Memphis, East Carolina headed to the Big East?

15 May 2008, 6:06 am

Let's not go overboard just yet, but these storylines are certainly reminiscent of the great summer shakedown of 2003. The Memphis Tigers may be negotiating with the Big East to join the conference as an all-sports member. Sources have confirmed to FOX13 Sports that University of Memphis officials have been in serious talks with the Big East about joining the conference. And while those talks are progressing, East Carolina is essentially throwing itself at the Big East. Just for kicks, let's put one on the table in the form of, say, a job application. The school should be willing to: - Play a conference football schedule with zero compensation from the Big East so current members don't have to give up any of their share of revenue. - Be responsible for negotiating a television contract for home games until the league wants the school to be a part of its package. - Not expect any of the league's BCS revenue until earning a BCS bid of its own representing the conference. - Come in as a football member only. Other sports would play in another league in order to not interfere with the league's current 16-member setup for all other sports. - Show a solid track record of putting fans in the seats at home, on the road and at bowl games — all on a trial basis for a few years. Who would take that chance? East Carolina. Speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, insiders with knowledge of East Carolina's position talked of doing all of the above. That's how confident they are in coach Skip Holtz's program. By the way, Skip wouldn't return the call on this one, and athletic director Terry Holland said he had no comment. Told you it was sensitive. "We would agree to all of that and others," said one prominent ECU supporter. "Our partnership could be described as a 'hand-in' partnership rather than a 'hand-out' partnership. We wouldn't be asking for anything except the opportunity to prove ourselves as good and productive partners of the eight institutions playing Division I-A football." Is ECU really that desperate to get out of Conference USA that they would whore themselves out -- eschewing all television and bowl game revenue -- and pay the CUSA's exit fees to get a taste of Big East football? Maybe. Maybe. And you know that must be winning them so many friends over at the C-USA headquarters. So what would ECU have to gain by joining the Big East as a football only member? 1) Increased awareness. ECU has made significant strides to raise its profile, including a six-year contract for games with West Virginia, the hiring of Skip Holtz, and winning. In many ways, ECU has adopted the Bobby Bowden mentality of the early 1980's... anyone, anytime, anywhere. The most remarkable aspect however is that not only is the team showing up at those games, but ECU is quickly gaining a reputation as a school that travels well. Put the Pirates into the Big East television package and ECU goes from a regional awareness to... well, some kind of blip on the national radar. 2) Rivals. ECU has no natural rivals within Conference USA. As their stature has risen, they've been excited to play with the upper echelon of the conference, but there are no geographical rivals for the Pirates. One of the better "rivals" for ECU is... WVU. Joining the Big East guarantees the extension of the Mountaineers series, and... if you're going to be without geographic rivals, you might as well be in the best conference you can be, right? 3) Increased revenues. Moving to the Big East would have significant costs, but it is probably the only move that would also increase football revenues at East Carolina. The Pirate Club isn't going to get any bigger just because June Jones is coaching in C-USA. While ECU is selling somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,000 season tickets last season. The thinking at East Carolina is that season ticket sales -- as a Big East member -- could go into the 25,000+ range, not to mention a potential increase in upgraded suites. So what's the Big East's official stand on these rumors? A very Bush 41, "nah gonna do it." "I know there's a lot of talk about it, but we are not going to add a 17th team. It is just not going to happen," Tranghese told me. "There's no interest whatsoever in taking that path among our conference presidents. I understand where our football coaches are coming from, and I know they have a problem." That problem is scheduling in the new era of 12-game regular seasons. In their eight-team football league, Big East coaches and athletic directors are forced to find five nonconference opponents each season. That's one more than teams in other Bowl Championship Series leagues. But the bigger scheduling problem in the Big East is the mismatched conference rotation that forces some members to play four league road games and only three home league games each season. "That's the real driving force behind our coaches' stances on expansion," Tranghese said. "Obviously, it would be much better for everyone to have four home and four away conference games each season. But it's not such a problem that we need to add another school to fix it." ... "It's a tremendous school, and [Pirates athletic director Terry Holland] and I have been good friends for many, many years," Tranghese said. "ECU's reputation for playing excellent football and having lots of fans that back the team on the road is well-established. The schools in our league have always been extremely impressed by the program there. You can't say enough about the job Skip Holtz has done. But still, that doesn't change the fact that we aren't going to go to 17." The impetus for much of the expansion talk is being driven by the football schools. The ADs and coaches are basically stuck in scheduling hell because the Big East teams only have seven conference games per year on the schedule, leaving five non-conference games to be scheduled per season. Adding one more football school would ease the pain. Adding two... well, you would see the Big East ADs doing backflips. But, until those coaches & ADs can push the university presidents to force the conference's hand, it isn't likely to happen. For it's part, the Big East has an official moratorium on expansion until 2010... at least. A few years ago, I think it would have been foolish for the Big East to make a move with either/both Memphis and East Carolina, just as I thought last year's talk of adding Navy was probably wasted breath. However, given the current geographic makeup and competitive landscape of the Big East, I can't find any fault with bringing on the Tigers and Pirates. I'm not going to say that it's a slam-dunk done-deal, but it certainly sounds as if the two schools are... interested, to say the least. © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Memphis, East Carolina headed to the Big East?... ... read more