Big East Declares End Of Competitive Football, Invites Memphis To Join League
by Jamie DeVriend on Feb 8, 2012 8:01 AM EST
in Big East Obliteration
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PrintThe Big East has called a teleconference for 1:00pm today to announce the end of relevant football being played in its league. At the same time, they will invite Memphis to join the league for all sports.
I know there won't be automatic qualifying BCS conferences in a couple of years. And I know what Memphis does to the league for basketball. And I know the Providence mafia had to swallow a lousy SMU team and mediocre Houston and UCF teams for the sake of football. And I know about barbecue and blues and Beale Street blah blah blah whatever. USF, or any other football-centric member, even the brand-new ones, shouldn't care about any of that. Football brings in the money and football pays the bills. Adding Memphis's pathetic football team is an absolute non-starter. It cements the reality that Big East football is now Conference USA football circa 2003 or so, and will be even worse than that after Louisville is eventually picked off. Everyone -- including coaches, high school recruits, and TV networks -- will be able to see that.
This is a horrific failure any way you slice it. Whether you want to blame John Marinatto for being lazy, shiftless, and reactive for the last however many years... or you want to blame Judy Genshaft and Doug Woolard for trusting Marinatto, or for taking USF's golden ticket and throwing it straight in the trash... or you want to blame other athletic directors or conferences or whoever... or you want to blame ourselves for not winning enough or not supporting our teams enough... everyone deserves it.
A long time ago I wrote about what would happen if a tipping-point team like Memphis or Southern Miss ended up joining the Big East, and now we're likely to see it come to fruition. Because basketball isn't a factor, this move hurts USF worse than anyone else, with the possible exception of Rutgers. Unless there's some kind of miracle out there that I don't see (like the Big XII inexplicably rescuing USF as a 12th member after they take Louisville), we're right back where we started as an athletic department 10 years ago, with absolutely nothing to show for it but a lot of debt.
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Bright Side
At least we have a new homecoming opponent every other year!
by Snafu13 on Feb 8, 2012 8:25 AM EST via mobile reply actions
wah wah
Can’t say that I agree with the woe is me, borderline suicidal, attitutude.
How many Big East wins does USF have over the last four years? 9? When exactly did we ever play a schedule that drew admiration from anybody anywhere anyway?
If you think this is the move that ends BE relevance around the country then you have been ignoring a lot for a long time. Whether it’s fair or not, nobody has respected BE FB for a long time. Hell, for most people, the BE stopped being worthy of respect when they added USF. And what have we done to prove them wrong? Nothing. USF fans turning their nose up on Memphis is just a ridiculous proposition.
I live in the heart of SEC country and there has been an extreme lack of respect for USF football and the Big East for several years now. If anything, adding Memphis will cause a significant number of people in this part of the country to at least acknowledge our existence. Sure, they still won’t respect the brand, but if you ever thought they did then you are dreaming.
This move does nothing to lessen the reputation of Big East football because that reputation was already at rock bottom. And it’s not going to cause me to care any less about USF football, either. If anybody feels that way then you have a warped perception of our football program. There’s no need to worry about AQ anymore, and this addition adds at least TV sets, strength in numbers, and FedEx money. That might not mean much to the fans, but if Paul Tagliabue and Jack Swarbrick say those things are important then I’m not going to cry about it.
/rant
Hmmmm
First of all, this is a real bad time to be trolling.
Second, even though the league had been down, there was always the hope (and in the last couple months, a bit of proof) that the football league could get itself back on track, like it was in 2006-7. Did you know six of the eight Big East teams in 2007 were ranked at some point in the season? That wasn’t a league with a rock-bottom reputation.
Now, that hope is officially gone. And since USF doesn’t care about basketball, Memphis just waters down an already watered-down league. Plus, without AQ, why are Boise State and San Diego State going to stick around? It’s ludicrous on their part, they might as well go back to the Mountain West now.
Collin described it perfectly on his Twitter feed yesterday. We hit the lottery 8 years ago, tasted the better life, and now we’re broke and we aren’t getting that kind of money again. It’s terrible.
Voodoo Five - South Florida Bulls SBN Blog
by Jamie DeVriend on Feb 8, 2012 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
UConn Perspective
I’m really, really glad we spent $200,000,000 on facilities and upgrades to go to FBS. Really looks like a long-term strategic victory.
Meh.
If the Big East isn’t already dead, adding Memphis isn’t going to flatline it.
Really, San Diego State?
Editor and Ombusdman, Voodoo Five, South Florida Bulls SBN Blog
Holtz and Crew Can Get One More BE Win
Maybe we can get above .500 in BE play. Nahhhhh…………sorry, I’m dreaming now.
FTFY
The Big East has called a teleconference for 1:00pm the day after Pitt beat West Virginia in December 2007 to announce the end of relevant football being played in its league
"I don't get defeated by things." - James A. Calhoun
I can support the "Wannstache ruined everything" meme.
Voodoo Five - South Florida Bulls SBN Blog
by Jamie DeVriend on Feb 8, 2012 10:44 PM EST up reply actions
As a Louisville fan
I really did enjoy the Big East, with the exception of the last 2-3 years. In the first couple years after the last expansion, we had by far the best basketball, and our football members were all pretty good, and all had something to prove. Made for some great games.
As much as I hope the BigXII rescues UofL for financial reasons, I will be legitimately sad to leave the Big East.
Plus, I hardly see trips to Ames and Stillwater being anywhere near as good as NYC, Philly, and Tampa.
It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy...Let's go exploring!
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