College Presidents Skirt Big East Expansion Issues

The issue of conference expansion came up during a meeting of college presidents during the Big East basketball tournament in New York, according to University of Louisville President James Ramsey. This is the first public indication that the presidents have acknowledged a possible crisis for the conference.

Ramsey said something to the effect that it was time the presidents stopped ignoring the elephant in the room. “It’s an area of concern for all of us,” he said. “We need to be prepared.”

And they talked about the issue, in what had to be one of the most generic discussions in conference history. There’s no indication of a committee being formed or consultants being hired to consider the league’s options.

Who would make up a Big East committee on expansion issues? The presidents of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, even Connecticut, are salivating about being included in a Big Ten expansion. How could any discussion involving them be productive?

Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida aren’t in any position to have much of an impact on discussions. The only leverage they have is the investment they’re making in their athletic facilities. U of L is among the most profitable basketball programs in the nation. Cincinnati has a great following when its teams are winning. South Florida, in Tampa, is in the 14th largest media market.

None of which is apparently a big deal when it comes to Big Ten versus non-Big Ten considerations.

Converging these interests into a common agenda would appear to be an insurmountable challenge. The Big East is locked into a position of having to respond to whatever the Big Ten decides what it’s going to do — and that won’t be known until summer.

Don’t expect the Big East college presidents to have serious discussions before then.

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Forde Will Be Analyst For U of L-Rutgers

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Rutgers Will Show Up

by Paul Sykes

Which Rutgers will visit Papa John’s? The team that dismantled South Florida 31-0 and knocked off UConn 28-24? Or the Rutgers group that tanked at Syracuse 31-13 and failed to show up in the season opening loss to Cincy 47-15?

One thing certain is Rutgers will take the Louisville football team seriously, having learned its lesson in not respecting the opposition.

Friday’s 11 a.m. game is the season finale for Louisville, and possibly the last on the sideline for Steve Kragthorpe. Rutgers has one remaining regular season game, against West Virginia in Jersey at noon next Saturday … and a bowl trip.

Greg Schiano’s teams have established a pattern over the last couple of years of starting slowly and roaring by season’s end. This season appeared to be a carbon copy of that plan until the Scarlet Knights crumbled in the Carrier Dome. Before the loss, they were on a three-game win streak while prevailing in seven out of their last eight games.

The Rutgers’ defense has shown vulnerability against the pass and is allowing over 200 yards a game through the air.  Whether Louisville can find a quarterback able to achieve that in the final contest is anyone’s guess.

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The Play That Will Be Remembered

While Trying To Drown The Sorrows

Courtesy of University of Louisville senior cornerback Travis Norton: His dreadlock tackle of Rutgers running back Jourdan Brooks will go down as one of the highlights of the 2008  football season. There were a few other highlights and low lights, of course, but this is the play that will be remembered:

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Rutgers 63, Louisville 14

One can only hope the situation doesn’t get worse for University of Louisville football before it gets better. That’s not an optimistic outlook; nor is it founded on any basis for encouragement.

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