Mike Tranghese may not get the last laugh. But the Big East commissioner should get a chuckle at the current football climate.

In what no doubt was deemed impossible when conference realignment changed the face of college athletics, the Big East enters this weekend with two legitimate contenders for the national title. The league that raided its top football powers has none.

On Saturday, Tranghese's prized gridiron pupil will carry the Big East banner straight through the heart of the ACC and into Greenville. About the only way ACC commissioner John Swofford won't notice is if speedy running back Steve Slaton is selected to carry it.

It's pretty ironic when you consider it.

One of the primary reasons behind ACC expansion was to beef up its football reputation. Long considered the nation's premier basketball power, Swofford astutely sought to maximize the riches of the Bowl Championship Series by corralling a pair of football powers (Miami and Virginia Tech) and another that consistently hovers around the Top 25 (Boston College).

The major side effect, intended or not, was the gutting of Big East football, a condition from which many predicted the conference would not recover. So far those critics are wrong, a point that was emphasized this past weekend with Louisville's waxing of Miami and West Virginia's shellacking of Maryland.

Score that 2-0 in favor of the Big East, which ups the league's tally over the ACC to 4-2 this season. And if it weren't for Wake Forest's narrow wins over cellar dwellers Syracuse and Connecticut, the Big East would be pitching a shutout.

To think we all felt sorry for Tranghese.

The irony thickens Saturday as the most important showdown in North Carolina involves the Big East and Conference USA, not the ACC. The spotlight will brightly shine on West Virginia and East Carolina, two of the schools thought to have suffered most because of ACC expansion.

For the Mountaineers, it marks the next step in a path that is aiming in the direction of a national title. For the Pirates, it represents another building block in the rebuilding process that has progressed more quickly than most expected.

And the setting in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium could be the best since Virginia Tech's Thursday night invasion in 2000.

Meanwhile, the football banter around the Triangle has shifted to thoughts of underachievement and scenarios that would produce coaching dismissals. Another loss in September and the conversation turns to hoops.

It's an improbable yet perfect opportunity for ECU to begin shifting the football tides in North Carolina. If it can compete with the Mountaineers like it did last fall, ECU could be favored to win each of its remaining home games and perhaps position itself for a legitimate postseason run.

Successfully doing so could help the Pirates close the gap with their ACC neighbors. Just like a national title run by either West Virginia or Louisville could at least deliver some athletics justice to the Big East.

Now, none of this is to suggest that ACC expansion backfired on Swofford or that the Big East has the better potential long-term. There is an ebb and flow to college football, and the current cycle happens to favor the Big East for several reasons.

For starters, the ACC suffers from poor play at the most important position on the field, quarterback. What's more, perhaps no league has suffered more from early departures to the NFL.

But neither is of concern to West Virginia or East Carolina. Their focus is firmly centered on what should prove the most important game played on North Carolina soil this year.

That all seemed improbable when the ACC pillaged the Big East. And it likely doesn't happen had the Big East and ECU not regrouped and displayed a resilient vision for the future.

Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.

Which newspaper did this article come from, Cuseroc, out of curiosity? Hook us up with a link when you get a chance. Thanks.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:Which newspaper did this article come from, Cuseroc, out of curiosity? Hook us up with a link when you get a chance. Thanks.

Bonesville.net

Lethemeul Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:Which newspaper did this article come from, Cuseroc, out of curiosity? Hook us up with a link when you get a chance. Thanks.

Bonesville.net

That is correct. Sorry, I thought I posted the source.

Lethemeul Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:Which newspaper did this article come from, Cuseroc, out of curiosity? Hook us up with a link when you get a chance. Thanks.

Bonesville.net

Thanks. I archive these articles sometimes and I also like to check out the other sports content on most newspapers websites.