A Better Big East
July 18, 2006 03:26 PM | General
July 18, 2006
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| Mike Tranghese |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – About this time last year Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese had to defend his cherry-picked football conference. Today, he is singing its praises.
Bolstered by West Virginia’s stunning 38-35 win over Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl, and the emergence of Louisville as a yearly Top 25 contender, the Big East can now focus all of its attention on the football field.
“When I look at where we are today, I think it’s a lot different than a year ago,” Tranghese said Tuesday morning at the conference’s annual media day in Newport, R.I. “Last year, we hadn’t played a game yet.”
What transpired last season, according to the commissioner, is the development of rivalries that will help boost the prestige of the Big East.
“The only way rivalries will be built is they have to play,” Tranghese said. “Louisville and West Virginia … they played and had a memorable game last year. Now we have a rivalry. Louisville and USF played in another classic game. We look forward to the development of new rivalries as we play more games.”
In addition to West Virginia and Louisville, the conference saw the emergence of Rutgers under sixth-year coach Greg Schiano. The Scarlet Knights went to their first bowl game in 27 years and had their first winning season since 1992. South Florida also made its first bowl appearance in 2005, and knocked off league favorite Louisville in impressive fashion.
“There is no other way to describe it. For a variety of reasons (2005) was successful with a capital ‘S,’” said Tranghese. “We saw USF go to its first bowl game ever, and Rutgers go to its first bowl game since 1978. Louisville, as one of our newest members, made its first-ever appearance at the Gator Bowl. And, of course, West Virginia’s great win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.”
The Mountaineers have been everyone’s darlings this summer. ESPN.com’s Bruce Feldman recently made West Virginia his preseason No. 1 pick; Feldman rated Louisville 16th. Pat Forde, also of ESPN.com, has been singing West Virginia’s praises as well.
However, two conference stalwarts Pitt and Syracuse fell on hard times last season. The Panthers, under first-year coach Dave Wannstedt, slipped to 5-6 and lost at Ohio University after being picked to finish second in the league.
And Syracuse had one of its worst seasons in school history with a 1-10 record under first-year coach Greg Robinson. The Orange have been tabbed for another last-place finish this season.
Both programs must rebound in order for the Big East to continue its quest for respectability. Also, in the future the conference must avoid having its marquee league game on a Thursday night as is the case with West Virginia’s trip to play Louisville on Nov. 2.
Stability was reinforced when the conference’s two best coaches – West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez and Louisville’s Bobby Petrino – recently inked long-term contract extensions during the summer. Petrino’s deal particularly raised eyebrows when the Cardinals locked him up for $25 million over 10 years.
That is a gargantuan salary for a program that has been to just two January bowl games in its history and has a stadium seating capacity of only 42,000.
“We have high aspirations,” said Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich. “We want to win a national championship.”
Some people believe West Virginia may be the closest of any Big East program to attaining that status.
Wrote Bruce Feldman: “All of the key pieces (most notably QB Patrick White and RB Steve Slaton) are back and should be better with a year of seasoning and an off-season in the Mountaineers’ weight program. And unlike many other Top 25 teams, WVU’s O-line isn’t a major concern.
“The hunger is there, too,” he continued. “The Mountaineers have spent the last six months hearing people suggest that 2005 was a fluke.”
The Big East has positioned itself nicely with a couple of new bowl agreements. The conference recently made deals with the International Bowl in Toronto and the Birmingham Bowl, giving the league six total bowl tie-ins including a BCS invitation to the conference winner.
“We think we have a lineup of bowls that gives our teams tremendous access, which if you are going to be successful, that’s what you need,” Tranghese said.
Television is another area Tranghese points to with pride.
The Big East will once again be one of the most televised conferences in the country, with the league continuing multi-year deals with ABC and ESPN.
Four Big East games have already been picked for ABC, with 16 match-ups presently picked for ESPN and ESPN2 with the potential of more games to be added to the TV slate.
“It’s a little-known fact that all eight of our teams over the last two years have played in a bowl game,” Tranghese said. “There’s no other conference in the country that can lay claim to that fact.”
