Who would have thought last fall that the savior of Big East football would have come from the State University of New Jersey. Yep, Rutgers.
Now before you think I’ve lost my mind, hear me out on this.
After Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami took the money and bolted to the mediocre ACC, you could hear the death knell for the Big East as a major power. It was a given that West Virginia and Louisville would remain elite, yet as Syracuse and Pitt fell apart, the strength of the elite would be questioned as the WVU/Louisville game would be the only good measure for the country.
A funny thing happened on the road to WAC’dom, West Virginia beat Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, in Atlanta. The conference got a mulligan for an off 2005. UConn and South Florida were young programs with potential, but in this instant culture, potential doesn’t pay the bills.
Enter Rutgers. Rutgers who had played in one bowl game in their entire history until 2005, and even that was in New Jersey, made a bowl game. A pounding by Arizona State and their pinball offense later and the Scarlet Knights were forgotten again. Until September anyway.
They started 2006 right where 2005 left off, they were winning. North Carolina didn’t impress many people, but Ray Rice rushed for over 200. Other wins followed. A trip to Annapolis beckoned and some figured that the mini-Rutgers run was over. Navy failed to score.
After the dust settled from Louisville’s crowning defeat of WVU, most again figured that the Soprano’s ride was over. We were wrong.
Yes, they eventually were beat. Yes, they played in a lower tier bowl game, that by the way they destroyed Kansas State in. Yes, there were and are questions, but something funny happened on the way to the ball, Greg Schiano, who has built the program, turned down the Miami Hurricanes, a program dripping with tradition, to stay in Piscataway.
Never mind the hot blonde, lets stay with the brunette next door.
In two short seasons, after taking a few years to right the ship, Rutgers won their first bowl game, finished in the Top 15 in the country, and had their first double-digit win season.
Why does Rutgers and Schiano’s new contract make the Big East stronger? Well, having three major programs will make us much more likely to give credence for whomever gets hot in the Big East. An undefeated team will have to slay two Goliaths to get to the BCS Title game. You can obviously recruit better if you have a program that could seriously get all the way to the top. Finally, the pressure from the conference will be off to either plead a deal with Notre Dame or pushing the newer programs to make even bigger strides.
There is no guarantee that Rutgers will remain an elite team, but the emergence in that direction not only keeps the locals happy, it keeps Louisville and Morgantown happy, and when the new TV deal comes in, it keeps the bean counters happy.
Tell that to the parity filled ACC.
by Ron Juckett
by Pat Jenkins, on February 21 2007 @ 11:41 am
Rutgers a possible ‘08 title contender
by Pat Jenkins, on February 21 2007 @ 11:46 am
rutgers is a 08′ title contender
by Reality Check, on February 21 2007 @ 12:11 pm
Parity filled ACC? Please!
The ACC is the only conference over the past five years to have a winning post season record every year. You call that parity? I call it a strong, well balanced conference, where every week you have have to prepare for and get a physical pounding from a quality football team.
You can’t say that about the Big East. All the WVU’s and Lousville’s have to do is prepare for mone or two big games a season. Miami did that for years, hence their reution as a power house and a program “dripping with tradition.” Look what happened when they went to the ACC and had to play football every week.
And the same goes for the Big 10, Pac 12, and Big 12. Over blown conferences with weak second tier schools. Look what happened to Ohio State and Michigan in their bowl games. That’s because they played nobody all year.
And speaking of bowl games, Rutgers played a 6-6 team that finished in the middle of their conference and probably woudn’t have been in a bowl game if they didn’t invent the Texas Bowl this year. A bowl game that was not televised in NJ unless you could afford a premium digital cable package. Shows how much respect Rutgers gets. On any given Saturday, Rutgers should be available on TV. It’s not. No wonder the best NJ players still leave the state for better programs.
The only conference that can boast strength throughout along with the ACC is the SEC. Put Rutgers in the ACC and they are .500 at best. Substitute Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech for UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, South Florida and Cinncinati on the Rutgers schedule and see where sit. Eight teams in the conference? Try playing eight conference games.
I am so sick of hearing about the great and mighty conferences in football when a good hard analytical look at them will show how much the motor mouths don’t know.
Big East? Fugetaboudit!
by Brian Sakowski, on February 21 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Wow. I don’t even know where to start. The ACC was good from top to bottom last year? You must have some thick ACC colored glasses!
Let’s start by looking at some head to head matchups from last year. Louisville completely humilated Miami and beat the ACC’s best in Wake Forest. West Virginia beat another “quality” ACC team in Maryland and the ACC runner up in Georgia Tech. Pitt beat Virginia in a easy manner. Boston College beats Navy in a bowl game by a point. Let’s not forget that Navy was pounded into the turf by Rutgers.
Come on buddy, even the biggest ACC apologist can admit that the ACC had a down year last season.
There was no higher tier in the ACC last year. They were a bunch of just average teams. And the defines parity as explained in this post. And if you want to brag about your post season record why not brag about your BCS game record too. Oh ya you might not want to do that since it is 1-8.