ECU'S A.D. Holland monitoring Big East situation
The independent comments of Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart regarding East Carolina's suitability for the Big East Conference generated a wave of reaction regarding the Pirates' membership in the league which currently holds automatic qualifier status in the Bowl Championship Series.
Ehrhart now orchestrates a three-way deal involving the Big East, Conference USA and the SEC for two slots in the Liberty Bowl.
After voicing his support for the Pirates, Ehrhart subsequently explained that his contention developed from his own perceptions about ECU's viability and was not based on any kind of inside information from the Big East itself.
Ehrhart has long been impressed with the devotion of ECU fans in his 19 years with the Liberty Bowl. He made his comments initially on the air in the Memphis market and subsequently chatted with Pirate Radio.
The Pirates have courted the Big East over a period of years. ECU's accessibility via the Greenville airport and the relatively small size of the television market are generally the reasons presented as to why the Big East passed over the Pirates in its expansion wave that plucked Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and Southern Methodist from C-USA.
If the runways aren't long enough in Greenville, what about Kinston? The factor that I really don't comprehend is the TV market thing. Sure, Rutgers is in the mammoth New York market but how many viewers in the Big Apple actually watch the Scarlet Knights? The Pirates are much closer to market saturation, which apparently gets ignored in the evaluation process.
Because those two factors don't really pass the test of common sense, I'm inclined to look elsewhere for the basis of the Big East's exclusion to date of ECU.
I wouldn't doubt if the source of the problem is Louisville.
The Cardinals, who have failed to escape the Big East for greener grass in the ACC or Big 12 as have many of their former Big East brethren, have never seemed to like the Pirates. Louisville initially blocked ECU's entry to C-USA and relations between the two institutions appeared to get worse instead of better when the Pirates were admitted.
It's certainly not inconceivable to me that Louisville is still blocking ECU's access to a more desirable affiliation.
The destination of choice for the Pirates is the Big East but the numbers situations in the ACC and SEC indicate the possibility of future expansion for those leagues as well.
I like the ACC because I think it would significantly enhance regional rivalries. Anyone care about Pitt-Georgia Tech tickets? Didn't think so.
The SEC is more akin to ECU's football-first mindset. As far as the Pirates' quest over the decades for the big time, the SEC would be the ultimate destination.
What the Pirates can do at the present is work to win, particularly in football and basketball, continue to develop facilities and hope that a power conference recognizes ECU's tremendous growth and potential rather than take the bait that television interests are dangling. There is also the matter of public relations with the C-USA teams who exit after this scholastic year. I think ECU athletic director Terry Holland is astute enough to stay on good terms with UCF, Memphis, Houston and SMU because of the influence they will have in the new membership of the Big East.
Strange as it may seem, given the intensity of the ECU-UCF football series, the Knights may actually be in the Pirates' corner as an advocate to the Big East.
Holland didn't make the trip to UAB last weekend as he worked to complete the search for a softball coach. Nick Floyd, Lee Workman and J.J. McLamb represented ECU from an athletic administration standpoint as the Pirates took a 42-35 win over the Blazers at Legion Field.
But Holland remains close to the Big East dynamic.
"The Big East is focused on its television contract but the need for a fourteenth member will be there soon as Navy joins for the 2015 season," Holland said.
"Whenever they get around to the fourteenth member, they may view BYU and/or Air Force as better matches, geographically and for television purposes, but we would definitely have to be interested in a full member invitation and, although more complicated, a 'football only' one as well."
ECU already has football scheduling relationships with BYU and Navy, which potentially could create more political influence within the Big East to give favorable consideration to the Pirates.
http://bonesville.net/Articles/AlMyatt/1..._Myatt.htm
Yeah, I wouldn't call that confirmation yet.