Mitch Vingle
Big East has WVU to thank for bowl deal
NEVER underestimate the power of the people.
Especially when those people fill stadium seats.
In an interview following the Big East’s announcement of a new bowl deal, league commissioner Mike Tranghese pointed to three reasons for success.
And one of those reasons was the way West Virginia fans flock to support their Mountaineers.
On Thursday, the league announced an agreement to supply teams — as well as bowl partner Notre Dame — to the Toyota Gator and Vitalis Sun bowls.
“I told [bowl representatives] to take a look at the people we lost [to the ACC],’’ Tranghese said. “Boston College never played in the Gator Bowl. Miami did once, but only because they were coming off probation and rebuilding. The only school we lost that was really important was Virginia Tech, a great ticket seller.
“Then I told them to look at us now. We still have West Virginia. West Virginia’s ability to sell tickets was one of the top three reasons why we had success.’’
Tranghese pointed out that last year, even though WVU was making a repeat trip to Jacksonville, Fla., the Gator Bowl attendance figure was 70,112. West Virginia, in fact, helped give the bowl three of its top eight crowds in 60 years of existence. The 1989 game against Clemson drew 82,911 fans, tops among all Gator crowds. The 1982 game against Florida State was No. 5 at 80,913.
Tranghese said the other factors were the opportunity of the bowls to land cherished Notre Dame and the potential of new football members Louisville, Connecticut and South Florida. The commish said Pittsburgh’s hiring of Dave Wannstedt, the former Miami Dolphins coach, didn’t hurt either.
Is the new bowl deal perfect? Absolutely not. Last year’s disastrous season hindered Tranghese and company. Twice in four years Notre Dame can take a Big East No. 2 team’s spot, once in each the Gator and Sun. That means the Big East No. 2 can fall to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, NC.
Or will it? Tranghese said he’s continuing to work on “three additional deals’’ and that “an announcement will be made shortly.’’
Sources tell yours truly the Big East is negotiating with the Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis as well as the Gaylord Hotels Music Bowl in Nashville, Motor City Bowl in Detroit and, a long shot, the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
If Tranghese could swing a shared deal with, say, Memphis and Charlotte, the Big East would be in fine shape. Word is the Liberty could land a deal with the Southeastern Conference.
“We’ll have five bowls [for eight teams] when we’re done,’’ Tranghese said.
All the commish would say is his league has “agreed in principal’’ to additional deals.
So, despite all the bad publicity the Big East generated last season, perhaps the league will come out OK.
“[Negotiating] got easier as it went along,’’ Tranghese said. “People were quick to rush to judgment. Two years ago people were saying we’d be out of business.
“But we showed a lot of patience. As time went on we found a great reception.’’
Initially, there was talk the Champs Sports Bowl would be in the Sun’s spot.
“They were interested in our second team, but I talked to [bowl director] Tom Mickle and didn’t feel he would pull the trigger fast enough,’’ Tranghese said
Mickle was also involved in negotiations over the Capital One Bowl, which was expected to be the first domino to fall. If the SEC, Big Ten, ABC and Capital One reps couldn’t nail down a deal, sparks were expected to fly.
“But as the process dragged on, we said, ‘At the end of the day, that deal is going to get done,’ ’’ the Big East commissioner said.
So Tranghese and company were able to spring into action.
Thanks, in part, to the backsides of Mountaineer fans.
To contact sports editor Mitch Vingle, send e-mail to mitchvingle@wvgazette.com or call 348-4827
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