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KansasToonami said 12/29, 09:06 PM
Not only was it a "too little, too late" reaction to the expansion craze in the early 1990s--Penn State had sought to become a member earlier, but the Big East wasn't interested in being anything as tawdry and disreputable as a "football conference"at the time--but its membership proved extremely ephemeral, with the strongest football programs being sucked away by the ACC scarcely a decade after its formation, and the weakest being embarrassingly demoted, despite being one of the traditional basketball powers in this traditional basketball conference.

In order to preserve its semblance of dignity, the Big East recruited mid-major schools Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, and had prospective member Connecticut make the jump from mid-major earlier than planned. Still, the conference consists of only eight teams, and has little lasting identity as a football conference.

Given the fact that half of the members are mid-major transplants, and that despite the increasing competitive nature of the conference, the Big East has largely failed to distinguish itself from the stronger mid-major conferences such as the MWC, the Big East should not receive an automatic bid to a BCS bowl.

KansasToonami said 12/29, 09:37 PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the Big East will never win another football "national championship." Note that the Big East has only existed as a football conference for 16 years or so, and that the only team to win a national championship in football as a member of the "Big East" (Miami) has since left the conference. The reason Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College left was a perceived weakness (as they saw it...I'm just adding my perception to theirs) of the Big East, and the stated aim of the ACC to become more of a "football" conference.

I liked the old Big East. The one with Boston College. I would have liked it more had it formed earlier, when it SHOULD have, when Penn State wanted to join.

You're right, I don't like it now. And it doesn't deserve an automatic berth any more than the MWC or WAC does. If that means the MWC and WAC deserve automatic berths, that's another throwdown. But I stand by my argument. The Big East as a football conference is at mid-major level. I see Boise State, Hawaii, and BYU as the peers of the Big East schools, not LSU, USC, or Oklahoma.

KansasToonami said 12/29, 10:00 PM
Yup. 5-7. Too bad, dat. (I'm an FSU alum).

I guess that means their 2001-02 smackdown of Nebraska should be wiped from the Big East's records, now that they're not good enough for the Big East? ;-)

Again, I don't see ANY of the current schools--West Virginia included--being able to survive a regular season, much less a title game. The power schools have left the building.

South Florida is out of place. Literally. Unless the Big East adds Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International. I wouldn't put it past them, by the way... they already cherry-picked the mid-majors for their new members, because they coudn't get any from "majors". In a sense, the ACC proved its superiority in that regard... it didn't have to go to mid-majors to get its new members.

Pitt and Syracuse *were* powers. As independents. ;-) Not as members of the Big East. West Virginia was also an independent the last time it came this close.

The Big 10 (11) has been around a bit longer than the Big East, as a football conference. Of course I wouldn't say the Big 10 won't win a national championship. It's got the track record. It also got Penn State. They've got a track record, too.