The message board got whipped into a furor late last week over an article that appeared in an on-line South Bend, Indiana newspaper.  The article raised the possibility that a new Big East bowl deal is being drawn up in which Notre Dame will be considered part of the Big East bowl mix.

Even though the Fighting Irish are not members of the Big East football conference, the article made it sound as if the Golden Domers will be thrown into the pot when the bowl bids are handed out to Big East football teams at the end of the season.   Notre Dame will still have separate consideration for an Alliance Bowl bid, so, should they qualify, they will go to the Alliance, and a real Big East team will go to the Alliance, as well.

But, should Notre Dame not make the Alliance, they will be combined with the Big East football teams when bids are handed out for the Big East's other bowls.   At this point, from what I understand, the Big East only has one other bowl - the Gator.  The Liberty and the Carquest have not renewed their tie-ins with the Big East (and in the case of the Carquest, all I can say is Thank God!).

Practically speaking, this means that in years in which Notre Dame does not make the Alliance, they'll get the Gator Bowl slot.  After all, the game is broadcast by NBC, which stands for the Notredame Broadcasting Company.

The on-line version of the article mysteriously disappeared, and The Roanoke Times, as of the time I'm writing this, has been strangely silent on the matter (they may come out with a detailed article by the time you read this, the way my luck goes).  Fortunately, though, an article that discusses the matter in some detail appeared in the on-line version of the Charleston (WV) Gazette.  The article, by Gazette columnist Dave Hickman, is titled Is Big East selling one of its bowl berths?

Tranghese:  the Man Can't Win

At first, if this development is true, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, as usual, looks like a buffoon (hey, if the shoe fits, eat it, Mike).  But I can appreciate Mike's position.  He is trying to renegotiate the Big East bowl contracts at a time when the league is faltering on the field, at the gate, and in the television ratings.  The SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, and just about every other conference in existence are getting stronger and better, while the Big East seems to be going down the toilet in all respects.

Mike is dealing with bowls that are backing out on him, and TV networks that are not happy with the Big East ratings.  Tranghese may be a buffoon, but he is dead right about one thing:  if Miami ain't playing, people ain't watching.

The rest of the country couldn't care less about Virginia Tech, Syracuse, and West Virginia, and it has been showing.  Heck, with the exclusion of Virginia Tech and WVU, the conference members' own fans don't care, a theory that is bolstered by the lousy home attendance of the Miami Hurricanes (about 30,000 a game for non-FSU tilts) and the lousy bowl attendance of Syracuse fans.

Until Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Boston College, and (ha-ha) Temple get it together, they aren't even a consideration.

So, with the bowls backing out on him, Tranghese was faced with two possible outcomes to the latest round of bowl negotiations:

• Come home empty handed, with the Alliance, and maybe the Gator, but nothing else.  This would confirm the Big East's growing reputation as a second-rate conference, because everybody knows the big boys have at least four bowl tie-ins, and probably more (last I checked, the SEC seemed to have about 15 tie-ins).

• Involve Notre Dame in the mix (no doubt at NBC's urging), and retain four bowl bids for the Big East "conference" (and Notre Dame).

Neither outcome is palatable.  Tranghese, as usual, is in a no-win situation.  It's the price he pays as commissioner of the Big East conference.

If Tranghese Can't Win, Then Neither Can We

That brings me to my next point, which is this:  all-sports membership in the Big East conference ain't what it used to be, and if it happens for Virginia Tech, I suddenly can't decide if I'm going to be happy, or if I'm going to run away screaming.

I'm starting to feel that the Big East is doomed to extinction.   Why?  Simple:  its football members (Miami, WVU, Syracuse, etc.) will always be at odds with its basketball members (Georgetown, UConn, Providence, etc.), to one degree or another.

When the ACC or the SEC or any of those other true "all-sports" conferences goes to the bargaining table, whatever the topic is, they're all in it together, putting up a unified front.  This has shown in the last five years, as all of those conferences have gotten bigger, stronger, and richer.   But when the Big East goes to the bargaining table, it immediately turns into a tug of war between the basketball schools, the football schools, the football-only schools (Tech and Temple), ... and Notre Dame.

The conference is split so many different ways that it will never be able to focus its efforts in the fashion that is necessary to achieve true growth and prosperity.  Never.  Too much of this conference's energy is spent trying not just to get stronger, like most conferences, but simply to stay together, without flying apart.

The conference is a rat's nest of specialized agreements, and now, if this new Notre Dame bowl deal is true, it's only going to get worse.  And worse.   And worse.  Until it falls apart.  It's getting to where I believe this.   At the very best, the conference will be second rate, and will never be a player like the SEC, Big 10, or ACC.  Too much energy is spent trying to please each of its members individually, instead of doing what's best for the conference as a whole.

Because there is no "conference as a whole."

SEC or Big East?  Three Guesses, First Two Don't Count

Jim Weaver has stated publicly on more than one occasion that he feels that all-sports membership in the Big East is Tech's best bet, and its best outcome.   He has talked about how our athletic budgets and our student base are more in-line with the other teams in the Big East.  He doesn't feel that the ACC will ever be a possibility for Tech (he's right), and he doesn't feel that Tech can compete with the big-budget, tradition laden teams of the SEC.

When you hear Mr. Weaver say this in person, you find yourself nodding your head and saying to yourself, he's right.  Mr. Weaver is an intelligent man, and a compelling speaker, and he certainly knows his job better than any two-bit keyboard hack like me.

But I have to disagree with him publicly and say that I think that the SEC is the better conference for Tech.  Let's assume for an instant that Tech may one day be offered conference membership in the SEC (and whether or not that will actually happen is a whole 'nother topic in itself), and at the same time, be offered all-sports membership in the Big East (after all, it seems as if the only way the BE will ever offer Tech all-sports membership is if another conference is interested in the Hokies).

Sure, at first, the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee, and LSU and company would probably flatten the Hokie football team on the field.   Tech would sink to the middle of the pack in the SEC, at best, at least until Tech's recent recruiting success starts to take hold.

And if you thought the Tech men's basketball team struggled in the A-10, good lord, what would the SEC do to them?  And that women's basketball team we're (justifiably) proud of?  As Florida, who isn't even the best team in the SEC, demonstrated in the NCAA's this year, our women's team would be cannon fodder.   Baseball?  Forget it.

But only for a while.  Only for a while.

With SEC membership, Virginia Tech sports would explode, starting with football, and filtering down into men's and women's basketball, right through the baseball team, the track teams, and any other non-rev sports teams that Tech puts on the field.

So, we don't get very good ratings in the NOVA area when we're on TV?   Sure, Tech vs. Boston College doesn't .  But try Tech vs. Florida, or Tech vs. Tennessee.

So, we only sell 17,000 football season tickets?  Fill the home slate with Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and Florida, and see what happens.

Cassell Coliseum is half-empty, even on good days?  Last time I looked, Kentucky wasn't paying visits.

So, in the SEC, we'd be out of our league (pardon the pun) at first, but like I said, only for a while.  After that, all bets are off.  With the increased ticket sales and exposure, our revenue would take off, and success would build upon itself as the best high school athletes in the South would all suddenly consider Tech, because it would mean getting to play against the best.

So, consider this my vote for the SEC, if we can somehow pull it off.   But again, that's another matter entirely.

More so than that, consider this a vote against the Big East.   All-sports membership in the Big East looks somewhat appealing at first, but when you peel back the outer layers, and you start to see a rotten core that is fundamentally flawed, you start to ask yourself if inclusion in the Big East would be a good thing, after all.

Me, I don't think so.

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