login | Register

With Leadership In Flux, the BCS Proves Its Worth to the Big East

Tribal Fever will never stop its defense of the greatest sport in our Footprint - college football.  How a sport that has record ratings and revenue would ever be under scrutiny is beyond us, but we believe the heart of that line of criticism lies in its "limited" appeal to major markets like NYC.

This is where the hue and cry for a college football playoff comes from.  You can hear the New Yorkers now - make this sport interesting for us so that we can gamble on it!

These northeasterners should pay special attention to the retirement of Mike Tranghese, the Big East's current commissioner.  Traghese understood two critical things as he took over a conference that was largely basketball-oriented:  (a) the importance of good football programs and (b) the critical role that the BCS plays in supporting those football programs.

When Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College bolted for the ACC, the Big East was in shambles.  It had little football muscle.  However, Tranghese fought to retain the Big East's automatic BCS bid and used that bid to lure Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida from Conference USA.  These schools dearly wanted this carrot sitting at the end of their football seasons.

(Tranghese also added more basketball only programs like Marquette and Depaul to make the Big East a 16 team league for hoops.)

The Big East looked bad on paper after the ACC raid, but today it has recovered pretty nicely.  Not only have Footprint teams like WVa, Louisville, Cincinnati, and USF continued to show that they can compete and win against the best, Rutgers and UConn have risen up to at least be able to show the NY metro market some good "local" college football.

Tranghese deserves credit, but he would tell anyone who cares to hear the truth that much of the credit goes to the BCS itself.

ESPN.COM recently looked back on the BCS in "celebration" of its 10 year anniversary.  Of course, many of the writers focused on replacing the BCS with a true playoff.  (Pat Forde loses his cultural connection to the Footprint everyday it seems, while Ivan Maisel shows courage in defending what ESPN deems indefensible - the continuation of the BCS.)

These individual pieces about the SEC, the Big 12, and the ACC show what we already know about the Big East - the BCS helps make conferences stronger.  The SEC was a great conference that is now dominant.  Thanks to BCS wins by Texas and Oklahoma, Big 12 delivered on its promise to make a better tomorrow by uniting two weaker conferences (the SWC and the Big 8).

Even the ACC, despite its lack of success so far, can at least see a legitimate future ahead.  Although Miami and FSU haven't emerged as the expected frontrunner programs, the ACC has been competitive across the board except for Duke.  Better things should be right around the corner as the recruiting improves.  Again, that it the benefit of the BCS - its automatic berth puts the focus of its member conferences on the strength of depth.

TF still worries about the Big East because its 8 teams on the football side aren't enough.  Another re-shuffling seems inevitable.  Our wish is to keep things regionally based.  It just doesn't work having conferences reaching into non-traditional areas (the ACC and Boston College as an example) in hopes of bringing more viewers to the table.

The Big East is still a mess, but the BCS gives its continuity and hope.  Let's hope that Tranghese's successor can fix the conference without wrecking the stability of the BCS system for everyone else.

related tags

Tribal Fever,
Urban,
Mountain,
Coastal,
River,
Oxford,
Nashville,
Miami,
Lubbock,
Austin,
Atlanta,
Athens,
West Virginia,
Virginia,
Texas,
Tennessee,
South Carolina,
Oklahoma,
North Carolina,
Missouri,
Mississippi,
Louisiana,
Kentucky,
Georgia,
Florida,
Arkansas,
Alabama,
Merchantry,
Sports,

Wireless from AT&T

Related Dispatches