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Interesting article on ND, the BE and....
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Jackson1011 Offline
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Looks like the BE is going to need a 9th football only member soon

Jackson




Thursday, November 18, 2004

By Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pitt and Notre Dame's decision to renew their long-standing football series was an important step for Pitt and the Big East. Any Big East team that plays Notre Dame ensures national network television coverage, guaranteeing widespread exposure for the league as it remakes its image in the wake of its recent shakeup.

Since Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East schools knew they needed to secure high-profile non-conference games in order to offset the drop in the caliber of play within the league, which next season loses Boston College to the ACC, subtracts Temple and adds Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida from Conference USA.

If top-shelf Big East teams are going to compete for Bowl Championship Series games, future non-conference schedules must reflect a significant upgrade in difficulty.

"We talk about that as athletic directors," Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said. "We realize as a conference that we need to step up. By and large, we all want to. Now it's about the hard work to get these teams, logistically, to play us."

Long said he has "a couple more" series to announce in the next few months. The contracts are negotiated but a few minor details have to be worked out. He said the series are with other BCS conferences schools.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said other Big East schools will announce series with the Fighting Irish in the coming weeks or months. Tranghese always has encouraged Notre Dame to play Big East teams in football because the Irish are Big East members in all other sports.

It seems now, with the conference's BCS berth in jeopardy after the 2007 season, that he has pressed Notre Dame more.

"It's great for Pitt, but it's great for our league, too," Tranghese said of the Pitt-Notre Dame renewal.

"It's very valuable. This game every year is going to be carried by a network or will be in ESPN primetime. ... I've had specific conversations with Notre Dame. Notre Dame has been very willing to do it. I think you'll see Notre Dame announce deals with other members. They're just not done yet."

The Pitt-Notre Dame series, which will resume in 2008 and run through 2015, is the first scheduling contract Long worked out in his tenure as athletic director. He said such negotiations can take months or years. Notre Dame and Pitt had been talking off and on for months, but things sped up in the week leading up to the game Saturday -- Pitt won, 41-38, on a last-second field goal -- so the schools decided to announce the renewal game because of the positive publicity it generated.

"Originally, there was so much to get done that I didn't think we would announce it until after the season," Long said. "But when things started to fall in place and it became clear on Notre Dame's end what was going to work, we both agreed it made sense to announce it the week we played, so the fans could get excited about it."

Some schools always have scheduled difficult non-conference games. Syracuse, for example, won't have to change much. This season, the Orange played Purdue, Florida State, Virginia, Cincinnati and Buffalo in non-conference games. But other schools have to get to work and make their schedules more difficult.

It is difficult for Big East teams to schedule non-conference games because the Big East is an eight-team league. That means Big East teams have four home conference games one year and only three the next, which throws off balance non-conference home-and-home series.

"We've always talked about a ninth member," Tranghese said. "But we're not going to take a member just for the sake of getting to nine teams."

Factor in the likelihood of the 12th game legislation being passed in the spring, and scheduling becomes a slippery slope for the Big East. Schools from all BCS conferences are going to have to add games in that case, but Long said the Big Ten and Pac-10 are talking about going to nine-game conference schedules if there is a 12th game, so non-conference games with schools from those leagues are unlikely.

Long also said games against Division I-AA opponents will count toward bowl eligibility every season if some NCAA legislation is passed. That means Pitt fans can probably expect to have I-AA teams on the schedule almost every year.

"I can tell you that a number of high-powered schools are excited about that, and they're excited to get those I-AA schools on the schedule," Long said.

"I think that's something our fans have to get used to. There's not enough games to go around without those I-AA games."

Pitt's future schedules are in flux. Next season, the Panthers play at Ohio and Nebraska and play host to Notre Dame. Long said he would like to add another marquee game, but it's difficult because teams have their schedules made years in advance.

In 2006, the Panthers have home games against Bowling Green, Toledo and Michigan State. Long has another game to add. The Navy series, which was set to resume in '06, has been pushed back and is scheduled to take place from 2007-11. Central Florida and Clemson come on in the following years.

The series Pitt will announce after the season could fill some of those holes, but Long's work is far from done.

"We're having some conversation on it weekly, if not more. It remains in flux," he said. "The conference changes have caused the ACC to look at the balance in their schedule. They're looking to do future scheduling options. I'm trying to strategically look at other places and look and see where a game might be freed up for us

"The kinds of teams we want to schedule are basically booked up at this time. There's just not that much out there to get, unless someone wants to change their existing schedule. There's a lot of wait-and-see out there.

"I'm kind of gambling that something will break for me for in 2005, so I can get a quality opponent. If not, I'm going to have to get a fill opponent. I don't want to do that, but the reality is that I might have to again."
11-18-2004 08:11 AM
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3601 Offline
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I don't think there's any doubt that Notre Dame is going to end up playing football in either the Big 10 or the Big East. I still think that the Big 10 is a little more likely, but I don't think the Big East is out of the question. Only time will tell.
11-18-2004 09:40 AM
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Jackson1011 Offline
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Quote:I don't think there's any doubt that Notre Dame is going to end up playing football in either the Big 10 or the Big East. I still think that the Big 10 is a little more likely, but I don't think the Big East is out of the question. Only time will tell.


Well....for those of us who have been waiting for ND to come into BE football for years....its a good first step...its also nice to see how long the Pitt/ND football contract is....its not a home and home but a 7 or 8 year deal.....it will be interesting to see what other BE schools will be playing ND (again...I've heard it will be Syracue and Rutgers....and maybe one more)


-- I'm also curious to see what the BE does with its future scheduling....if a majority of BCS conference are going to use the 12th game to simply add another league game....we could have a real crisis.....if I were the commish and the 12th game does pass this spring....maybe it is time to offer Army/Navy some kind of joint membership....that would be much more preferable then being caught playing I-AA teams like this year


Jackson
11-18-2004 11:33 AM
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Cat's_Claw Offline
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Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said other Big East schools will announce series with the Fighting Irish in the coming weeks or months. Tranghese always has encouraged Notre Dame to play Big East teams in football because the Irish are Big East members in all other sports.

Pretty funny that Jackson was ripped by some fans coming over to this board for suggesting that a number of Big East schools would schedule Notre Dame after the Big East put pressure on them. On a side note, I actually believe there is a better chance of Notre Dame joining the Big East then the Big Ten simply because there is a stronger chance that the Big East would allow them to keep their T.V. deal and bowl perks.

Also interesting is that Mike Tranghese said that the Big East is always looking at a 9th member. Weren't there people who came over to the Big East board saying that we were making all of this up, that the Big East wasn't considering expansion? This is the second time in the last couple of months that a Big East official has talked about expansion.
11-18-2004 11:30 PM
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Jackson1011 Offline
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Quote:Also interesting is that Mike Tranghese said that the Big East is always looking at a 9th member. Weren't there people who came over to the Big East board saying that we were making all of this up, that the Big East wasn't considering expansion? This is the second time in the last couple of months that a Big East official has talked about expansion.


-- Its looking more and more like a 9th football only member is going to be necessary....we don't have the luxary to wait for the split if the 12 game season is passed....scheduling with an 8 team football conference has always been hard...if another game is passed it will be a nightmare.....the one school that we have to be looking at is Naval Academy.....they are competitve, fit in geographically, have football history with many BE teams, and they have a close relationship with ND

-- Suppose Navy is invited to join the BE this summer.....and the rumors are correct about ND scheduling BE teams....just for the sake of argument let's say ND has agreed to play Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers and Louisville.....if one throws Navy in the BE mix.....Almost half of NDs schedule (5 out of 12) could be against BE teams in 2008 or 2009....if that occurs.....then I think both sides can seriously talk about some kind of partial football membership/affliation with BE football...if ND agrees...the BE bcs bid is safe forever....period....and the 16 team league can live happily ever after


Jackson
11-19-2004 09:25 AM
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TopCoog Offline
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I'm sure Notre Dame is buzzing about that chance to play in the Motor City bowl or the Flat Tire bowl as a member of the Big East........Geeeeeeeez. The egg nog is flowing a little early this year.
11-19-2004 10:36 AM
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Jackson1011 Offline
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Quote:I'm sure Notre Dame is buzzing about that chance to play in the Motor City bowl or the Flat Tire bowl as a member of the Big East........Geeeeeeeez. The egg nog is flowing a little early this year


-- ND already plays in BE bowls TopCoog.... the BE and ND have had the bowl tie in for years....expect ND to go to the Gator or Inisight .com Bowl this year...both of which are tied to the BE....

-- No offense friend....but if you don't know something maybe you should ask somone on the board...that would sure beat making stuff up


Jackson
11-19-2004 11:15 AM
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TopCoog Offline
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You know full well that the Gator and Insight are leaving the Big East. Both bowls have made it clear that they are interested in other options. Thats why we have all the interest in the Toronto, Indy, Motor City bowls etc. Notre dame won't play in those bowls and thus will leave for greener pastures, wouldn't you?
Its great to be optomistic but one can just get into la la land carrying this thing too far. If all the good teams in the league wanted out why would ND want to stay?
11-19-2004 01:59 PM
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Because they still need a conference for their Olympic sports and basketball?
11-19-2004 02:16 PM
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Maize Offline
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TopCoog Wrote:You know full well that the Gator and Insight are leaving the Big East. Both bowls have made it clear that they are interested in other options. Thats why we have all the interest in the Toronto, Indy, Motor City bowls etc. Notre dame won't play in those bowls and thus will leave for greener pastures, wouldn't you?
Its great to be optomistic but one can just get into la la land carrying this thing too far. If all the good teams in the league wanted out why would ND want to stay?
Really Coog, what conference are they going to get. The ACC, Big 10, $EC and Big 12 already have tie in that pay the same if not more then the Gator Bowl. Again no proof but only your opinion in which you have a very long track record of being wrong.
11-19-2004 02:17 PM
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CardinalJim Offline
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TopCoog Wrote:You know full well that the Gator and Insight are leaving the Big East. Both bowls have made it clear that they are interested in other options. Thats why we have all the interest in the Toronto, Indy, Motor City bowls etc. Notre dame won't play in those bowls and thus will leave for greener pastures, wouldn't you?
Its great to be optomistic but one can just get into la la land carrying this thing too far. If all the good teams in the league wanted out why would ND want to stay?
Would you please provide a link to your source that the Big East would be losing bowl tie-ins with the Gator and Insight. It would be greatly appreciated and we could put to rest once and for all whats fact and whats fiction.
The facts as we know them now are that the SEC and ACC are now having problems finding enough bowl eligible teams to fill all of their present bowl ties. Why would the Gator and Insight jump into agreements with leagues that would not guarantee teams EVERY year. This is not an isolated occurance. The SEC could not fill all of its bowls last season.
Those stuck on the outside looking at a BCS conference like the Big East might not like it that the #2 team in the conference gets a New Years Day bowl but thats not going to change the fact that they do.
CJ
11-19-2004 03:48 PM
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Jackson1011 Offline
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Quote:You know full well that the Gator and Insight are leaving the Big East. Both bowls have made it clear that they are interested in other options. Thats why we have all the interest in the Toronto, Indy, Motor City bowls etc. Notre dame won't play in those bowls and thus will leave for greener pastures, wouldn't you?
Its great to be optomistic but one can just get into la la land carrying this thing too far. If all the good teams in the league wanted out why would ND want to stay?


-- I have not seen anything about the Gator or Insight bowls leaving the BE while ND is still affliated

-- Their is not going to be a Indy bowl....that bowl idea got moved to Toronto....they are not two seperate games

-- the BE tie to the motor city bowl only exists of the Big 10 can't fill the slot and the BE has an extra team....it is not a yearl thing

-- and fianlly....the only ACC expansion loss that ND cares about is Boston College....ND regarded both Miami and VT as being renagade programs...if you don't believe me try to find a non-bowl game that ND played against either one....in fact I don't recall ND playing VT ever.....ND is much more likely to join the BE without those two then with them

Jackson
11-19-2004 03:51 PM
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Quote:Notre dame won't play in those bowls and thus will leave for greener pastures, wouldn't you?
Yeah TopCoog, I'm sure some other conference with better bowl tie ins is gonna bend over and let ND have access to their bowls while playing as an Indy. :rolleyes:

When it comes to bowl ties for ND, there are no greener pastures that don't involve joining a conference. Nobody at ND wants that. But I am interested in where you think the Irish are heading for new ties, I need a laugh.
11-19-2004 04:24 PM
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Wilkie01 Offline
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If Notre Dame will indeed play NBE football, then the rumor of ECU, Memphis and a third team being added for football only may have merit.
11-21-2004 08:59 AM
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Hopefully Navy.

But I am not a fan of adding ECU or Memphis. Perhaps Memphis. but really, why do we want to reincarnate CUSA?

Yuck. CUSA north? 03-puke
11-21-2004 09:15 AM
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