From Mo Egger's blog this morning who after attending the game in Memphis last night really misses Big East football. What do you think?




1) You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. The Bearcats won last night, beating a bad Memphis team in their stadium to gain bowl eligibility. But as I sat in the nearly-empty Liberty Bowl to watch college football on a Wednesday night, I started thinking about the Big East.

There are team and schools in this league that make you appreciate the Big East.

OK, OK, so the Big East took its fair share of potshots. No one ever mistook it for the SEC or any of the other power conferences that have slightly less-annoying fan bases, but that league was good for UC and while it might not have been a conference that captured a nation's imagination, and while the league might have had its share of bottom-feeders, I never went to a UC road game that felt like last night's.

Here was a typical exchange from the last two days, this one between a cab driver and I...

Me: Can you take me to the Liberty Bowl?

Cab drive: What's going on there?

Me: A football game.

Cabbie (seeing my UC jacket): Cincinnati, huh?

Me: Yessir

Cabbie: Who are they playing?

Me: Uh, Memphis.

Cabbie: Football?

Me: Uh-huh.

Cabbie: I didn't know.

OK, OK, so there's not much reason for the locals to be excited about Memphis football this season. After losing to UC, the Tigers are 1-6. But I don't think anyone has ever gotten excited about Memphis football. The Bearcats played the Tigers every season from 1996 through 2004. I remember one of those games and have absolutely zero recollection of the others, even though I probably attended more than half of them. Last night was the kind of game that UC's entry into the Big East was designed to avoid: a mid-week tilt against a team no one cares about in a lousy stadium that no one goes to.

This isn't a knock on UC. The school, program, and team are all playing the hand they've been dealt as best they can. They've sustained, and even grown attendance despite the conference situation and they're fielding a team that still has a shot - though not a good one - of winning a league title. They're going bowling again, and barring a total meltdown, they'll have a quality record. Plus, the badly-needed stadium renovations begin in just over a month.

And I don't want to completely obscure what the Bearcats did on the field, some of which was really good (continuing emergence of the wideouts, gritty play by Brendan Kay and an offense that's starting to find itself) and some of which was really frustrating (head-scratching playcalling on both sides of the ball, a shaky field goal unit, and some troublesome red zone issues). UC has a measure of momentum going into a more difficult final third of the season.

If anything, it's more of an appreciation of what UC was a part of. The Big East games, for a number of reasons, just felt bigger. They felt more important. They felt like they mattered. And say what you want about the schools that were in the league, the cab drivers in those cities knew there was a game that night.

That might matter to you, and it might not. But look around the conference. Do we think that anyone in Philly cares about Temple football? SMU's football program might be 13th in the Dallas sports pecking order. Does East Carolina football move the meter much in, um, North Carolina?

If people there don't care, why should we?

Maybe the old Big East wasn't loaded with powerhouses, but for the most part people in the individual areas where the schools reside cared. At the very least, most folks knew when the games were. And frankly, the quality of play was better than this year's AAction. The Big East might not have been "big time" in the biggest possible sense, but it was a lot more big time than Conference USA. Last night felt a lot like Conference USA.

Because it was.

I know, I know I'm gratuitously piling on a conference that's been on the defensive from day one. This isn't about the AAC, what it is, what it will be, or how long UC will be in it. This is about a look back at a conference that a lot of people took for granted and like the American, mocked for what it wasn't.

In hindsight what it was, was really not all that bad

Read more: http://www.espn1530.com/pages/mo.html#ixzz2jK74TV2w

Well written; Mo is so right. Road games against Syracuse, West Virginia and even Pitt inspired the Bearcats because these were big name opponents that had chased national titles in their storied histories. I've enjoyed visiting Memphis and we had a blast as the Liberty Bowl against Vandy but will Memphis football ever get really competitive sitting in SEC Country with the limited resources the AAC provides?

It's going to take a large effort on the part of UC's supporters, students, and (frankly) the City of Cincinnati in order to keep Nippert Stadium full and keep the gameday experience strong.

The slide to apathy gets quick when you realize that the majority of the conference is like Memphis. When you see that they don't care, it becomes tough to convince UC fans to care in return.

vvv

Who said the Big East was bad? I didn't take it for granted.

I guess we should just give up?

Hopefully President Ono reads Mo's blog.

(10-31-2013 01:54 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  Who said the Big East was bad? I didn't take it for granted.

I guess we should just give up?

We should look at Memphis, SMU, and all these other garbage programs as a stern warning of what can happen if there isn't constant pressure to win and constant effort to command the attention of the local market.

UC is now asking fans to pay good money to watch bad football at strange times during the week. We're all hoping it's a temporary purgatory (or a pledging process, to use a college metaphor) that precedes finding a permanent home in a better conference, but it doesn't change that this is an extremely dangerous time for UC football.

Giving up isn't an option, but giving in even an iota can send the program into a death spiral that could take decades to recover from.

(10-31-2013 01:55 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Hopefully President Ono reads Mo's blog.

For what reason? He knows the AAC is now where UC needs or wants to be... but what can he do about it besides keep selling UC to the power 5 conferences?

I will miss the automatic BCS tie in. WVU turned into a big game every year.
But no I don't miss the teams that left. Teams like Houston, ECU, UCF have a
strong upside, more I think than Pitt and Cuse. Rutgers and Ville will be missed.
Mo should focus on the next 4 BIG games, SMU, Rutgers, Houston and Ville.

If Memphis gets to a point where they are 6-6 ish, they will have fans in the stadium.
Plenty of cab drivers in Cincy are clueless about UC football.

(10-31-2013 02:02 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I will miss the automatic BCS tie in. WVU turned into a big game every year.
But no I don't miss the teams that left. Teams like Houston, ECU, UCF have a
strong upside, more I think than Pitt and Cuse. Rutgers and Ville will be missed.
Mo should focus on the next 4 BIG games, SMU, Rutgers, Houston and Ville.

If Memphis gets to a point where they are 6-6 ish, they will have fans in the stadium.
Plenty of cab drivers in Cincy are clueless about UC football.

"Strong Upside" doesn't sell tickets or capture the interests of fans. It's a kinder way of saying "doesn't matter (yet)."

(10-31-2013 02:08 PM)#41 Wrote:  

(10-31-2013 02:02 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I will miss the automatic BCS tie in. WVU turned into a big game every year.
But no I don't miss the teams that left. Teams like Houston, ECU, UCF have a
strong upside, more I think than Pitt and Cuse. Rutgers and Ville will be missed.
Mo should focus on the next 4 BIG games, SMU, Rutgers, Houston and Ville.

If Memphis gets to a point where they are 6-6 ish, they will have fans in the stadium.
Plenty of cab drivers in Cincy are clueless about UC football.

"Strong Upside" doesn't sell tickets or capture the interests of fans. It's a kinder way of saying "doesn't matter (yet)."

Attendance at Nippert this year is one of best or best ever.
SMU and Ville still to play. I have seen lots of empty seats with UC playing for a share of the Big East title, like UConn, or empty seats last year like Cuse. Hopefully what is happening or the trend is that it is becoming more about UC and not the opponent. Last years opener vs. Pitt on Friday night was not a sellout, good crowd.

Time will tell.

Nothing is set in stone. You could have done Mo's cabbie talk and substituted UC for Memphis 7-8 years ago and probably gotten the same responses. I remember having to go and practically bribe servers at BW3 in Rookwood to put UC's road games on a single little TV in the corner and then fight with other patrons who kept wanting to change it to some other game.

(10-31-2013 02:26 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Nothing is set in stone. You could have done Mo's cabbie talk and substituted UC for Memphis 7-8 years ago and probably gotten the same responses. I remember having to go and practically bribe servers at BW3 in Rookwood to put UC's road games on a single little TV in the corner and then fight with other patrons who kept wanting to change it to some other game.

Pfft... I was at the BW's in Clifton last night and half the people there were there to watch the World Series or the NBA. There were a couple douche's wearing UK gear. One looked like he could have been a UC student... smh...

That being said I miss Pitt, Syracuse and WVU. Playing those teams gave us a lot of credibility not just locally but throughout the state. Not sure the locals will ever give us credit for beating the new schools regarding of how good they are now or will be in the future.

(10-31-2013 02:08 PM)#41 Wrote:  

(10-31-2013 02:02 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I will miss the automatic BCS tie in. WVU turned into a big game every year.
But no I don't miss the teams that left. Teams like Houston, ECU, UCF have a
strong upside, more I think than Pitt and Cuse. Rutgers and Ville will be missed.
Mo should focus on the next 4 BIG games, SMU, Rutgers, Houston and Ville.

If Memphis gets to a point where they are 6-6 ish, they will have fans in the stadium.
Plenty of cab drivers in Cincy are clueless about UC football.

"Strong Upside" doesn't sell tickets or capture the interests of fans. It's a kinder way of saying "doesn't matter (yet)."

I'd say houston / ucf / ecu have performed better than cuse or maybe on par with pitt over the last 10 years. At the end of the day, UC fans should be buying tics to watch "their" team play.

I was just thinking this last night. I miss the Big East.

(10-31-2013 02:31 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(10-31-2013 02:26 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Nothing is set in stone. You could have done Mo's cabbie talk and substituted UC for Memphis 7-8 years ago and probably gotten the same responses. I remember having to go and practically bribe servers at BW3 in Rookwood to put UC's road games on a single little TV in the corner and then fight with other patrons who kept wanting to change it to some other game.

Pfft... I was at the BW's in Clifton last night and half the people there were there to watch the World Series or the NBA. There were a couple douche's wearing UK gear. One looked like he could have been a UC student... smh...

That being said I miss Pitt, Syracuse and WVU. Playing those teams gave us a lot of credibility not just locally but throughout the state. Not sure the locals will ever give us credit for beating the new schools regarding of how good they are now or will be in the future.

You should have scolded them. I was at Jefferson Social last night, it 50% UC 50% World Series. I think the apartment dwellers at the Banks are mostly younger transplants. Walked over to the Yard House after that.
Very nice!!

(10-31-2013 02:31 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(10-31-2013 02:26 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Nothing is set in stone. You could have done Mo's cabbie talk and substituted UC for Memphis 7-8 years ago and probably gotten the same responses. I remember having to go and practically bribe servers at BW3 in Rookwood to put UC's road games on a single little TV in the corner and then fight with other patrons who kept wanting to change it to some other game.

Pfft... I was at the BW's in Clifton last night and half the people there were there to watch the World Series or the NBA. There were a couple douche's wearing UK gear. One looked like he could have been a UC student... smh...

That being said I miss Pitt, Syracuse and WVU. Playing those teams gave us a lot of credibility not just locally but throughout the state. Not sure the locals will ever give us credit for beating the new schools regarding of how good they are now or will be in the future.

Same BW that posted Eggs posters when they were in the ncaa tourny a few years back. Why am I not surprised.

The Bearcatmill Bar & Grill was 100% UC fans last night. Think I kicked one of the pets out for requesting the World Series....

I like Mo, but I don't think an article bitching out the AAC is the least bit productive.

(10-31-2013 01:54 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  Who said the Big East was bad? I didn't take it for granted.

I guess we should just give up?

The national media. So by extension that trickled down to the uninformed. The Big East never got any respect even when WVU and Louisville were winning BCS bowls. We were always fighting an uphill battle at least in terms of perception but we still had a seat at the big boy table so it didn't really matter.

Now we've lost WVU, Syracuse and Pitt (to date). You could argue that only WVU was a step above the programs that we brought into the AAC. Pitt and Syracuse had plenty of empty seats at a lot of their games over the last several years. But those teams carried a lot of historical cache so it at least felt like we were playing higher level football.