I gave the ‘Eers the grudging and brief credit for their win in the Sugar Bowl when it happened. I found myself rooting for them in that game. The Hoopies. I know many of us did. For the simple reason that with them winning it helped the Big East in credibility, which of course helps Pitt. It was a necessity thing (well, for our buddy Harlan stuck in Atlanta, it was also good in the fact that all the UGA fans became very muted). The Big East in its first year in its new version did not, by any stretch, look good. A regular season that didn’t exactly shine, and no bowl wins to that point.
That’s the sort of reason why I will be carrying a grudge against the ACC and those 3 teams for some time. They put me in a position where it became more important for WVU — Pitt’s primary rivalry team — to win, and thus have to root for their success. The team that ran the crap out of Pitt in the Backyard Brawl last season. It starts churning my stomach the more I think about it.
The only thing that helps, just a little, is the hope that Pitt can put the Hoopie fans in the same reaching-for-the-Maalox position — soon.
So, you can imagine how much I simply enjoyed the over-arching theme of Big East Media Day.
And the optimism in Morgantown underscores the general optimism for the league. Louisville will most likely begin the season in or near the top 10. Pittsburgh Coach Dave Wannstedt, in his second season, has successfully recruited in the talent-rich local area. And even Rutgers is coming off the program’s first bowl appearance in nearly 30 years.
But the Mountaineers, with 15 returning starters from an 11-1 team, an easy schedule and dynamic young talent, have the league abuzz. They have the best young offensive duo in the league, and perhaps all of college football, in running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, both sophomores.
Slaton rushed for 5.5 yards a carry last season on his way to 112.8 yards a game. He won the Sugar Bowl’s most outstanding player award with 204 yards and 3 touchdowns.
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The idea of discussing any Big East team competing for the national title began Jan. 2, the night the clouds lifted.
“I think it was critical,” Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano said. “I can tell you this, there were seven other Big East coaches rooting for West Virginia that night.”
It was the focus that showed up in every paper that carries AP stories.
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez doesn’t agree that his team’s victory in the Sugar Bowl rescued the Big East from oblivion.
But he doesn’t mind people saying it, anyway.
“I’m glad people are talking about that instead of saying, ‘Oh, that loss really hurt,'” Rodriguez said Tuesday at Big East football media day. “I like to think that the league was OK regardless, but it’s a positive thing to have people talk about that win.”
It pervaded the coverage. That the optimism of the BE Media Day was directly related to the Sugar Bowl (not to mention some rapid revisionism).
The Big East commissioner couldn’t have been more relaxed Tuesday than if he was in a lawn chair listening to a Newport Jazz Festival.
“This is the first summer in a long time that we didn’t feel like we were under siege,” he said during the annual Big East football media day. “My sense is that people are more open-minded now. I feel a lot of people had made up their minds about this league, that this was the end.”
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“You can almost sense this incredible change since the West Virginia game was over,” Tranghese said. “All we ever asked for was time and an opportunity to prove ourselves. There’s only one way to deal with criticism, and that’s to prove it on the field.”
While West Virginia and Louisville finished in the Top 20, newcomer South Florida played No. 3 Penn State and No. 17 Miami close, then shocked the country by blasting Louisville. Connecticut turned around and beat South Florida, and Rutgers ended its 27-year bowl drought and put on a show in the Insight Bowl in a 45-40 loss to Arizona State. And former NFL coach Dave Wannstedt has Pittsburgh moving up fast.
Where? Oh, where are the voices of reason? A West Virginia columnist actually saying, “whoah.”?
Bobby Petrino rooted just as hard as the next guy for West Virginia during the Sugar Bowl in January, knowing full well the impact a win over Georgia might have on the reputation and respect offered the Big East.
As they like to say in the NFL, however, upon further review, WVU’s 38-35 win that night might be less a knockout punch and merely a glancing blow to critics of the league. After all, it was just one game.
“You’d like to think it would quiet the critics,” the Louisville coach said Tuesday. “But the fact is, we have to do it again this year. That’s how it is every year. You go out and prove it on the field and continue to get better.”
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Will it change things in the long run? Probably not. Petrino was right when he essentially brought up the what-have-you-done-lately point. A couple of non-conference losses here and there or some sloppy league games will bring the heat right back again.
I so look forward to the point where we can gleefully enjoy watching highlights of Mountaineer losses without having to consider the “impact” on the Big East.
