Big East retains BCS position
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Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt talks to the media at the Big East Conference football media day in Newport, R.I. yesterday.
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NEWPORT, R.I. -- Big East Conference football was written off by many people when it lost some of its members to the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
In the process of losing first Virginia Tech and Miami and then Boston College, there was a lot of talk about how the Big East -- particularly when it replaced them with teams from Conference USA -- was not worthy of an automatic Bowl Championship Series bid and likely would lose it when the BCS contract was renewed this year.
But the conference has exceeded the most optimistic predictions when the BCS contract was renewed this year and the Big East retained its berth for the next five seasons.
"It is all in place, the Big East is in for the next five years," BCS administrator Bill Hancock said yesterday at Big East media day. "There were standards in place, and the Big East proved it on the field.
"All six [BCS] conferences earned it on the field for that matter, and there was a pretty big gap between conference No. 6 and conference No. 7 in the ratings. It was a four-year [span] that was evaluated '04 to '07. Now the next four years will be evaluated to see if anyone else out there can earn it."
The conference had a number of things go well for it in the past four seasons since it began the rebuilding process. The conference has gone 3-1 in BCS bowl games, its conference champion ranked in the top seven in the final polls in three of the past four seasons, and it has registered a number of marquee non-conference wins against schools from other BCS conferences.
"You can say what you want about the league, but I know what I see," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said.
"The perception is changing because the reality is changing, and the more we win and the more we go out and play other BCS conference schools, the more that perception will change."
Beyond the retention of the BCS, there are plenty of other tangible examples that the Big East is thriving and well on its way to becoming an annual player in major college football.
A big one is in its ability to negotiate for bowl bids.
Four years ago, when the current deal, which expires after this season, was being negotiated, the Big East was begging for partners to the point where it took on a "hybrid" deal, which included the Gator Bowl, Sun Bowl and Notre Dame, that guaranteed two spots in four years for the conference.
This time around, the Big East won't agree to any similar deal, which is a major reason it is likely to be parting ways with the Gator Bowl -- a bowl in which the conference was a partner with since 1994.
The conference will continue to partner with Notre Dame, but the Irish only will be contractually allowed to take one spot in four years from the Big East for any given bowl.
"We're not interested in splitting a bowl spot with two bowls," Big East associate commissioner for football Nick Carparelli said.
"Notre Dame has been a great partner for us and aligning with them helps us get better bowl bids.
"But, to share a spot and give Notre Dame one creates a situation where we may lose two bowl opportunities every four years, that is just something we don't need to do.
One bowl that seems to have the Big East on the radar is the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
The bowl currently matches a Big Ten team with an ACC team, but officials have been talking to the Big East.
If it were to come to fruition, it could produce a Big Ten-Big East matchup and yes, perhaps some day a game between Pitt and Penn State.
The Sun Bowl, which the Big East was in danger of losing, appears to be safe, particularly since the conference still will align with Notre Dame and thus be able to offer the Irish as a potential team.
Additionally, the number of teams getting asked to play on nationally televised games in attractive time slots has increased.
Cincinnati and Rutgers -- two teams that five or six years ago would have struggled to get a local cable affiliate to televise a game between them -- are playing their season opener on Labor Day on ESPN.
"Certainly, we wouldn't be playing that game if there wasn't significant interest in it across the country," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "We're happy we are a part of the conversation. "Five years ago, I don't think [Cincinnati-Rutgers] would be anybody's first thought. The nature of the Big East and our ability to revenue share has kept all the teams healthy and enables everyone to move forward.
"This is not a league that takes all the money and gives it to the top teams because they won more games and the bottom teams get nothing.
"The revenue sharing has helped this league and its membership, us and Rutgers in particular."
First Published August 5, 2009 12:16 am
