Parkersburg News and Sentinel Wrote:Irish need a deadline
By JIM BUTTA
POSTED: June 9, 2010

Deadlines have been given to both Nebraska and Missouri and football fans around the country should begin to get a clearer picture surrounding the latest round of "expansions" by 5 p.m. on Friday.

Now, it would be nice to see Big East commissioner John M. Marinatto take a stance surrounding the position of the University of Notre Dame when it comes to being a full time or part time member.

We've all heard the same old, tired arguments why the Fighting Irish are an important factor in the success of the Big East. But, really, can anyone out there objectively give a solid reason why Notre Dame should be allowed to ride the fence when it comes to joining the conference in every sport?

For years we've been told that having a Notre Dame in the mix was a good bargaining chip when the Big East went out searching for the best bowls to play in each postseason.

Well, if you haven't looked lately, the bowl alignment for the eight-team league couldn't possibly get any worse. Outside of sending its champion into the Bowl Championship Series, Marinatto and his staff have renewed deals with the Papajohns.com Bowl and the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl.

Marinatto also announced the deal to send a Big East team to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The problem is that the league can only send two of its members to the three new bowls over the next three seasons.

That's right, now the football frenzied fans of the Big East can look to spending the holidays in Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Tenn., or St. Petersburg, Fla.

And, let us not forget the thought of playing in a snow-covered, made-for-baseball-complex, in New York City-the Pinstripe Bowl. The mere thought brings chills (and I do mean chills) to my heart.

Only the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., has remained loyal to the conference over the years and I'm sure that loyalty rests in the hopes that it will acquire a West Virginia squad every two our three years during the life of the contract.

So, this is the type of bowl lineup a conference can hope to receive with a "nationally respected and renowned program" like Notre Dame on its membership? Please.

With friends like this on the side of the Big East, who needs enemies.

The truth has always been that the Fighting Irish, and only the Fighting Irish, have benefited with Notre Dame's involvement in the Big East. Former-commissioner Michael Tranghese and his staff had an opportunity to correct the problem the last time some conference realignments changed the face of the Big East.

Yes, the conference picked up Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville to replace Miami (Fla), Boston College and Virginia Tech. But, also added no-football-playing members Xavier, Marquette and DePaul.

A move which now forces teams to scramble for a home contest every other year while dealing with a conference slate of games which give them four home games one year and only three the next.

It's time we're given a deadline-in or out.

Contact Jim Butta at jbutta@newsandsentinel.com

I agree with everything except his opinion on the NYC bowl game. Personally, I think a bowl game in NYC can become huge if the marketing is handled properly. If they market things like The BEast has football throughout its history, it'll fail...

Parkersburg News and Sentinel Wrote:Yes, the conference picked up Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville to replace Miami (Fla), Boston College and Virginia Tech. But, also added no-football-playing members Xavier, Marquette and DePaul.

Somneone had better tell Xavier that.

Agree 100% with this suggestion. ND has done nothing but reap the benefits of partial membership in the BE. Give them a deadline and then cut ties if need be. As the article suggests, its not like we get the outback, cotton or other half decent bowl in tie with the Irish on our back.

(06-09-2010 12:49 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

Parkersburg News and Sentinel Wrote:Yes, the conference picked up Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville to replace Miami (Fla), Boston College and Virginia Tech. But, also added no-football-playing members Xavier, Marquette and DePaul.

Somneone had better tell Xavier that.

I noticed that, but didn't comment on it since very few reporters get their facts straight any longer...

But this is the key to the whole equation...

Quote:With friends like this on the side of the Big East, who needs enemies.

The truth has always been that the Fighting Irish, and only the Fighting Irish, have benefited with Notre Dame's involvement in the Big East.

And that pretty much sums it all up...

(06-09-2010 01:23 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(06-09-2010 12:49 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

Parkersburg News and Sentinel Wrote:Yes, the conference picked up Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville to replace Miami (Fla), Boston College and Virginia Tech. But, also added no-football-playing members Xavier, Marquette and DePaul.

Somneone had better tell Xavier that.

I noticed that, but didn't comment on it since very few reporters get their facts straight any longer...

But this is the key to the whole equation...

Quote:With friends like this on the side of the Big East, who needs enemies.

The truth has always been that the Fighting Irish, and only the Fighting Irish, have benefited with Notre Dame's involvement in the Big East.

And that pretty much sums it all up...

100%

How bout we split and start up a new all sports conference?

What I've been saying since I joined the board...

The problem with the Big East giving ND a 'deadline' is that ND will just ignore the deadline, and what good will that do the Big East?

ND is not getting a deadline from the BE. They will hold out as long as they can against the B-10. If the B-10 puts the final call in and they don't answer and the B-10 moves on with out them, ND will end up in a revamped ACC with other BE schools after the ACC is gutted by the SEC.

What if the major conferences all move to 16 teams, and in their arrogance Notre Shame believes they can compete as a full independent, and then they fade into obscurity in athletic mediocrity? Would a power conference still be willing to add them when they realize they can't make it alone and start soliciting for inclusion?

But yes, I agree, Notre Shame should have been given an ultimatum or time line long ago.

http://northwestern.rivals.com/showmsg.a...=143003382
I just had a few beers tonight with a friend who works for the Big Ten here in Chicago. According to him, the Big Ten has focused their efforts on and is getting hot with three schools: Notre Dame, Texas, and Nebraska. A few things stood out about what he told me. First, contrary to my understanding of the benefits of expansion, the Big Ten is NOT pursuing a playoff system in football. Instead of a playoff, the football teams would all be required to add an additional one or two out of conference game, which would push the regular season back one week or two. The Big Ten wants to maintain the end of season rivalry games at the end of the football season as opposed to adding a playoff. Second, the Big Ten, Texas and Notre Dame are discussing a special rule to accommodate both of those schools. Instead of playing 8 games, both Texas and ND would play 7 to enable each school to play 6 out of conference games. That's apparently the caveat that brought both to the table, and Texas and ND also want to play each other every year. The tradeoff is that an 8-0 Big Ten team would always trump a 7-0 ND/Texas as conference champion, which is a potential logistical sticking point for the Big Ten and these teams. But apparently ND and Texas value the extra OOC game more than the conference championship potential, and ND and Texas want to play each other every year making the tie between two 7-0 teams impossible. They're also looking at potentially giving a automatic BCS slot for a 7-0 ND/Texas Big Ten team that loses the conference championship to an 8-0 team as a carrot, where the 8-0 team could still get the at-large but isn't guaranteed. Finally, the Big East is essentially pushing ND to discussions with the Big Ten. The Big East has presented an ultimatum to ND to play football or get out of the conference for the other sports in order to protect the integrity of the remainder of the conference. Apparently discussions have taken place between the Big Ten and the Big East, and the current understanding is that the Big Ten will not accept any other Big East schools if ND joins the Big Ten. ND also will retain a national schedule, particularly with Texas joining, where it would have the ability to schedule 6 OOC games plus one game with Texas. This means they're picking up only three additional games with Big Ten schools while playing in the conference. Very cool to hear the details from the inside tonight. --- 6/9/2010 Update: Thanks to spartantailgate.com for preserving my original post. I have kept notes on the entire development of this and will write it into a book or some other form, it really has been fascinating. It's pretty clear at this point that neither I nor my friend will be in any trouble for me writing anything. Congratulations to the Big Ten either way. Today is a big day for you, after literally years and years of work.