Texas, but after a tremendous comeback to beat Pitt to finish 12-0, the dream was one second away from coming true. Had Colt McCoy’s lazy throwaway pass on the final drive of the Big 12 Championship taken one second longer to get out of bounds, of if Hunter Lawrence’s 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt gone wide, Cincinnati, who jumped TCU in the final BCS rankings, would’ve played Alabama for the national title.

Playing in the Big East certainly does help a great team get close to the BCS Championship, but the 2007 West Virginia and 2006 Louisville teams really were good and really would’ve had an honest shot to beat Ohio State. So is this a case of the league coming close, coming close, coming close, and eventually getting the break it needs to get into the title game, or will the BCS voter types have a bias against the Big East and keep it from happening?

For now, the only thing that matters is to keep cranking out good teams and hope for the best, and while there doesn’t appear to be a national title-good team going into this year, Cincinnati wasn’t supposed to be 12-0 good last year, either.

[Atlanta Bull]

I don't think the current BE can get any respect until somebody from the "New BE" win a National Title. If any other conference had teams this close the National Championship game the past four years everyone would be saying how strong they are. I'm starting to think that with the realignment a distinct possiblity, the Bulls will need to win the National Championship (or finish in the top 10) in the next two years to be in order to:

1. Get invited to a new conference (ACC)

2. For the Big East to keep BCS status.

Yes this sounds a little far fetched but if everyone is picking teams we need to separate ourselves from the rest of the pack. That said if we can go to a bowl this year and beat Miami or Florida on the way that will say alot about this program. Finishing 4-8 and rebuilding is not an option. Welcome to bigtime college sports.

Of course nobody remembers when UF, FSU and Miami all sucked! If we had the same time as they did we would have the same success, but we don't have that luxury in 2010.