By
Denny O'Brien
©2009 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
Whether or not new Big
East Commissioner John Marinatto and league athletics directors want to
admit it, their conference has reached a dangerous competitive
crossroads.
While other automatic
qualifier leagues are inking blockbuster television deals and adding to
already-impressive bowl portfolios, the Big East is witnessing its
national relevance slip. Much of that can be attributed to the reality
that much of the star power that carried the Big East post-expansion is
gone.
Former Big East coaches
Bobby Petrino and Rich Rodriguez packaged innovative offensive
philosophies with bad-boy personas to generate bona fide stardom among
the coaching ranks. Their departure for better gigs drove a rusty nail
deep into the heart of the league’s national profile.
Brian Brohm, Pat White,
Steve Slaton, and LaShawn McCoy provided the conference with legitimate
Heisman Trophy buzz. With them now earning paychecks, the talent pool
admittedly seems somewhat dry.
What is left — at least on
the surface — is an eight-team league with an abundance of parity and a
severe shortage of national contenders. It’s a significant drop from the
peak of the new-look Big East — West Virginia’s convincing 48-28 victory
over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
That was a time when a
showdown with the Big XII’s best marked a measuring stick match-up for
the Big East. Now a date with the defending Conference USA champ
represents a more accurate barometer for gauging where the league stands
in the national pecking order.
And that generates a
must-win scenario — for both West Virginia and the Big East — when East
Carolina visits Morgantown September 12.
You’ll have a hard time
convincing many that the Big East hasn’t already slipped behind the
Mountain West Conference, especially at the top. If ECU were to make it
two straight over the Mountaineers — and notch its first ever win in
Morgantown in the process — C-USA could make its own case for at least
being a competitive equal.
Even more compelling about
this early-season match-up is how much East Carolina might benefit from
a showdown with WVU. If the Big East is seriously considering adding a
ninth football member (which is three too few if you ask me), then a win
over the Mountaineers would make a significant national statement that
last season’s victory in Greenville wasn’t orchestrated with smoke and
mirrors.
Though winning isn’t the
only qualification that a conference pursues when reviewing expansion
candidates, it certainly weighs heavily in the process. It’s also the
only one over which ECU has any control in Milan Puskar Stadium next
month.
And it would send a
sobering message to Big East officials, so sobering that it couldn’t be
tempered by a bottle of West Virginia ‘shine.
Truthfully, it shouldn’t
take another ECU victory over the league’s flagship football school to
air-mail a message to the Big East office. By now it should be clear
just how much the league is missing with its undersized football
membership.
Sure, Big East officials
can proudly proclaim that by including only eight schools there are
fewer members to divide the wealth. There is no arguing with that.
But there also is no
arguing with the fact that a conference with only eight members has
limitations to its financial growth.
For starters, it
eliminates the possibility of staging a lucrative conference
championship game. While those aren’t unanimously favored by head
coaches, administrators view them as opportunities for additional
television and sponsorship money.
And in case you haven’t
noticed, the smaller geographic footprint is growing increasingly
unpopular to television executives seeking to stretch their coverage to
as many homes and zip codes as possible. Not to be forgotten are the
bowl executives who will confess unapologetically to desiring a bigger
selection pool.
That marks three big
strikes against the Big East.
East Carolina could
deliver a fourth with a win over West Virginia in Morgantown. That would
mark a significant step forward for ECU, while doing considerable damage
to the Big East’s reputation.
It also might force Big
East officials to realize that the solution to their current plight
isn’t the status quo.