Dateline: Chernobyl.
OK, what happened in the Big East in 2010 can’t compare to the nuclear meltdown in the Ukraine in 1986. But to anyone associated with the conference, it sure felt like a catastrophe.
Not a single team began the season ranked and not a single team finished in the rankings, thanks to poor bowl performances by West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl, and Connecticut simply being outmanned by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
However, historically speaking, the Big East has performed at a higher level than most college football fans recognize. Most notable are the conference’s victories in BCS bowl games (West Virginia with two and Louisville with one).
Any respect that may have come with some of those wins was washed away in 2010 with a lackluster season, and more calls for the Big East to lose its automatic bid. Is it time for this to happen?
Not so fast.
There are a number of positive signs for the league, but nothing will be bigger than the addition of TCU in 2012, giving the Big East 10 football-playing schools.
While the Horned Frogs’ recent success may not hold up with the move, TCU gives the Big East an additional solid football team that can be teamed with WVU as the clear-cut favorites right now.
Also take into account that Louisville, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and South Florida all have the potential to be serious players as well, and the Big East is in a good position to grow even more – if you can ignore the monstrosity that is the basketball side. That will mean more money if it can include a championship game.
So, who are some potential add ons?
How about BYU, UCF, Houston, East Carolina, Navy? And no version of the Big East will ever rule out Notre Dame. The odds of the ND joining in football are not good, but it’s important to remember that the Irish need the Big East for other sports, so you have to keep them in the equation.
Now, what if the Big 12 finally falls apart? Then the Big East could snatch up some bigger names – Kansas, Kansas State and maybe even Missouri.
So there’s potential to grow the league and improve it as well.
Also working to the Big East’s advantage is a solid line up of head coaches.
This is a conference that once had Rich Rodriguez, Bobby Petrino and Brian Kelly. If you want to go all the way back to its beginnings, the Big East also boasted Dennis Erickson, Frank Beamer, Butch Davis, Don Nehlen and Tom O’Brien.
Now the programs are rolling out Charlie Strong at Louisville, Doug Marrone at Syracuse, Todd Graham at Pittsburgh, Dana Holgorsen at WVU, Skip Holtz at South Florida and Greg Schiano at Rutgers. Don’t overlook what Paul Pasqualoni will mean to Connecticut, and when Gary Patterson arrives with TCU, you are going to have a cradle of coaches.
Of course, the talent on the field matters, too. What the Big East lacked last year were any real superstars. That’s about to change.
WVU has Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, Keith Tandy and Bruce Irvin.
Cincinnati has Zach Collaros, D.J. Woods and Isaiah Pead.
Pittsburgh has Ray Graham.
Louisville has Victor Anderson.
Rutgers has Mark Harrison and Mohamed Sanu.
South Florida has B.J. Daniels and a number of rising stars.
The Big East will never be the top dog of the BCS, but the conference is not as inept as many outsiders like to think.
Follow Crystal Ball Run on Twitter @CrystalBallRun.
Check out more from Tom at Eye and Eer Blog and on Twitter @eyeandeer.
