Yesterday, it was announced that the United States Naval Academy is going to join the Big East in 2015. Today it became official; they're having a conference call to introduce Navy as I type this. Here are some John Marinatto quotes on the addition:
"When people look back, they will mark this as a truly historic day for the Big East Conference"
"That Navy would give up 100 yrs of football independence speaks to the long-term viability of the BIG EAST"
"We are not done yet. We will continue to be getting stronger"
If you've read my posts in the past, you know by now that I haven't been exactly crazy about the Big East's choices in expansion candidates. The conference fumbled with a few teams and lost the commitment of TCU after they watched Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia all bail. They responded by adding Boise State, Houston, and three garbage teams that will never see BCS action. And now they have added Navy. A service academy who hasn't been relevant since the 1960s. But they're a name that everyone is familiar with. And apparently that was enough to make the Big East jump at them. Well, that, and the fact that they're in Annapolis, MD, which is sort of close to Baltimore, even though the Baltimore media market is pretty much owned by Maryland anyway.
Navy's joining a conference leaves Notre Dame and Army as the only independents left in college football. And both have already declined to join the Big East (not that we wanted Army anyway). They have a kind-of rivalry with Rutgers and SMU, so this is big for them. Whoopee for Navy.
So now instead of having traditional football and/or basketball powers Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, and TCU, the Big East is inflated and useless with Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, Southern Methodist, Central Florida, and now Navy. And instead of keeping their options open for the addition of two deserving teams, the conference is now pretty much limited to begging Air Force or Army to join. Great.
Good grief. Are you ever happy? Navy has a national following and has become a pretty good team. They are based in the DC TV market but have fans all around the country and a guaranteed national audience once a year when they play Army. I guess anything short of LSU and Alabama leaving the SEC is not good enough for you.
ReplyDeleteNo I agree with you Mike, the Big East needs to try to go for teams that would actually help them keep their BCS automatic bid rather than just filling in the empty spots with teams that will never have a chance to actually contend for the BCS spot. They should have gone after BYU harder, or try to get Notre Dame even though they are to cocky to get rid of their Independent status. This just makes the Big East look soft in the long run within conference play. SO now teams are gonna have to try to fill in those non-conference spots that would help their SOS and national recognition. But what does it all matter in the end, when the increasing talk about a change in the BCS is on. But as always GO BULLS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere probably won't be any more automatic qualifiers in the next couple of years anyway. As for BYU, they have that huge TV deal and will not get rid of it or share it. They have good tradition and are generally ranked when and where they deserve, the Big East would not have been a step up for them.
ReplyDeleteI see no reason to be satisfied with the conference's additions. Navy has a national following, but I don't think I've ever seen someone walking around wearing a Navy Football shirt. This should be about quality of teams, not size of their market. Do you think the Big XII picked up Texas Tech because of the Lubbock media market? There's nothing worth talking about for half of these teams who have been invited.
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