Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
"Conference overhauls affect UCF membership"
Author Message
Bookmark and Share
Golden Jedi Knight Online
Heisman
*

Posts: 7,881
Joined: Jan 2004
Reputation: 218
I Root For: UCF
Location:
Post: #1
 
Documents found on a University of Connecticut message show that UCF initially was seriously considered for a football-only Big East membership and USF was left out. One of the documents shows the following:

Quote:RECOMMEND/CONSIDER
Louisville (everyone supports)
Cincinnati (consider for all sports)
Central Florida (football only)
Temple (consider for all sports)
Army (football only)
Navy (football only)

DISMISS
Marshall
Memphis
Southern Miss
E.C.U.
UAB
South Florida

Interpret whatever you want from this article; I just thought it was interesting to get some insight into the decision process that went on.

Quote:Conference overhauls affect UCF membership

The Big East favored the Knights over USF in July 2003, documents show.

by Alan Schmadtke
Sentinel staff writer
2/25/2004

In early July 2003, as the Big East Conference began shaping a survival plan amid pending defections by Miami and Virginia Tech, league leaders put together a wish list.

Under a heading "recommend/consider" was UCF.

Under a heading "dismiss" was South Florida.

Those are among revelations from three sets of Big East documents from the summer and fall of 2003 that surfaced this week on the internet.

As it turned out, some of the Big East's early decisions proved not to be among its final decisions.  After a third defection by Boston College, from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference, USF joined Louisville and Cincinnati as three all-sports members invited into a reformed league.

UCF, which had been considered only for football, was spurned.  On the same day the Golden Knights received an official call from Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, they agreed to an all-sports membership in Conference USA, effective July 1 of this year.

UCF Athletic Director Steve Orsini was surprised when he learned of the initial positionings of UCF and USF, given what conferences they ended up joining.

Although the Knights were energized by the possibility of a football-only tie to the Big East, neither Orsini nor President John Hitt had a face-to-face meeting with anyone from the conference.

"We had some conversations over the phone," Orsini said.  "The day I remember was the day of the [Nov. 4] press conference.  Mike Tranghese called to say they were going in a different direction."

"That was basically the extent of it."

Minutes from Big East meetings on July 9-10, 2003, and Oct. 1, 2003, were posted on the University of Connecticut message boards run by rivals.com.  The source of the posting is unknown.

John Paquette, Big East assistant commisioner, verified the minutes and said the league was unsure how "this information was acquired."

The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported the documents were submitted as part of two civil lawsuits: the conference vs. Boston College and four Big East schools against Miami and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The first two sets of minutes come from meetings two weeks after Virginia Tech and UM accepted invitations to the ACC.  At the time, Syracuse had been expected to receive an ACC invitation as well, but a "no" vote by North Carolina State killed the Orange's bid.

With the context of hindsight, the minutes - which include someone's handwritten notes and clarifications - bring to light the heightened emotions and passions of school leaders.

For instance, at the start of the first meeting, Syracuse Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel said he would resign if the league chose to expand to 16 members, and Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo - this was before BC headed to the ACC - said he would do the same.

There was no support for the 16-team model, although when BC bolted, that was how the league repaired itself.  (Crouthamel announced his retirement in November.)

Instead, presidents and athletic directors voted to explore sending six basketball members - Georgetown, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, Notre Dame, and St. John's - packing and reforming as an eight- or nine-school conference.

Boston College's exit paved the way for the 16-team model.  The six non-football members who stayed were joined by non-football members Marquette and DePaul.

BC's decision also was the turning point for USF, though details of the switch are not part of the minutes.

BC's exit meant the Big East needed another all-sports member instead of just a football-only member, and USF's non-football programs were viewed as more developed than UCF's.

Although Rutgers President Dick McCormick on July 9 asked that UCF be removed as a potential football-only candidate, "a straw vote indicates that the group is open-minded about federated members . . . ."

Neither UCF nor USF part of the Oct. 1 discussion.  Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Marquette already were entrenched as potential invitees.

"I know they did what they believed to be in the best interest of their conference," Orsini said.

"It certainly hasn't slowed us down if you look at our facilities master plan and what we're trying to do in a rather short period of time.  We're happy where we are.  We're growing, and C-USA's growing.  We think it's going to be mutually beneficial."
02-25-2005 12:51 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


UCF_Cardinals Offline
2nd String
*

Posts: 365
Joined: Feb 2005
Reputation: 3
I Root For:
Location:
Post: #2
 
Yeah, it makes sense. I mean, USF supplied the quick fix the Big East was looking for.

I'm obviously biased, but I think the Big East is going to kick themselves for this one. I wonder if they were aware that in 2 years, we would not be playing in the Arena as early as 2007? (As a BE team, no way would I want to bring my team there annually.)

They obviously didn't do a good comparison of the two schools (USF and UCF). Orsini didn't even speak to them face to face. I think I recall at the time, Orsini was taking a, "I'll let them come to us" policy. Meanwhile, our cheerleader in Virginia Tech was out. I'm convinced that if Orsini could have gotten them on campus, we'd be in the BE now. They'd be willing to accept as a football-only for 1 year.
02-25-2005 02:25 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.