Or is he a day late and a $ short.

We'll find out in a few months as various negotiations start getting heated up with TV and BCS.

If he can land a huge TV deal for the conference, then he has done his job as well as he could under the current situation. He can't do anything about people backstabbing and lying etc. He can only work with what he can control.

(01-24-2012 03:45 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  Or is he a day late and a $ short.

Ask TCU, Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia. Also ask Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miaimi, after all he was part of the management team that lost them as well.

He's done everything he could. He can't change the pecking order in College Football.

TCU even if the Big East had been the most organized best run conference in the country ever- would still have gone to the Big 12... A lot better geographically and also a lot of their old rivals in there. To pin them on him is rather ignorant. As Nienas said in their press conference- Welcome home.

(01-24-2012 03:52 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  If he can land a huge TV deal for the conference, then he has done his job as well as he could under the current situation. He can't do anything about people backstabbing and lying etc. He can only work with what he can control.

I agree with this. I don't know if it's quite backstabbing, but it wouldn't have mattered if this expansion had happened 5 years ago or today: Syracuse and Pitt would have taken ACC invites no matter what, and there wasn't really anything he could have done about that (and thereby WVU would have been out the door ASAP, too). Given the options on the table, he got the best non-AQ program of the past decade (Boise State) and a school with great TV and bowl value (Navy).

It also can't be underestimated that it had to take some real leadership to get a league that couldn't really agree on anything before to make a bold and unconventional national westward expansion. Time will tell whether it will work in the long-term or not, but he should at least be commended on getting an otherwise dysfunctional group to get on board with a plan that was more than just taking a conservative geographically-friendly school or two just to be geographically-friendly. Marinatto seriously deserves credit for that. It's relatively easy to sell university presidents on the merits of adding a school like Texas or Nebraska. In contrast, to get a conference called the Big East to add Boise State takes quite a bit of political skill.

I think all n all he has done ok. You could do nothing that would have kept schools from leaving, with that in mind he has done a pretty good job reloading the conf. If the Tv deal works out in the 10 to 12 range for all sports he made pretty good lemon aide out of lemons.

Adding Navy and Boise State will definitely lent the Big East some REAL marketability for TV contracts. Those were great pick-ups.

also- Navy is a natural fit with San Diego.... Navy is the one Eastern school that will draw regardless of where they play..... And as well- great for the bowl setup.

I agree with the above. There is a pecking order and the Big East is number 6 so with that said if he can create a league that will increase tv and money for those remaining then he has job the best job possible

(01-24-2012 04:23 PM)stever20 Wrote:  great for the bowl setup.

This can't be underscored enough.

He is making the best of a situation he created to be honest so it is difficult to say he is getting the job done when he booted it in the first place. Waited far too long to expand and then when they did decide he went with Villanova over BYU, TCU, and Boise St. When they finally got TCU they did not lock them in. Then they create a western half of the conference instead of locking up the East Coast with Memphis, ECU, Temple. Could ultimately cost them Louisville.

Hasn't he only been commish since 2009? BE issues date well before then.

Memphis, ECU, and Temple have nothing to do with Louisville. If the Big 12 calls, the U of L will listen.

In all honesty, UofL would be better served staying put for the next couple years. Once the Long Horn Network contract is done, I believe they take Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Okla St. with them to the Pac XVI. Then you will see some real crying and backstabbing.

(01-24-2012 05:19 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  In all honesty, UofL would be better served staying put for the next couple years. Once the Long Horn Network contract is done, I believe they take Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Okla St. with them to the Pac XVI. Then you will see some real crying and backstabbing.

EXACTAMUNDO.

Once LARRY SCOTT decides to expand again, WHERE DO YOU THINK HE'LL GO?

The Pac 12 is MORE LIKELY to expand than the ACC or B1G. Don't forget that it was the Pac 12 that initially PUSHED the 16 team model into the minds of cfb fans with their aggressive pursuit of Texas.

In that sense, the fault line of 16 team expansion is still very much in California. The only reason Texas isn't there now is because of their experiment with the LHN. That experiment will very likely fail (anyone that's seen it knows why) and even if it doesn't, Larry Scott may find a way for it to co-exist with their TV package if the future environment necessitates that change.

AS FOR MARINNATO:

Today's announcement was a HOME RUN. Rest assured, the Big 12 would have taken Navy if they could have. It's common knowledge that Air Force turned the Big 12 down.

As for the other additions, Marinnato landed TWO TOP 15 programs in Boise State and Houston (Both ranked higher than the ACC champ). Under the circumstances, that's simply amazing.

SMU BLEW OUT Pitt in their bowl game. UCF and SDSU are both good programs in large destination city markets.

This expansion got a LARGE vote of confidence today with NAVY's decision.. and rightfully so.

Now, let's snag Temple and get this party started!!

I joined everybody else in piling on Marinatto late last summer, and maybe into September. But I haven't done any of it since then. Based with what he's got to work with and the possibilities open to him and the Big East, I don't think most of the criticism is fair. I like what we've ended up with and I pray nobody else leaves. I also think JM has a heckuva lot more integrity than Swofford or Neinas.

(01-24-2012 03:52 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  If he can land a huge TV deal for the conference, then he has done his job as well as he could under the current situation. He can't do anything about people backstabbing and lying etc. He can only work with what he can control.

This is my contention as well. Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU all have acted in there own interest with little sense of respect or obligation. (It should be noted that at least Pitt and Syr are following the established procedure for leaving the conference.)

You can't judge a man for being backstabbed, what he is trying to accomplish now is commendable and the reality of the situation never allowed for some of the demands that people had of him.

Under the circumstances he did the best job he could do. He can only invite who the presidents tell him to invite. He can make recommendations, he however doesn't decide who to invite, the presidents do. If anyone is to blame for the mess that is The Big East it's the presidents.
CJ