I’m pretty sure the Charleston Gazette is an afternoon paper, so their stories come later.
You have a longtime West Virginia sportswriter talking about WVU winning 15-0 in 1967. The kicker, of course, was from the Pittsburgh area.
An article about Wannstedt’s first season in charge. Coach Wannstedt isn’t ready to discuss what happened.
“We’ll deal with the season when the season’s over,” Wannstedt said. “We still have another game left and it would be way too premature to get into (analyzing the season).
“I think you have to correct the bad things that have happened and we can’t stick our head in the sand. But then you look for the things that were good and you build on that.”
Hopefully he won’t have to talk about it for a bit longer.
West Virginia, arguably, is the school that most needs a Big East football conference to work and thrive. While Pitt and Syracuse quietly jockey and hope that when the Big 11 expands, and ND turns them down again, they will get the nod. WVU has nowhere else to go, despite their history. As such, they view the reconfigured bowl tie-ins for the Big East as having good potential.
It recouped by landing half-a-berth for No. 2 in the Sun Bowl, which while it may not quite share the clout of the Gator, has deeper roots (only the Rose, Orange and Sugar have been played longer).
The Sun is also a good deal for the Big East in another fashion. While the payout (see accompanying chart) pales in comparison to the Gator, the Big East will only be required to take 5,000 tickets for the game at the 50,426-seat Sun Bowl. Unsold tickets can eat into conference payouts.
After dickering for a Liberty Bowl berth against a bottom rung Southeastern Conference team, the Big East ended up with a spot for its No. 3 in the Houston Bowl, against No. 5 from the Big 12. That’s a shorter trip than to Phoenix for the Insight, where Big East No. 3 currently goes.
The Liberty would have been best option, but Houston is better than the Insight. The Big East is keeping its date in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., where minimum payouts can be boosted by a WVU or Louisville, or a neighboring North Carolina.
Last December, the old Tire Bowl was contracted to deliver a $750,000 payout. The Big East and ACC, due to big-time North Carolina ticket sales, got $1.3 million apiece for a Boston College-UNC game.
Now, the Big East is trying to help place a new bowl in Toronto for a fifth bid. Commissioner Mike Tranghese expects NCAA Football Subcommittee approval for a 2006 game between the Big East and Mid-American conferences.
…
Bottom line? Big East football fared better with its bowls recast than it did in telecast renegotiations.
Kind of damning with faint praise.
Unit comparisons between Pitt and West Virginia. Favoring Pitt: QB, Receivers and Secondary. Favoring WVU: D-Line, O-Line, RBs, Linebacker and Special Teams. Special Teams is most questionable.
Finally, a widely distributed AP story on the Backyard Brawl.
