It’s the start of Big East Media Days today. Next week, Pitt starts fall practices. That means camp updates, obsessing over the smallest things. Blowing things out of proportion when it suits our notions (Sunseri had a bad day! Voytik and a good day! ZOMG! Chryst is totally going to start Voytik over Sunseri! That is unless the Sunseri family doesn’t use their booster connections to force Chryst to play Sunseri!).
The Big East gets to put on its happy face with two lameduck teams, a team they had to bring back after kicking them out nearly a decade ago. And all of their myriad of problems.
That’s because Big East football will have teams in four time zones, will have three members who are football-members only (Navy, Boise State and San Diego State) and 10 schools which are full members (Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Rutgers, Connecticut, Temple — the Owls will be a football member this year and a full member next year — Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville).
And the conference also has to appease Notre Dame — for the time being at least — which plays everything but football in the conference as well as seven other schools (Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, DePaul and Marquette) whose primary revenue sport is men’s basketball because they don’t field Division I-A football teams.
The Big East will be a 21-team league, starting in 2015, yet Bailey has told anyone who will listen that the league can survive in this fashion and said that the league’s strength is in its diversity.
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Beyond that, the two biggest challenges facing the new commissioner will be negotiating a new and lucrative television package as well as finding a way to remain relevant in the national championship discussion and major bowls.
That is when they can find a commissioner that fits what they want.
In 1991, Big East football consisted of Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Temple and Rutgers. Next year five of the original eight will be in the ACC. In other words, a good case could be made that next year’s ACC will be more Big East than the Big East has been in years.
The good news for Pitt going into the season. Coach Paul Chryst is saying the right things about the whole issue of yet another new system for the quarterback (and offense).
Chryst, however, spends no time thinking about the difficulty involved in change. Rather, he points out what can happen, careful not to promise that it will.
“Two years ago, we had a fifth-year quarterback at Wisconsin (where Chryst was offensive coordinator from 2005-11) who was running a lot of those plays for five years,” he said.
“(Last season), same system, but the quarterback was one year (in the program).”
Result: Wisconsin won 11 games both times, with veteran Scott Tolzien and transfer Russell Wilson.
“Coaches, maybe media, can make it more than it is,” Chryst said. “Certainly, (when) the system changes, you can say it applies to the quarterback as much as anyone, but no one is interested in that being an excuse.”
After 23 seasons as an assistant on nine teams, Chryst is a head coach for the first time, dealing with the transition by preparing for it, rather than making it an issue.
Not a resigned, passive, “it is what it is,” but “this is what there is, let’s deal with it.”
I like #7 the best on ur list ! Can’t imagine why.
If ur going to take a shot at us who believe there’s more than meets the eye with Sunseri let’s get it straight.lol
It’s the old man being in the coaching fraternity AND his booster connections !!
If the Ped State boy rape case proved anything, it proved how these coaches all look OUT FOR EACHOTHER, regardless of ANYTHING ELSE !
What don’t ppl understand !
I’m glad Pitt is going back to the old Big East.
rob bolden.
Having said that, it was primarily CUSA schools that made the Big East competitive in football (mostly Louisville and Cincinnati), along with the Hoopies, since 2005.
No matter – let them figure out their own mess. I am more than happy about the move to the ACC.
Let’s Go Pitt!
You hit the spot with the “catholic” quotation…as a practicing Catholic, I find it rather sad.
A Note That I Probably Shouldn’t Include But Will Anyway Just to Make A Header That’s Far Too Long
“His name hasn’t been tossed around much, if at all, but PA WR Robert Foster claims a top five of Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Michigan State and USC. I doubt the Wolverines are an actual player here but bigger miracles have happened before.”
For whatever reason.
who have played there staying i get that and thought most would.
But what i dont get are that most of this years commitments seam to be staying a few may have wanted to play for penn state sence they were kids
But the outhers should be running away from penn state as fast as they can.
As i think abought it is odd most should have left bye now.
If Hull and others are smart, which they are, they know it is in their best long term interest to get away from that university as they will be forever marked as dirty, once they pull out the diploma. Perception is reality and that is how all kids with degrees from PSU will be labeled. Sorry, those are the facts.
Silas Redd decides tomorrow and unless O’brien pulls out some major guilt trip, he is gone to USC. Bolden will probably go. I am surprised that Paul Jones and Mike Hull haven’t committed because at least Jones looked at Pitt but was scared off by Tino. I would take the pair of them in an instant for an upgrade. Pitt doesn’t need much to get to the next level. Regardless, there just isn’t alot of talent at PSU. Fortunately for them, their schedule is down right soft. They should be 5-0 against that cupcake schedule. I do expect Wisconsin to win the big10.
It’s tragic, really, the Big East’s demise. Nothing to gloat about.
Nevertheless need still encourage the remaining league institutions to get real when judging Pitt (or Syracuse). Neither “defected” per se. Conference leadership sunk the ship. (Long ago.)
I cannot drive the point hard enough to remainders — I am looking at you Rutger’s, especially. Redirect your biases. If you want beef, see Tranghese (arrogant fool), his successor JMarinatto (extended family fool), and now (bravo) interim commish, Mr. Brilliant Bailey.
And with fewer scholarships coming in the future, every marginal player has to see his chances of getting playing time going up every year.
Short of righteous indignation over the bad acts of former senior leaders, I don’t see a driver for many departures. And I don’t see many 18 year old kids being much into righteous indignation.
1. all sports
2. all sports but football
3. football only
4. football only, joining at future date
5. all sports, joing at a future date
6. football only, all sports beginning next year
7. all sports, leaving next year
** any or all of the above subject to change