What? Notre Dame and Charlie Weis didn’t make it?

Congrats to young E.J. His dad, Ernie Borghetti, was/is a credit to his Alma Mater as well. Big Ernie was an outstanding tackle for the Panthers. He also was instrumental in recruiting in the Youngstown area during the the Golden Years under Johnny Majors. Some of the recruits were Matt Cavanaugh, John and Jay Pelusi and Coach Bob Matey.Once a Panther, always a Panther. Young E.J. is just beginning his promising career. Keep an eye on this lad. George from Columbus.

link to community.post-gazette.com

Smizik notes an article that says Rutgers is the Big Tens First Choice for expansion followed by Missouri and then Pitt.

The funny thing about this article is that Pitt has a better case in almost every one of the reasons mentioned with the exception of TV market:

• Revenue. Having a large and full football stadium is key. A basketball arena, too. But a bigger factor might be the television market. More eyeballs equal more bucks.

Im pretty sure Pitt sells as many or more tickets than Rutgers and has a larger stadium.

• Geography. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told WSCR-AM 670 that he seeks a “geographic connectivity” that would help keep travel costs in check.

Pitt fits right in the middle of Big 11 country

• Academics. Every Big Ten school is a member of the Association of American Universities, a consortium of 62 leading research institutions in the United States and Canada. Big Ten expansion candidates Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse are also members. So are dark-horse candidates Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.

Academically Pitt has a great reputation in many fields of study.

• Recruiting. Whose area is most fertile?

Western PA is traditionally one of the hotbeds for high school football.

Four other factors can’t hurt Rutgers’ cause:

• Newark Liberty International Airport is 23 miles from New Brunswick, making Rutgers more accessible than many Big Ten campuses.

Pittsburgh Int Airport is just as close

• Rutgers calls itself “The Birthplace of College Football.” It beat Princeton in what must have been a thrilling contest in 1869. Final score: 6-4.

Pitt has one of the most storied programs in all of college football although its often overlooked.

• Delany hails from the Garden State — South Orange, N.J.

OK, they got us there!

• By leaving the Big East, Rutgers could quadruple its annual TV share to more than $20 million. Meaning that unlike with Texas and Notre Dame, an R.S.V.P would be a mere formality.

The fact that Rutgers would jump at the opportunity is a selling point? OK

if a big east team where to join the big 11, i would like it to be rutgers, they bring nothing to the table for hoops, and football they are ok, but i think a memphis or east carolina is just as good at fb if the be would expand again. Id rather them leave then pitt or cuse.

anyone who doesn’t think that money is the chief factor for the B10 is silly. RU and Missouri have always been considered the two favorites due to the TV markets. The big question is if research reveals that the NYC would pay more attention to college sports should RU join the B10. If not, Missouri is located directly between Kansas City and St Louis, two cities that pay more attention to college sports than NYC and would seem a logical 2nd choice .. especially when considering that their school is within a reasonable driving distance for the entire western half of the B10.

Pitt has a great deal to offer … tradition, location, academics, research, very attractive FB & BB programs, etc .. but may lack in the main criterion .. TV market

Congrats to E.J. and the entire Media Relations staff. I’m sure they’ll continue to do a great job regardless of what conference Pitt is in.

Maybe research will reveal otherwise, but other than the alumni, most of whom are more likley in NJ, I’m trying to think why anyone in NYC would give a shit about Rutger’s football even if they did play Ohio State and Michigan every year. Syracuse probably would have more NYC fans than Rutgers.

Whoops, just read the actual Smizik blurb and he mentions the size of the NJ TV market, not NYC. Mea culpa.

Gee, it’s admirable that so many on this board have Pitt’s financial interest at heart in that they prefer to have Pitt join the Big 10 at the expense of traditional rivalries. In football, perhaps we can keep WVU and possibly Syracuse, but I think that there is no guarantee. Boston College became a traditional rival that ended when they bolted. If we join the Big 10, presumably we pick up Penn State; however, there will be 4 or 5 Big 10 teams that we won’t play in any given year including PSU.

In basketball, wow, what a great trade-off! In lieu of UConn, ND, Syracuse, Louisville, Villanova, an extra game against WVU and the schools in the NJ area (where I’m located) along with the Big East tourney, we pick up Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, etc. No wonder I salivating at the thought that Pitt might join the Big 10. (Disclaimer: I’m being facetious.)

Rev. George, are you originally from the Youngstown area?

Can’t the Big East schools come up with a plan to protect themselves. I know football is important, but the Big East is the premier basketball conference. That has to mean something. If Rutgers leaves, then I really don’t care. Pick up Memphis or try to get Boston College to return. They will likely keep the BCS bid and the basketball side will improve.

IMHO only, I would not look for the University of Pittsburgh to become a member of the Big 1o, The University of Pittsburgh is a great university that can offer a great education.

Otherwise, Pitt brings very little to the Big 1o in market expansion. The Big 1o recruits Western Pennsylvania very well and the Western Pennsylvania market already has tons of PSU and tOSU grads therefore the TV market offers very little to expand.

Count on Rutgers or Syracuse bolting, they both have large untapped markets; no way Missouri will make the cut. If you think Penn State is remote, Columbia is just a rest stop off I70 about halfway between KC and St. Louis.

The Big 1o has a decent stake of the KC and St. Louis markets because of the Iowa and Illinois influence. I would equate The University of Missouri to WVU, pretty backward with tons of people who have dental issues and a very shallow gene pool.

BigGuy: It’s also admirable that people are getting so worked up over one guy’s opinion. Both times topics got hijacked recently by Big 1x talk was due to something written by Teddy Greenstein at the Chicago Tribune. Sure he has “sources” but the only quotes are old ones by Barry Alvarez and Paterno. No one in the Big 10 was willing to talk with him for his recent articles.

Why? Probably because as Big 1x commish Jim Delany said it’s very premature to be talking about expansion let alone who would be invited. Delany said that they are just fact-finding and it will be 3-5 months before they even discuss next steps.

So what’s Greenstein’s motivation? Maybe it’s job security at a paper that’s still trying to work its way out of bankruptcy. He’s assigned to golf and college sports, neither of which is relevant in Chicago right now. Just an opinion.

BigGuy – I think if Pitt joined the Big Ten they would play PSU annually as a “rivalry game”, the same as PSU currently plays Michigan State annually (and OSU and Michigan play annually). But you are right in terms of the other schools – Pitt would not play Michigan or OSU every year.

I think if only one school from the Big East leaves, and that team is Rutgers, the Big East football conference can survive. If more than one school leaves, Pitt needs to do everything possible to make sure it is not left behind. I must admit, from a fan’s perspective, I really enjoy Big East basketball, culminating in the annual party at Madison Square Garden. I’d really miss that if Pitt left.

Mr Delany, I disagree with your assertion that Missouri is remote. MU is 90 minutes from both St Louis and Kansas City … compare that to PSU.

They are also within a resonable driving distance to IOwa, Wisc, NW, Ill and possibly Purdue and Minn.

What does the size of the market matter when people aren’t going to be tuning in? The one example that Rutgers have that they can bring in a lot of TV’s was when they played Louisville during the “dream” season for Rutgers. Guess what? People tuned in because it was a surprise season. Rutgers just hasn’t been relevant as a program for long and thus doesn’t have a big TV following I believe. Maybe I’m wrong on all of this but I can’t picture tons of people tuning into the knights. I went to college in NJ and as a Big East fan, I knew more about and watched more of the Scarlet Knights on TV than all of my friends who were natives of New Jersey. They didn’t give a crap.

What is all the hype about over the big 10???

i dont think they are this great conference that should be talked about so much…
why doesnt the BE try and bring in some other schools for FB and stop all this talk..
Why would any school leave the be wich is the best conference by far in hoops, best tourny and selling out every game for the big 10? i think for fb, both confernces are about the same…

money should not be the only factor, if it is, BE should get there own network similar to the Big 10 network, which i never watch.

I am not necessarily saying that I think Pitt should go to the B11, even if offered. I am more fearful that the BE cant afford to take the hit of more football defections, leaving Pitt in the rubble. Its sort of like self preservation, leave before somebody else does, not necessarily because you really want to. There are positives and negatives to both sides, staying or leaving. I really wish the BE would be more proactive in trying to prevent another raid.

wbb,

I have spent a lot of time in the state of Missouri, actually way too much time.

The University of Missouri brings very little to the table in regards to true market expansion for the Big 1o.

Remember the Big 1o wants to “expand”, the state of Missouri presently has a Big 1o influence right now, it really does.

St. Louis is really into Illinois basketball but Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas are both heavily into KU basketball and I really do not see that changing ever.

Therefore RU or SU offer huge TV markets and a ton of potential, Missouri offers very little because of the current circumstances.

Expansion is about $$$’s an eastern move by the Big 1o will bring more dollars, therefore I must agree we respectfully disagree regarding the University of Missouri and proposed big 1o expansion.

J Delany, you addressed the issue of the state of Missouri pertainng to basketball only .. but didn’t say a word about football. Truth be told, Missouri FB is definitely more popular than KU

WBB

Frankly until only recently Missouri Tiger football has only become relevant, right now the Rams and Chiefs suck so there is some interest in following Missouri football in KC and St. Lou, but when the pro teams win Tiger football is not the main attraction in the large Missouri cities.

WBB have you lived in Missouri?

I did for 24 years and trust me the Big 1o will not take Missouri, not enough market for expansion. The Big 1o will take Nebraska before Missouri.

Ok, so now NYC is really not interested in Rutgers or college FB, and Missouri would supposedly not be interested in B10 … B10 already has the Pgh market .. so, what’s next?

To “Big Guy”: My, you are perceptive. Actually. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. However, I spent 15 glorious years as a pastor in Poland, Oh. During that time I had the privilege of meeting and encouraging Pitt’s recruiters and players. Some of our coaches who spoke in the area and I met were: John Majors, Jackie Sherrill, Jimmy Johnson and Bob Matey. A graduate ass’t also showed up at my church one day. He went on to become head coach of that school in South Bend. As is usually the case with ND coaches I can’t recall his name. But, Youngstown (and particularly Chaney High) were pipelines to the Panthers. I miss those days, but look forward to ANOTHER great grid season in 2010 for the ‘Burghers. Thanks for asking “Big Guy”, whoever you may be. George from Columbus

Rev, I believe you may be referring to Bob Davies

Jackpot wbb! Mr. Davies of Sewickley is a class guy,but who could follow that comedian from East Liverpool with the initials of L.H.? My poiny in all of this is that the Pitt grid program has quite a tradition of capable mentors. We are duplicating that with the roundball annals. Oops! The word in the third sentence is meant to be point. Sorry. GM

Pantherman13 – no, PITT and PSU wouldn’t play annually – the B10 doesn’t even do that for OSU-Michigan which is a far bigger and well known rivalry.

Rev. George. Reading this board, I infer that you had an interesting career. It’s inspirational to us older guys that you ain’t slowing down. The Youngstown area has had a pipeline to Pitt. Besides the Chaney connection (the Pelosi’s and Matt Cavanaugh), Ursuline sent Ernie Borghetti and Regis Coustillac. Cardinal Mooney sent former Congressman Jim Traficant (who is still making news). Then there are the suburbs. New recruit, Andre Givens, is from Hubbard which is right outside of Youngstown. Obviously, I’ve left out many names of players over the years.