FWIW, I did this to see how the two divisions would rate over the last five years. I think I've got the schools in the right divisions (I might be wrong). Temple was added because they're the favorite for #12. From left-to-right are the final Sagarin rankings from 2007 to 2011, with the average ranking over the five years on the far right.

EAST ****

1) USF - 20, 43, 39, 44, 59 ... 41.0
2) UConn - 39, 40, 28, 56, 76 ... 47.8
3) Rutgers - 38, 37, 41, 90, 36 ... 48.4
4) Navy - 74, 51, 38, 55, 74 ... 53.0
5) UCF - 46, 110, 71, 42, 77 ... 69.2
6) Temple - 135, 98, 72, 66, 46 ... 83.4

WEST ****

1) Boise - 48, 12, 5, 6, 9 ... 16.0
2) Cincinnati - 19, 34, 8, 67, 30 ... 31.6
3) Houston - 84, 52, 53, 82, 15 ... 57.2
4) Louisville - 45, 92, 87, 51, 61 ... 67.2
5) SDSU - 89, 136, 103, 34, 70 ... 86.4
6) SMU - 169, 149, 65, 83, 51 ... 103.4

Many of the trends are looking good. For example: SMU (169 to 51), Temple (135 to 46), and Houston (84 to 15), etc.

Rutgers had one bad year (2010), otherwise they would have been #1 in the East.

Navy looks competitive.

Thanks for posting. Let's look at the Sagarin of the Old Big East teams five years ago and this year:

2007:

USF: ........20
Cincy:.......19
UofL:........ 45
Uconn:.......39
Rutgers...... 38

2011:

USF:...........59
Cincy:.........30
UofL:...........61
Uconn:.........76
Rutgers:........36

2007 Average: .... 32.2
2011 Average: .... 52.4

That's a striking decline in Sagarin ratings. Four of the five declined markedely, with Rutgers barely showing improvement, essentially the same.

VERDICT: Long-run participation in a weak AQ conference causes a decline in football program viability on the field.

(01-28-2012 10:43 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Thanks for posting. Let's look at the Sagarin of the Old Big East teams five years ago and this year:

2007:

USF: ........20
Cincy:.......19
UofL:........ 45
Uconn:.......39
Rutgers...... 38

2011:

USF:...........59
Cincy:.........30
UofL:...........61
Uconn:.........76
Rutgers:........36

2007 Average: .... 32.2
2011 Average: .... 52.4

That's a striking decline in Sagarin ratings. Four of the five declined markedely, with Rutgers barely showing improvement, essentially the same.

VERDICT: Long-run participation in a weak AQ conference causes a decline in football program viability on the field.

Why don't we look at all the years?
2007- 32.2
2008- 49.2
2009- 40.6
2010- 61.6
2011- 52.4

Verdict? The league has fluctuated and looks like its improving from a bad 2010

Falure to keep good head coaches was the root cause of this decline.

I will say that 2012 looks like a year where those five schools will do better than2011

What are Big East head coaching salaries between 2007 and 2011?

(01-28-2012 10:43 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Thanks for posting. Let's look at the Sagarin of the Old Big East teams five years ago and this year:

2007:

USF: ........20
Cincy:.......19
UofL:........ 45
Uconn:.......39
Rutgers...... 38

2011:

USF:...........59
Cincy:.........30
UofL:...........61
Uconn:.........76
Rutgers:........36

2007 Average: .... 32.2
2011 Average: .... 52.4

That's a striking decline in Sagarin ratings. Four of the five declined markedely, with Rutgers barely showing improvement, essentially the same.

VERDICT: Long-run participation in a weak AQ conference causes a decline in football program viability on the field.

Verdict. That's a clueless conclusion for UofL. It's 100% based on a bad coaching hire.

UConn will not be consistently ranked in the 70's. We're not in a permanent downward spiral. Pasqualoni will turn things around. Eventually, I expect consistent rankings in the 30's and 40's, with trips into the top 25 fairly common.

One coaching change in 12 years is hardly unstable.

(01-28-2012 10:59 AM)Cubanbull Wrote:  Why don't we look at all the years?
2007- 32.2
2008- 49.2
2009- 40.6
2010- 61.6
2011- 52.4

Verdict? The league has fluctuated and looks like its improving from a bad 2010

It has "fluctuated" only in the sense that the numbers aren't identical each year. But, the clear trend is DOWNWARD, as the rebound "up" fluctuations are not nearly as great as the "down" fluctuations, it's two steps back for every one step forward.

(01-28-2012 11:02 AM)Wilkie01 Wrote:  Falure to keep good head coaches was the root cause of this decline.

Yes, but .... i see this failure to keep good coaches as an effect of our weakness. If we were a strong conference, with teams willing and able to afford the $4 million + salaries that top coaches in the SEC and other top AQ conferences command, we could have kept those coaches.

As it stands, we remain a coaching farm system for the SEC, B1G, and even ACC. Kind of like the Royals and Pirates are farm systems for the Yankees and Red Sox ...

(01-28-2012 07:15 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-28-2012 11:02 AM)Wilkie01 Wrote:  Falure to keep good head coaches was the root cause of this decline.

Yes, but .... i see this failure to keep good coaches as an effect of our weakness. If we were a strong conference, with teams willing and able to afford the $4 million + salaries that top coaches in the SEC and other top AQ conferences command, we could have kept those coaches.

As it stands, we remain a coaching farm system for the SEC, B1G, and even ACC. Kind of like the Royals and Pirates are farm systems for the Yankees and Red Sox ...

Not every coach is leaving for minor upgrades. How many college teams can outpay NFL teams (Petrino, Schiano)? Let's be a little realistic here.

(01-29-2012 10:38 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  

(01-28-2012 07:15 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-28-2012 11:02 AM)Wilkie01 Wrote:  Falure to keep good head coaches was the root cause of this decline.

Yes, but .... i see this failure to keep good coaches as an effect of our weakness. If we were a strong conference, with teams willing and able to afford the $4 million + salaries that top coaches in the SEC and other top AQ conferences command, we could have kept those coaches.

As it stands, we remain a coaching farm system for the SEC, B1G, and even ACC. Kind of like the Royals and Pirates are farm systems for the Yankees and Red Sox ...

Not every coach is leaving for minor upgrades. How many college teams can outpay NFL teams (Petrino, Schiano)? Let's be a little realistic here.

Nobody can outpay an NFL team, and yeah, we've gotten taken by them too.

Point is, when a coach starts to shine in the Big East, they almost always leave for greener pastures, because we aren't perceived as the greenest of pastures.