When Big East supporters discuss the conference, they talk with ease. Three years ago, they talked with optimism. But not with ease.

It’s different than optimism, which can sometimes be blind. Like when your football conference loses three of its best teams, including two of the top programs in the country. Speaking with optimism after that is unconvincing, when the other ends of the swap are middle-of-the-pack programs that have done little to prove themselves save the occasional late-December bowl game named after some company that’s two years away from filing Chapter 11.

Three years after the fateful departure of heavyweights Miami and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Conference and eventually the exodus of Boston College, the eight-team Big East football conference remains afloat. It has three teams in the top 25 and a new media deal with ESPN, proving that the conference has a legitimate football future to go along with a 16-team basketball conference that ranks among the nation’s best.

‘Big East football is as strong as it’s ever been,’ said Big East Associate Commissioner Nick Carparelli, fully aware that the comment is met with raised eyebrows from most college football observers. ‘That might sound crazy to some, but with this group of eight, all are on same page and fully committed to competing on the highest level.’

This is all good news for Syracuse, which flirted with the ACC before crawling back to the Big East acting like it never wanted to leave.

But it did.

On June 25, 2003, after then-Syracuse University Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel received word that the ACC was not accepting Syracuse after it completed the ACC’s review process, SU Spokesman Kevin Morrow released a statement.

‘We are disappointed that a decision like this was made,’ the statement said. ‘Clearly there are issues that have come into play that outreach the quality and value of our institution and its athletic program.’

The statement then went on to pledge loyalty to the Big East, a suspicious reach out to a conference SU seemed eager to depart. The conference needed to progress to maintain its stature among the top six conferences in college football and thus keep its Bowl Championship Series affiliation, which guarantees the conference championship a spot in a major bowl and the conference a hefty sum of money-the projected 2007 payout for BCS teams is reportedly $14 to $17 million.

Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida all joined the Big East as full-time members. The markets weren’t like Boston or Miami, but they were at least sizable. The programs weren’t Miami or Virginia Tech, but they were at least marketable.

It was also a delicate time for the conference, considering tradition-rich programs like Syracuse and Pittsburgh were in decline and it was counting on West Virginia and Louisville to carry the load.

The conference’s future in the BCS was questioned publicly in 2004 when four of the seven Big East teams tied for first place, all with 4-2 conference records. Pittsburgh won the championship on tiebreakers but was embarrassed by mid-major Utah, 35-7, in the Fiesta Bowl.

Even those directly involved remained cautious about the conference’s spot in the BCS.

‘There’s always that in the back of your mind,’ said Crouthamel, one of the founders of the Big East. ‘On the other hand, you can say you’re bringing in three very promising markets and as long as you’re getting exposure, there’s promise. Then you have to go out and prove it. Louisville has shown its promise and proven it. West Virginia has shown it without a significant media market.’

Carparelli said the BCS remained committed to the Big East throughout the process and the notion the conference might not remain in the affiliation with the ACC, Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Pacific-10 and Big 12 was a result of the negativity from the media.

‘The people who run the BCS allowed the Big East to continue as an automatic qualifier in the Big East and allowed us time to prove ourselves as a new conference,’ Carparelli said. ‘We felt that no decision could be made on how competitive we were or could be until we had time to prove it. In less than two years, there shouldn’t be any doubts as to whether it can (survive).’

But there’s a difference between remaining in the BCS and remaining respected among the BCS conferences.

Whether the Big East could continue as a national presence in football-it’s widely recognized as one of the strongest conferences in basketball after winning national championships in 2003 and 2004 and sending a record nine teams to the NCAA Tournament last season-and maintain a profitable media deal would not be seen immediately. It would take a few years. But three years later, the conference seems good to stay.

The present

No one celebrates three. Your parents didn’t hold a three-year anniversary party. Your high school doesn’t host a three-year reunion. It’s nothing but a place to change sneakers on the run to five years.

But three years was important for the Big East. The first year, 2004, was a transition. Boston College was a year away from leaving and Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati were preparing for the move. Last year, the first season with the new teams, was a mulligan. It was a wait-and-see period, which ended with a banner game when Big East champion West Virginia topped SEC power champion Georgia, 38-35, in the Sugar Bowl.

The major upset-WVU was a double-digit underdog heading into the game-served as a statement game for the conference. It signaled that the Big East’s elite can play with the SEC, which is perennially among the best in college football.

‘It was a huge from a perception standpoint,’ Carparelli said. ‘We knew we had some good football, but the rest of the football world needed to see it.’

But this season was going to be an even more important year. West Virginia is a considered a major national-title contender. Louisville crept into some preseason top-10 polls. Rutgers is gaining attention after its first bowl appearance since 1978. Syracuse and Pittsburgh-both tradition-rich programs-are in the second year with high-profile head coaches.

Before the season started, the Big East reached a six-year media deal with ESPN/ABC that provides significant media exposure for the conference. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, it was important from a prestige perspective.

‘We’re bullish on the future of Big East football,’ said ESPN Senior Vice President John Wildhack when the deal was signed on Aug. 30. ‘There’s commitment with the schools and the conference with the coaching hires, facility updates, scheduling.’

That was the network’s end of the bargain. If there was ever a time for the Big East to respond, it was this season.

So far, it has. West Virginia remains a legitimate title contender, undefeated and in the top five. Louisville is unbeaten and in ranked within the top 10 despite losing its two biggest stars, quarterback Brian Brohm and running back Michael Bush. And Rutgers-the punch line of the Northeast for more than two decades-earned a spot in the top 25 last week for the first time in 30 years. It topped South Florida-another rising program-in a nail-biter on Friday night.

Seven of the eight Big East teams have winning records. Even SU, whose 1-10 2005 season was an embarrassment to the conference, has shown signs of resurrection with three consecutive wins.

‘The schools that are doing very well right now-Louisville, West Virginia and Rutgers specifically-are really involved in what was there three years ago,’ Crouthamel said. ‘The big thing is sustainability. Like Louisville, they’ve shown that they can recruit in that part of the country that usually puts players in the SEC and the Big Ten.’

The fact that it’s happened so soon is surprising to many. Perhaps it can be attributed to soft non-conference schedules, but Louisville had a symbolic win when it crushed former stalwart Miami, 31-7, on Sept. 16.

‘I don’t think the public thought the Big East could be as good as it is or can be in three years,’ Crouthamel said. ‘The Big East has surprised people in the short run that it can sustain itself for the longer run.’

The future

Crouthamel mentions sustainability because it’s paramount for the future of the conference. It’s easier for a school that has tradition to either stay among the NCAA’s top programs or bounce back to respectability.

Syracuse can sell the great No. 44’s who played running back and the recent success of Donovan McNabb. Pittsburgh will always have those great teams from the 1970s and the lore of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino. Louisville boasts Johnny Unitas. West Virginia can tout the storied tradition sustained by legendary coach Don Nehlan.

But UConn and Cincinnati have little football prestige. Both have made their marks in basketball and view the Big East as a way to advance their football programs.

The long-term success of the conference will become a group effort-not just the task of Louisville and West Virginia.

‘The goal is to have all eight of our conference teams be competitive,’ Carparelli said. ‘It’s not going to be a one- or two-horse conference at some point.’

But despite Carparelli’s diplomacy to the entire conference and insistence that the goal is to have all teams competitive, the Big East is no doubt a more attractive conference when Syracuse is a major player. Because of the SU’s prestige and national audience, any success would be particularly advantageous for the future of the conference.

‘Without Boston College, it’s very critical,’ Crouthamel said. ‘It delivers a very definite market in the Northeast along with UConn and New York.’

SU maintains a strong alumni presence in the Boston area. If the Orange becomes an appealing team again, it could help offset the loss of the Boston television market-one that Carparelli said BC didn’t deliver.

The Orange’s pending series with the Eagles could help sway more swing fans, too.

The meeting is noteworthy also because Boston College left the conference with bad blood. The three schools that departed-particularly BC’s late defection-surrounded the Big East with a stigma of inferiority. The Big East even filed a lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court. The settlement included money along with additional inter-conference games.

While Crouthamel admits the Big East often relied on Miami to drive the conference in football, he viewed the ACC expansion as financially motivated as much as it was competitively motivated.

When conferences expand to 12 teams, they can play a conference-championship game. The extra matchup is a made-for-TV cash cow, but it could also hurt the conferences if their national championship contender loses before the BCS.

‘I think that conferences quite frankly that have purposefully grown to the size of 12 merely so you can play a championship game are really going to begin to see the value of determining a champion in regular-season play,’ Crouthamel said. ‘The only reason is for money. Is the extra money worth putting a national championship on the line? That has yet to be determined.’

But if the Big East can secure a spot in a national championship game, it will be a firm sign of the future of the conference. West Virginia and Louisville seem to be legitimate contenders this season, and there is potential in the emerging and rebuilding programs.

That, too, will take time. Certainly longer than three years. But three years has been enough for the Big East to at least establish a foundation and prove to critics that it has the makings of something respectable-and BCS worthy.

‘I don’t think we have seen the end of whatever the end is going to be,’ Crouthamel said. ‘The jury is still out on the impact of the ACC/Big East for the next four, five years to see if there’s a drop-off. But that’s not discouraging. I find the Big East is a BCS conference, and that in and of itself is a plus and an attraction to some of the top talent in the country.’

Published on October 3, 2006 at 12:00 pm