Ouch! UCF brings little and another zing at BE leadership

[callmesuperman]

If we looking at points; besides Boise State, Nevada has more points then any of the candidates. Why not Nevada in a West division?

[DELdaBull]

Also I think it is based on BCS final standings.

Since it is an average ONE 25 with a bunch of 60s is worse than USF's consistent 30 to 40 range.

[Bull94]

Notre Dame, Boise, BYU are really the only schools that would add any BCS credibility.

Navy, AFA, Temple, SMU, Houston, ECU... they are the best we can get to put warm bodies in the conference. none of them alone brings BCS credibility, and it remains to be seen if they, as a group, provide any credibility at all. i tend to like those additions, but that's just me.

the real key to the Big East is the strength of the "anchor 6"... assuming they stay, we need WVU to win out until they play us, and they should. we need Rutgers, who is having a surprising season, to get to 10 wins....

and most importantly, USF needs to finally prove that it belongs in the top tier of the conference with WVU competing year in and year out for Big East titles and BCS bids. WE, the University of South Florida, really need to get over the hump and become a Top 25 team, start to finish. we need to win some conference championships. if we can do that, if WVU stays and continue to play top 10-15 WVU football, if we can get Rutgers or Louisville to have some strong seasons then our conference can survive.

i certainly think Houston and Navy could come right into the Big East and win 8 games. ECU and Temple would probably squeak into bowl eligibility.

agreed we need to start carrying our own water if we expect this league to stay an AQ league. we need to start finishing in the top 25 regularly.

credibility doesn't matter. the numbers do.

BCS officials came up with a formula to determine BCS status.

it is up to the BE schools to achieve that status.

it has nothing to do with how those officials perceive the BE.

BTW UCF and Houston have both finished in the top 25(I think) so they would both be better for our BCs numbers than either pitt or cuse.

Pitt finished #19 in the country in 2008 or 2009, I forget which. That's more points than UCiF will bring with it's fluke 25th place finish.

didn't they lose to oregon state 3-0 in their bowl?

i believe they take standings after bowl games. i'm not totally sure though.

[abababa]

Also I think it is based on BCS final standings.

Since it is an average ONE 25 with a bunch of 60s is worse than USF's consistent 30 to 40 range.

BCS points are based on where you finish in the final (pre bowl) standings. So I think 20-25 gets you 1 pt, 15-19 is 2 and so on. There is not another BCS poll after the bowls.

[crambone]

^Correct.  The final BCS poll comes out before the bowls and that is the ranking that they use.

[Ghost]

Navy, AFA, and Boise are the only teams of worth to bring in. Navy and AFA for money and TV, and Boise for competition. UCF, ECU, Houston, and SMU would simply be filler to get to 12 and a champ game. I will kill myself if Nova or Temple get invited.

[Jihme]

actually ucf and houston do more for our BCS points than USF ;/

tv sets, not bcs points, are the currency here

[smazza]

actually ucf and houston do more for our BCS points than USF ;/

this is funny

hope orlando school doesnt kick usf out of big east

[Bulls1181]

Would UCF be joining Big East or Big Deceased?

League invitation isn't as coveted as it once was

 

Mike Bianchi SPORTS COMMENTARY

October 13, 2011

The situation is a little bit sad and a whole lot ironic.

Big East officials snubbed UCF forever and ever because they felt the Knights weren't worthy of their high-and-mighty conference. Now the Big East is scrambling to add schools like UCF in order to save its down-and-out league.

And USF, the school that for so long has lobbied against UCF getting into the Big East in hopes of keeping the Knights down, is now apparently in favor of a UCF invitation in order to help keep the league afloat.

 

USF President Judy Genshaft and the remaining presidents of a league that is rapidly circling the drain are in extreme panic mode, doing everything possible to keep the Big East from becoming the Big Deceased. You have to wonder if it's too little, too late. Can this bumbling basketball league overcome its extreme lack of football vision and save itself from BCS vaporization?

The Big East announced earlier this week that it will try to expand to 12 members in football and reportedly has already contacted UCF about joining its meager ranks in the next few days. But in the league's current sorry state, the Knights must be feeling a little like Groucho Marx, who once said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member!"

Surveillance Video: Elderly school-bus attendant bites, hits teen

Is it just me or does joining the Big East right now seem sort of a like diving off your lifeboat, swimming across a mile of icy ocean and then climbing aboard the sinking Titanic?

Now that Conference USA has made it known that it would require UCF to pay an exorbitant $7 million exit fee if it leaves for the Big East, school president John Hitt has some tough decisions to make. Especially when you consider that Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky says the league could be close to merging with the Mountain West and acquiring an automatic-qualifying BCS bid of its own.

How hilarious would it be if the Big East folds and UCF then blocks USF from getting into the BCS-affiliated Conference USA/Mountain West?

The fact is, joining the Big East is no longer a no-brainer for cash-strapped UCF. In today's economic climate, UCF simply cannot afford to throw away $7 million to join a league that could easily lose its BCS status in the next year or two.

The sad part is that all of this might have been avoided if the Big East leadership had a clue about football. If only they had listened to their football schools months and years ago and tried expand during a time of strength instead of this time of desperation. UCF coach George O'Leary says the league is fading because it has allowed its basketball-only members to call the shots even though the league's football television contract makes most of the money.

O'Leary says he has studied the numbers and found that football "pays 73 percent of the bills" in the Big East. He believes that's why football-basketball combo schools like Pitt and Syracuse have already left and others such as West Virginia, Rutgers, UConn and Louisville would love to leave, too. The only reason USF doesn't have an exit strategy is because nobody wants them.

"I think that's why a lot of the (football) schools have departed because they're carrying the show and too many people with the round ball are making the decisions," O'Leary said a few days ago on his weekly radio show. "People think the Big East is a basketball conference, but it's driven by football money, which is why it's ridiculous for the football-basketball combo schools to put up with what's been going on."

Even with this lack of leadership and foresight, the Big East is probably still UCF's best option. But first President Hitt, Athletic Director Keith Tribble and the Board of Trustees must find the answer to a very serious question:

"Does it make financial sense for UCF to pay millions of dollars to get into a league that everybody else is paying millions of dollars to get out of?"

[79 Bull]

With the latest news about the BB schools not wanting to add any more FB schools, maybe it is time to merge our schools with the top of the MWC and CUSA to form a new 16 team league.  Might even get AQ status.  4 divisions for all-sports play with a championship game in FB?  God, I am grasping at straws now.