By now, I'm sure you've all heard the news. The Big East conference will be diluting itself by once again dipping into the mid-major conferences and picking up some less-than-deserving teams to fill the void left by some of its more important members leaving for other conferences. Nothing against Boise State, they totally deserve a BCS spot. Unfortunately for them, the Big East is also adding Navy, Air Force, SMU, and (hold your breath) Central Florida, meaning the Big East's AQ days are numbered. People will give arguments for all these teams, saying the only reason they haven't succeeded was because they weren't in a BCS conference or that they have the talent to do well, but they don't have the competition to gain attention. But the most irritating argument about why these additions will pay off is when people mention that the UCF-USF rivalry will finally be renewed, making Big East football meaningful after losing the rivalries of Pitt-West Virginia and Syracuse-Georgetown. Let me tell you what I think about the renewal of this "rivalry" after the jump.
I know I'm going to get ripped by a lot of the non-USF members of the Big East (and probably some of you guys too), because they all just see one thing: money. They think ticket sales for one game a year translates directly to the Big East being saved. They also believe that because of the proximity of the two schools, it's just common sense to invite them up to play. So with all these things going for expansion, why wouldn't I see it as a great thing?
The reality of the matter is that USF, after being invited up to the BCS level, and after going 4-0 against UCF, moved on to bigger things. USF went on to beat Florida State, Miami, and Notre Dame while staying competitive in the league beating nationally-ranked West Virginia and Pittsburgh. What has UCF been doing in the meantime? Well they got their first bowl win last season over a 6-7 Georgia team. They won 11 games last year, none of which was over a team with a winning record. They were overrated in the BCS polls because the BCS doesn't understand what a quality win is. Oh, and they've been busy losing to BYU and Florida International. So yeah, I'm skeptical about what exactly the Big East officials see in them. You know the last time USF lost a non-conference game to a non-BCS team? 2001.
Some say this rivalry has to be legit if it has a name, the War on I-4, but it's about as big a rivalry as Houston-SMU, which no one will watch either. For all of the people who think UCF-USF is the answer, I ask you this: If this "rivalry": is such an important thing to supporting this conference, then why wasn't UCF invited up in 2005 when USF was? Their football program had been around longer and the school's enrollment was larger, so why us and not them? The truth is that UCF was, and always will be, that one school that will forever think they're better than they really are. Until UCF has some real quality victories under its belt, they don't deserve our conference, our level of recruiting, or our schedule space. So no, I don't think this rivalry is the answer for the Big East. Because there's still only one quality team. Adding UCF for the sake of rivalry isn't going to make the rest of the country respect your league, but rather deprecate it for being the Conference-USA charity conference. I know not everyone feels this way, but the way I see it, USF and the Big East would benefit more by not adding UCF.
Who would you suggest they add instead? They dont have much of a choice and rather you want to admit it or not UCF is somewhat of a rising program. Also you can't say they don't deserve to go up to the Big East because they have arguably been more successful in Conference USA then USF was. UCF has won two league titles compared to zero for USF. Also i'd much rather see us play UCF and come close to selling out Ray J every other year than watch us play some sad excuse for a college football team like Ball State and barely draw over 40,000 people. Plus you can't talk like USF is so much better than UCF. Other than a few nice out of conference wins against teams that had bad seasons those years (FSU, Miami, Auburn)USF hasnt really accomplished anything. Believe I'm not a huge fan of UCF but i think they deserve a shot. The Big East is pretty much dead already anyways.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see the Big East crumble than see it flail to add all these mid-major teams and embarass themselves on their way to losing their BCS status. You add teams for their potential to win championships. Does anyone out there believe that UCF or Navy or Air Force is ever going to win a championship? Or even win a BCS game? You don't add teams just to add teams. Unless you're the SEC. Then you can do whatever you want.
ReplyDeleteAs a SEC fan I'm really amused by this kind of small mindedness. There are several reasons why this article is non-sense:
ReplyDelete1. UCF IS USF 10 YEARS AGO. USF was brought into a BCS conference before having achieved anything of real substance. The appeal for the Big East was a decent basketball program, a large TV market, and a fertile recruiting area (same as UCF). With Big East money, exposure and opportunity, USF has become a respectable BCS program. Referring to yourself as "old money" while referring to UCF as "new money" is ironic.
2. THE BIG EAST MUST PLAY A DIFFERENT GAME. College football fans generally look at conference realignment through the prism of land grant universities that are over a hundred years old. That is never a game that newer schools in more urban areas can win. So, the Big East must change the game and bet on high growth schools with lots of upside in urban market. In baseball terms, they can't sign big name free agents like the Yankees, so they need to build up their farm system and sign young up and comers (see: USF and UCF).
3. THE AQ TAG IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Adding the Service Academies alone might be enough to keep the AQ tag. If not, then adding Boise State, Houston, and UCF provide plenty of BCS points to keep the Big East in play. And don't think that TV executives who invest in the next Big East contract won't make sure they keep their AQ tag.
Look, I know you feel entitled to remain ahead of UCF because of your Big East experience. But you have to look ahead 50 years. This country is urbanizing in a big way, and institutions in Tampa and Orlando are going to catch up to those in Gainesville and Tallahassee across every category (research, sports, etc.). You two are stronger together than you are apart, and every time USF fans write these kind of articles it smacks of a great...wait for it...RIVALRY.