By
Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
There is a bright side to East Carolina’s
current conference plight. If nothing else, the Pirates would emerge as
the top football power in the yet-to-be-named alliance between
Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference.
Given ECU’s facilities,
fans, resources, and tradition, there honestly isn’t a school among the
expansion leftovers that has an edge over the Pirates. Not Southern
Miss. Not UNLV. Certainly not Marshall.
That’s not bad for a
worst-case scenario.
And to be clear, the
C-USA-MWC alliance should be the worst-case scenario for East Carolina.
Independence or a newly formed league with current members of the
Southern Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association are clearly
not an option.
Those perceived last
straws should not be a remote consideration for moving forward. Either
would essentially neuter athletics financially as the direct result of a
significant reversal in football prestige.
Hopefully neither is being
pondered by the East Carolina administration.
Independent status simply
isn’t an option for multiple reasons. The challenge of scheduling 12
games would be too difficult to overcome without playing multiple
guarantee games against heavyweights. ECU would potentially have to
reduce its home schedule to five games unless multiple FCS opponents
were involved.
There also would be the
lack of bowl opportunities and a lucrative television contract. The
temptation to use Brigham Young as an argument to the contrary simply
doesn’t wash given the Cougars’ overall national relevance in comparison
to ECU.
Many of the same issues
that would face the Pirates as an independent also would apply to a
regionally-based conference that included Appalachian, Charlotte, Old
Dominion, and the like. While home attendance wouldn’t suffer, it would
be difficult to secure adequate enough bowl and television opportunities
to compensate for the reduction in travel.
If anything, the East
Carolina brass, at least in the short term, should explore a
football-only possibility in the alliance and a more regional home for
its other sports. Even if that meant a step back to the Big South, that
could prove beneficial competitively and financially for the Pirates’
minor sports.
But that would be
considered a short term solution.
Given the constant flux of
major college athletics, the only certainty anymore is change. The Big
East’s overall lack of vision has most of its holdovers in constant
search of a different conference home.
It’s a good bet that some
combination of Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, and Rutgers will
flee within the next couple of years. And at some point, you have to
figure the Big East will eventually reach out to a school that will
elevate its football profile.
In the meantime, East
Carolina needs to embrace its near-term fate and do a better job of
capitalizing on the things that are within its control. That means
winning more games, especially against the type of programs it should
regularly beat.
Boise State built itself
by being the biggest bully in a small neighborhood. East Carolina’s best
chance at elevating its overall profile is following the Broncos’ model.
Membership in the
alliance, coupled with a lighter non-conference load, would offer the
Pirates that opportunity.