New and unified Big East preps for season, future

Today is media day for the Big East football conference, and for the first time in three years it should be a happy and optimistic gathering.


09:51 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 19, 2005


BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer



NEWPORT -- When Big East football coaches and administrators gather in Newport today for Media Day, smiles will fill the room.

What a difference a year makes.

For the first time in three seasons, every member of the Big East wants to be in the Big East. Miami and Virginia Tech are gone. So is Boston College. In their place are Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida, three schools that will be vitally important to the future success of the conference.

"We feel good about it," said commissioner Mike Tranghese. "It's nice to have people here who are excited about being here. Last year was a hard year."

This is the first season of yet another new era in Big East football. The first era was the Miami era, a period dominated by the Hurricanes' on and off-field exploits. The next saw the rise of Virginia Tech as a national player, giving the conference two perennial top-10 powers. But the last few seasons have been the lowest for the conference as the 'Canes, Hokies and then the Eagles flew South for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now, finally, the New Big East begins play. The league will release its coach's poll today with Louisville and Pittsburgh seen as the favorites. Last week, the conference released some important news on future bowl contracts. Tranghese and other officials have met with representatives of several major bowls in Newport over the last few days to firm up even more postseason opportunities for a league whose major challenge is to prove it belongs as a national power.

"Two years ago, all I heard was that we were going to break up; we'll lose our TV deals and we'll lose our bowl deals," said Tranghese. "I just preached patience to our people and told them to worry about what happens on the field. We kept working at it and things are falling into place, but we're still telling everyone it's all about what happens on the field."

After some uneasy negotiations, the Big East and ESPN/ABC have agreed on a TV contract. The bowl picture is quite promising. This is the last season for existing Big East contracts that send the league champion to the Bowl Championship Series and other teams to the Gator Bowl, Insight.com Bowl and the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Beginning in 2006, the Big East will retain a BCS bid for its champion and is currently working on other bowl bids. Last week, the Big East, Big 12 and Notre Dame reached an agreement with the Gator and Sun Bowls that guarantees the Big East's runner-up team or Notre Dame a spot in either one every year. The league is expected to renew a relationship with the Meineke Car Care Bowl and Tranghese said he's "confident we'll have bowl deals in place for our top five teams."

The most important bowl deal, of course, is the spot in the lucrative BCS. Conference commissioners recently reached agreement on a set of parameters that each BCS representative must reach in order to retain its spot. The six conferences all know what it takes to qualify for a spot that pays out roughly $17 million per year, and all eyes will be on the Big East for the next few seasons.

"Again, it's about what happens on the field, and I'm very confident about our ability," said Tranghese. "You can't dismiss that we lost quality programs like Miami and Virginia Tech, but look at Louisville. They were a BCS-level team last year and have a lot of players coming back. As they enter our league, Louisville is in much better shape than Virginia Tech was when they joined us. That's just one example."

West Virginia remains one of the nation's most consistent programs, and new coaches at Pittsburgh (former Miami Dolphins mentor Dave Wannstedt and Syracuse (Greg Robinson) give hope to two schools that have shown they can win big nationally. Connecticut needs to keep moving forward and Tranghese said the platform the Big East provides with its TV deals and national exposure could elevate the prospects at South Florida and Cincinnati quicker than anyone realizes.

"Some of our teams just need time. They'll be good," he says. "South Florida doesn't have to get on a plane to recruit. There are loads of football players living around Cincinnati. It's our job to help schools like this realize their potential, and that's what it's all about right now."

Great article.

I'm ready - football season will be here soon!

bearcatfan Wrote:Great article.

I'm ready - football season will be here soon!

Thanks for the article Jackson. Its a very good article.

I know Mike Tranghese is usually thought of as the villian by the football playing BEast schools, but he deserves some credit for the job he is doing with the bowl and TV contracts situations. Now it is up to the schools to make him look good and set ourselves up for the next round of contracts in a few years.

Go Bearcats!!!
Go Big East!!!!!!

Quote:South Florida doesn't have to get on a plane to recruit.

Somewhat true; however, every freakin D-1A school has been raiding the state for FL recruits. We will have to beat UCF and find away to get an edge on UF, FSU and Miami.

Quote:I know Mike Tranghese is usually thought of as the villian by the football playing BEast schools, but he deserves some credit for the job he is doing with the bowl and TV contracts situations

So far, Mike T has been doing a great job. I don't get how the fans and schools can't be pleased with what he has done since the defections. He's helped save the BCS bid, is aligning a good bowl situation, and I'm sure he'll come in handy during basketball season. If this league really can work at 16 teams, I think he is the man to make it work.