CSNbbs

Pitt is top Big East program in newspaper's ranking

June 23, 2009 1:32 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

What is the best football program in the Big East?

That's a matter that could cause some serious debate. The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News has weighed in with its annual ranking of the nation's top programs based on 10 categories.

Half the criteria is based on last year's performance, with the other five categories taking into account a program's history with special emphasis on the last 80 years.

Categories include Top 25 and recruiting rankings, attendance figures, NFL products, APR scores, national championships, all-time Associated press rankings, College Football Hall of Famers and coaching records.

With all that in mind, no Big East team placed in the top 25 of the newspaper's poll. The top league program, according to the rankings, is Pittsburgh at No. 27. The Panthers were helped both by their history and by last year's nine-win campaign.

Here's where other Big East schools placed in the 74 teams that were ranked:

32. Rutgers

38. West Virginia

62. Cincinnati

63. Syracuse

69. Louisville

Ohio State ranked No. 1 overall, followed by USC. The rest of the top 10 were Alabama, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Notre Dame, Georgia and Tennessee.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-5-7...Today_Team

Totally disregard. They have Army at #17.

(06-24-2009 01:44 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote: [ -> ]Totally disregard. They have Army at #17.

Army was good when they gave a potential recruit a choice play football here or we can draft you, does the Infantry sound good.

Immediately following WWII, Army was using NFL players to play on Saturday and paying them. They had an impressive run until it all fell apart.

(06-24-2009 02:45 PM)QSECOFR Wrote: [ -> ]Immediately following WWII, Army was using NFL players to play on Saturday and paying them. They had an impressive run until it all fell apart.

Does not surprise me. Lots of shenanigans back in the day.

Quote:That's a matter that could cause some serious debate. The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News has weighed in with its annual ranking of the nation's top programs based on 10 categories.

Half the criteria is based on last year's performance, with the other five categories taking into account a program's history with special emphasis on the last 80 years.

Categories include Top 25 and recruiting rankings, attendance figures, NFL products, APR scores, national championships, all-time Associated press rankings, College Football Hall of Famers and coaching records.

If these are the criteria they used in these rankings than it might be a little tough to argue.

Pitt always has had good talent, they just lack a competent coach.

Blaik is a football icon...just as is Paul Brown. Both happened to play their college football together as a matter of fact.

For the football officianado...look beyond the multitude of Hall of Fame assistants that cut their teeth as a Blaik assistant...and follow the legacy coaching tree he sits atop of.





In his 18 years at West Point, he compiled a record of 121-32-10. And when one realizes that 11 of those 32 losses took place in the years 1951 and 1952 alone, when his team was decimated by the so-called "cribbing scandal," his record is all the more remarkable: taking away those two disastrous years, his 16-year record was 115-21-9.

He was twice Named National Coach of the Year...

He coached 6 Unbeaten Teams...

3 Heisman Trophy Winners...

8 Top-Ten Teams, including...

2 National Champions (1944, 1945)

2 Second-Place Finishers (1946, 1950)

1 Third-Place Finisher (1958)

1 Fourth-Place Finisher (1949)

1 Sixth-Place Finisher (1948)

1 Seventh-Place Finisher (1954)

20 of his assistants went on to become head coaches themselves...

Paul Amen... George Blackburn... Chief Boston... Eddie Crowder... Paul Dietzel... Bobby Dobbs... Sid Gillman... Jack Green... Andy Gustafson... Dale Hall... Tom Harp... Herman Hickman... Stu Holcombe... Frank Lauterbur... Vince Lombardi... Johnny Sauer... Dick Voris... Murray Warmath... Bob Woodruff... Bill Yeoman

Two former assistants, Dietzel (at LSU) and Warmath (at Minnesota), went on to win National Titles as head coaches. Two others, Gillman (Chargers, AFL) and Lombardi (Packers, NFL), would win professional championships. Lombardi would win two Super Bowls.

Most in here would remember Sid Gillman. He was Cincy's best ever coach before a new guy named Brian Kelly.

It all started with Red Blaik...


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...g_Tree.gif