Well, in the wake of Marinatto’s early Monday resignation, there is already a flood of stories, opinions and speculation. Yes, it doesn’t seem as much of a concern for Pitt with the future looming with the ACC. Yet it really matters for a lot of reasons.
The obvious is that Pitt is still in the Big East for this year, so conference issues still impact. Plus, the fact that Pitt and Cuse technically could be held in the conference beyond this season means it is important to know some of the details of what went down and who will be the new conference chief. Since that relates to the negotiation of the exit.
So, how did this suddenly happen?
A source said Marinatto’s exit had been building for weeks. The source said the basketball members in the Big East were upset that they had no say in the expansion process.
This should not be a surprise that the basketball side of the Big East led the coup.
That mix of fear, arrogance and denial have been the hallmark of the Big East basketball schools. Last year I detailed some of the big missed opportunities of the Big East in making the conference more viable and strengthening it. The consistent issue was that the basketball schools stood athwart history yelling, “Halt!”
In addition to the missed opportunities, it is worth observing that when the Big East lost BC, VT and Miami and the Big East looked like it was going to split; it was the basketball side more gung-ho about splitting. They were tired of the football being the force of change in the conference. They were frustrated at all the talk about adding only football schools.
They grudgingly went with the 16-team conference because it preserved the balance of power in the conference.
This past fall, when Pitt and Cuse announced they were leaving, it was the basketball schools that quietly started talking split once more. They fought all expansion at first. They wanted to limit it to football-only members
Hell, when Tranghese retired, the reason why Marinatto got the job was because the basketball schools would not take any of the other candidates — all of whom had more TV and football related experience. Marinatto was the compromise, but also very weak. He was in no position to force anything to happen. This included the TV deal.
The Big East while weak is clearly heading towards the football side. The future composition will be 9 all sports (Louisville, Cinci, Rutgers USF, UConn, UCF, SMU, Houston, Memphis and Temple), 3 football-only (Boise, SDSU and Navy), ND and 7 basketball (Providence, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, DePaul and St. John’s). That’s going to mean more power on the football side.
Presently, though, it is basketball that holds sway in the vote. A 7-5 edge plus ND in voting power at the moment (perhaps 7-6 if Temple already is allowed to vote). So Marinatto being forced out is clearly because the basketball side said so.
As we’ve seen, if you hire the second-banana, it isn’t likely to work.
And it’s impossible not to notice that of the six power-conference commissioners making moves and counter-moves over the past two years, the only two who didn’t survive were the only two who got their jobs out of convenience. Beebe and Marinatto weren’t brought in from the outside to lead power conferences like Mike Slive (SEC), Jim Delaney (Big Ten), Larry Scott (Pac-12) and John Swofford (ACC) were brought in from the outside to lead power conferences. Beebe was Kevin Weiberg’s right-hand man in the Big 12. Marinatto was Mike Tranghese’s right-hand man in the Big East. They were promoted to positions of power only when their bosses either left for another job (Weiberg to the Big Ten Network) or just left, period (Tranghese to retirement).
And now they’re gone.
Beebe barely lasted four years.
Marinatto, who was forced into resignation Monday, didn’t last three.
Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but I kinda doubt it. Because the truth is that Beebe and Marinatto were sidekicks ill-equipped to lead power conferences in these trying, uncertain and ever-changing times, and history will almost certainly record them as bad in-house hires whose outdated ideologies cost themselves and the leagues that wrongly depended on them.
So when the basketball schools decided that Marinatto wasn’t their ally any more, he was finished. As it stands for the moment, the Big East voting is strongly on the basketball side.
That’s why I don’t buy the list of candidates that are being floated (other than the in-house ones). No way would they accept a guy who they perceive to be favoring football.
Kevin Weiberg left the dysfunction and infighting he had to face as Big 12 Commissioner for heading up the Big Ten Network and is now the number two guy for the Pac-12. I don’t see him putting himself through worse to run the Big East. The other names include: SEC executive associate commissioner Mark Womack, Greg Shaheen, former NCAA executive vice president for championships; Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti and Kit Morris, director of college sports at Nike.
Greg Shaheen might be the only possibility since he was in charge of the NCAA Basketball Tournament for years. But the others are too tied to the football matters to satisfy the basketball schools.
AT the same time, the football side can be just as stubborn. The longer it takes, the closer it gets to shifting the voting power their way. The more I think about this, the more I believe the Big East may not have a new conference commissioner for at least a year. Both sides just blocking each other. More dysfunction and fun on the way.
He would undoubtedly change the name of the conference to something more hip and recognizable, like “The Very Large Conference of Teams from Mostly the Eastern US But Also Texas and California and a Few other Places.” And a new Logo would be a must. Maybe a computer generated figure that looks like a cross between a dinosaur and an angry dog.
Pitt’s loss would be the BE’s gain. I would hate to see him go but I’d get over it.
LOL. Had a bad day, needed a laugh, so thanks.
I second the nomination of the Esteemed Mr. Pederson. Let’s start our ACC era with a new attitude and a new AD.
ACC commissioner John Swofford retiring.
Early replacement candidates include, former Big East commissioner, John Marinatto.
Stay tuned for more details as we get them.
the BB schools need to get on the back of the bus
were they belong or leave take a hike.
they need to wake up football is king to bad if they dont like it.
As a practicing Catholic, permit me to nominate the poster boy of total hypocrisy, the one and only, ladies and gentlemen, straight from the witness stand to your leader…Mr. Rick Pitino!!!!!
Rick…uh, please wash your hands, they are a little sticky and smell like fish..bad fish at that!
Now that is what a rational person might do, but we are talking the Big East here, so who knows . . .
1. As stated above, by Tartan, they will be at 12 football schools and would want to get busy with what they have.
2. With Pederson pretty much saying so on 93.7, telling alumni and boosters we’re gone, panther fans salivating to get to the ACC, (I myself can’t wait till Clemson comes to Heinz in football, and going to Cameron in hoops),
there would be a massive marketing nightmare on the universities hands.
Everyones on the bus, can’t pull out now.
End point, if they would try anything like keeping us, I believe the lawsuit that we thought might happen to get out this year, but never materialized, would be served immediately.
We’ll be in the ACC starting next June 1st!!!
This should have happened years ago, right after the first split-off of VT, BC and the U.
I think Marinotti with his famous procrastination coupled with his zero football pedigree was largely to blame for the current Big East mess. And I think he even deserves blame (in part) for the BCS finally getting fed up with them, thus canning the AQ altogether and dropping them down to mid-major status.
But until you separate those two bickering “spouses”, both of whom think they deserve the headlines, I’m not sure anyone else could have saved them from themselves.
Words cannot express how happy I am over the fact we are leaving this conference after this year.
Not much better than a cool, fall, football afternoon at Annapolis.
Too bad they can’t come to the ACC.
I know we’ll have a hard enough time trying to have ND and PSU on the schedule, would love to have a home and home with Navy every once in awhile.
This is what makes America great.
pitt will add a former 4 star QB this summer
but no name given i dont pay so did not get name
but it must be savage.
he will have to sit out a year but i like it
who ever it is we need all the QB we can get
