Unless the powers that be can pull off a coup, when the BCS contract runs out it is likely the Big East will lose it's AQ status as a league. The remaining football schools just aren't of the quality needed to maintain that status. Adding Boise State helps, but Air Force, Navy, East Carolina, Memphis, Houston, etc? It just doesn't do it. That's going to be the ultimate rub. As Stewart Mandel writes today in his CNNSI article, will other conferences sit idly by while a 9-3 East Carolina or 10-2 Navy squad is going to a major bowl game considering the awful schedule that will be played in the Big East? Unlikely. Boise State is probably the only school left out there (now that TCU is gone) that has any hope of saving the AQ for the conference, but that isn't a given.
The BCS contract expires in 2013. The Big East has no one to blame but themselves. They had an ESPN contract in hand for over $1 billion and didn't sign it. That left Pitt and Syracuse to wander their eyes. One wonders when Paul Tagliabue's credentials pay off for the league. Certainly disappointing news to date for all of us that are fans of the Big East.
UPDATED: ESPN today goes into the three criteria to keep BCS status. One of the so called BCS gurus does not believe the Big East will meet two of the three criteria based on the teams mentioned that the conference will add.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
CNN touches on what is the unfortunate but likely concluson...Big East will lose BCS status (UPDATED)
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2 comments:
Losing Pitt and Syracuse isn't exactly like losing Texas and Oklahoma.
They are easily replaced on the field.
The real question is who else leaves?
Syracuse certainly, but Pitt had it's moments and contributed to 1 of the 3 criteria for BCS status....which is average ranking of the teams in the league. In 2009 they finished ranked 15th.
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