Rutgers blog article discussing comments from BE officials at today's BE FB media day at http://rutgers.scout.com/2/1206998.html

Article out of Hampton Roads discussing odds of BE being part of future Orange Bowl mix at http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-b ... ?track=rss

Article out of Hartford discussing yesterday's BE FB media day and future of the BE at http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-foo ... 218.column

Blog article out of NJ with comments from Mike Tranghese regarding BE future at http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=127

Boston Globe article discussing BE media day and future of BE at http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/07/3 ... story.html

The last thing this conference needs right now is going into the season with the one program who is so adamant about leaving the Big East being the favorite to win it.

Hoops Weiss weighing in on future of the BE at http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/colle ... -1.1127668

Obviously the BE shall need a Commish who displays expertise in TV contract negotiating. Yes, having the backbone would be an asset along with other characteristics. But, showing a backbone is important internally with membership. The BE needs someone to formulate a solid long-term plan and sell it to each BE member President. Backbone should not be bullying, but convincing. Hypothetically of course, but may resemble past reality, the new Commish should not be saying, in segmented or isolated fashion, to Georgetown "What's your individual preference?"; or to Providence "will you approve this?"; or to Notre Dame "what will make you more happy"?, or to Villanova "will you go along with this if we can constrain Temple as you wish"?
Managing the hybrid BE could be a very tough job. The new Commish cannot be placating particularly one main faction just because that's where the most power resides, or what he may be endeared to because of his roots and prior experiences. It's a juggling act for anyone who shall be trying to look out for the conference as a whole. The chosen person hopefully will have direct fb experience, competent with bb as well, is shown to be a great organizer and negotiator, is convincing to his collection of boses, able to handle factions in a constructive way, shows willingness & success for innovation and change, and is capable of doing one heck of a public relations job for a conference in serious need of stability and a more positive image.

Finding the right fit is critical. Few may be able to do the job in a splendid way. Shall see, we suppose.

Honestly.... Other than the pay, would any of us want that job ?

SEC, you are right... the job involves keeping (18 now ?) college presidents happy.
And they lack a shared vision of what the Big East should be.
The conference has a real identiity problem, and Marinatto in his desperation has made it crazier...
7 Catholic non-FBS schools......
Notre Dame (FBS independent)
10 public FBS schools
2 public FBS football affiliates
1 military school FBS affiliate

What a mess !

It's clear that Pitt and Syracuse (and others in the FB faction including WVU and Rutgers) rached a point of no confidence with Marinatto, when he insisted on puruing Villanova Football.
Not clear if they reached out to the ACC, or vice versa. The ACC may have jumped to expand in response to the SEC moving to 14, and rumblings of the SEC potentially going after ACC schools.
The FB side could have added UCF, Temple, Memphis, Houston, SMU, TCU at any time, dating back to 2003... after waiting for years, they pursue... VIllanova ??? Good God !
Just a horrendous lack of vision....

The additions of Boise State and SDSU (and Navy without Army or Air Force) just creates more of a bizarre hodge-podge....
Supposedly driven by perception of TV ratings (which could come to pass yet), but the identity of the conference is rather laughable.

I think Kurt Benson (much maligned for mis-adventures in the WAC) has demonstrated how to assemble a coherent conference (in the wake of being raided) with the Sun-Belt.

Good points, tute79.

Yep, it would be good pay. It also could be a stepping stone for someone really ambitious if he/she will be succesful at it.
Indeed, there may be merit for someone such as Benson who has experience with pulling schools together and dealing with departures. If the BE went for someone not directly affiliated with any of the current BE schools, that may be of value also. The Providence lineage has long expired its due time; and more inbreed appointments from private bb colleges may not be what the BE needs.

I found the brief interview with Ex-BE Commish, Tranghese interesting. He seems to suggest blame for the BE's woes are the results of developments by other conferences, such as the B1G taking Nebraska. The one regret, when asked, was the failed effort to include Penn State many years back, while noting he had no role with that decision.

I remember Tranghese expressing dismay and being blindsided when the ACC took Miami and those that followed. How could such be a secret when he was the BE Commish? Too many folks at multiple places are involved for one not to have a clue early on.

Being unable to act, or unwilling to act, is not the same as being unaware. And in such a role, unawareness would be totally unacceptable most anywhere.

Another thing, in the UCONN vs BC dispute, BC is the one all wrong because BC left and UCONN stayed in the BE? That's his take.

I've also heard the BC side of the story; meaning-- there are two sides. Frankly, was all the UCONN-based lawsuits of the time was to make one feel sorry for them (UCONN)?

I expect BC did have a role in denying UCONN an invite with the last ACC expansion; & Pitt got invited along with Syracuse instead. But for the BE to imply others are "petty" given their Villanova against Temple conflicts; and USF against UCF BE entry, and so forth, is really absurd.

To me, the ACC missed a good opportunity by not taking West Virginia--- if rivalries and fb revenue are very important.

It is interesting both the Big Ten and Pac 12 always have had GOR already signed for previous and future years . No wonder there was never any serious talk of Penn State moving back to the Big East as this could never have been an option with signed GORs by Penn State to the Big Ten.

The Big Ten commissioner refers to the chicken and egg analogy when referring to the Big Ten GOR that surprising has been around for half a century in the Big Ten. I see this point because you have to have schools that truly want to be together that are willing to sign such a water tight agreement. The Big 12 is a prime example and could not have got GOR sighed until disgruntle schools of Texas A&M and Nebraska had moved onto other leagues. Once there were 10 schools that were truly willing to want to be in the same league together for a period of time could the Big 12 acquired the signing of the GOR.

Everyone keeps stating the benefits of the new projected Big East contact will very good, however, this is not the primary reason Big East schools will remain together. The primary concern is the lack of having a marquee football program. This is the concern that occurred after the first ACC raid and continues to plague the Big East today.

While revenue is an important piece of the puzzle to ensure facility upgrade continue and high profile coaches can be maintained, the Big East is not going to stabilize to the point of getting schools willing to sign GOR by just having a solid TV contract.

The SEC has multiple marquee football programs with Alabama and LSU currently at the top of the heap. This is the most likely reason the SEC has not bothered with signing of GOR.

The Pac 12 has USC as its marquee football program.

The Big Ten has Ohio State and Michigan as the marquee programs.

The Big 12 has Texas and Oklahoma as their dynamic marquee duo programs.

Any of the above schools are enough for any league to ensure stability and the sighing of GORs because all are considered Marquee schools.

Marquee are schools that can in most years be considered in discussions to play for the BCS national championship.

As much as the ACC has been down for about the last two decades in football, Miami and Florida State do have the ability to claim marquee status. It is the primary reason the ACC raided the Big East in the first place to still the Big East marquee program and deal the competing conference a fatal blow.

Boise State is a good football program and probably on similar par with West Virginia, both of these school are by no means considered marquee football programs. There was a majors reason that West Virginia left the Big East for the Big 12 to ensure future stability because the Big 12 contained these marquee type programs.

The only way the Big East football schools should ever sign over GOR would be if Notre Dame joined as full football member. Notre Dame is the only remaining potential marquee program out there not in one of the current so called power leagues.

Other than the very powerful SEC with multiple marquee football programs that could risk losing a couple of these type of programs, the Big Ten, Pac 12, and Big 12 all have sighed GOR.

Ironically, the ACC and Big East which are two of weakest leagues formally part of the BCS have not been able to get GOR sighed.

It is interesting that both of these leagues continue to be rumored targets of other leagues wanting to expand. I can’t see members of either of these leagues willing to sign GOR unless Notre Dame joins either league as a full football member

In today’s high stakes world of college football, Notre Dame may not have the clout to be considered a marquee program if the school does not make some quick progress in the next few years. The ACC has chance for both Florida State and Miami to improve back to old days of glory, the Big East just does not have a school remotely possible unless Notre Dame joins as full football member.

It would be foolish for a school such as Louisville, UConn, or Rutgers to sigh over GOR and risk the opportunity to join a league with marquee programs regardless of how good the new TV contract generates in future revenue.

Not clear if the Big XII teams have actually signed the "Granting of [TV] Rights" document.
I have seen some articles / blogs that suggest that has not happened yet, but there is something like agentleman's agreement until they get around to it.
None of the teams have motivation to leave, with the new FOX / ESPN deal that will be split only 10 ways.

Big East and ACC have atempted to lock their teams into a commitment through the use of increasingly exhorbitant exit fees
(rumored to be $20 million in ACC, is it now $10 million in Big East ??? and does that apply to all schools or just FB members ???)
I think ACC feels that UConn / Rutgers combo could potentially bring enough additional revenue to split the pie 16 vs. 14 ways.
However, Notre Dame + anybody would be a home run.
And since an expansion to 16 might be it for a while, they will hold off at least until Notre Dame is no longer a possibility.
I suspect the recent meetings between Notre Dame and ACC were about getting Notre Dame to join,
and showing ND that with the ACC in control of Orange Bowl, Notre Dame will likely need to join a conference or finish in Top 4 to play in a New Year's Bowl game.

People like Frank the Tank suggest that many of us will never understand the seemingly irrational "love of independence" of the Notre Dame fan.
I'll admit to being part of that group. I do think the ND administration is NOT irrational, and continues to play the game very shrewdly, and monitor the financial landscape.
And I do think that there may come a time when the situation is such that Notre Dame decides to pull the trigger, and deal with their alumni whining.
Swarbick thinks they still have "access" by finishing in Top 4, or by selling out their ticket allotment (and more) to Orange Bowl or the other game that presumably is being
saved for Top 10 FBS teams. Five years from now, he may have a different view of the new reality.

Marquee are schools that can in most years be considered in discussions to play for the BCS national championship.

Hasn't Boise State been in that discussion for many years??? Sure they only played in the Mountain West and the WAC in the last few years, but I consider them a Marquee team. I think they have a good enough resume. Am I the only one who thinks this?

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RODGERS
MATHEWS
2012

I thought Kellen Moore was a very outstanding QB and had a greater impact than some of his more acclaimed peers. I saw what he did in games vs. UGA & VPI.

Marquee may be associated with another term: reload. It is often schools that lose top players to the NFL and can immediately replace them from within the ranks or in-coming recruits at near/equal quality. These are the Alabamas', LSUs', USCs', Oklahomas', etc. of college football.

Boise has been strong enough for a long-time to be viewed as a very stable and consistent winning program. However, the WAC & MWC do not have the lofty image of the big 5 type conferences, so Boise's appeal gets constrained, somewhat inappropriately, when observed from that context.

What the results shall be for Boise in the Big East is difficult to predict for the extended term. That said, no one should be suprised if they end up dominating the BE or end up being one of the top two or three fb programs the BE shall have during the next decade or so. However, it is the Big East, so how long Boise shall remain there is unclear at best.

Tute79, everyone keeps making the assumption the Big 12 has not sighed GOR which is not true. The original 6 year GOR were signed by all 10 schools and were required as part of the requirement to have 10 schools for TV inventory required to keep the current TV contact. WVU and TCU had to sigh the GOR as well in order to become members. The 13 year extension is verbally agreed by all 10 schools, however, has not been signed yet due to some schedule issues with multiple networks (Fox, ESPN).