So long, faewell, alfeeterzane, goodnight!

[frostlion]

When Pitt hired:

Jackie Sherrill
Foge Fazio
Paul Hackett
Mike Gottfried
Sal Sunseri
Walt Harris
and finally, WANNY!!!!

was it also to stop the decline?

Good job Mr. Pitt AD.

[ham55]

Hey, Moldo, go check out TAE's post on the Big10 Network and how much money the Big10 makes, even compared to the all-mighty SEC. That, to me, doesn't look like any kind of decline, what-so-ever.

[The Ancient Enemy]

I guess the Gator Bowl doesn't think there's too much decline.

[The Ancient Enemy]

All the people in Jersey think the Big Ten sucks. Since Penn State has a home and home coming up with Rutgers, I am willing to lay down a bet that those tickets at Rutgers stadium are gone in 15 minutes.

There is no doubt in my mind that Rutgers is leaving that conference for the Big Ten. What is Pitt going to do? Whether they grab ECU or Navy, or go independent, that BCS is history. That makes the Big East as good as the WAC. Those BE programs will plummet into the Earth. That's a shame, from a Pennsylvania stand point.

If the state of New Jersey becomes a Big Ten recruiting hotbed, Pitt will never outrecruit Minnesota or Iowa for those 3-star kids in NJ. You should be worried about Pitt's athletic future.

[once a runner]

The B10 picking up Rutgers is a good pickup for them because it will give them a championship game. Rutgers will likely place anywhere from 4th-8th any given year. I can't see them turning into an Ohio St. caliber team any time soon.

I don't think it's a great move for Rutgers. In the short term they have the opporunity to gain a lot of money. However, over time will the fans and boosters fork out for a team that is middle of the pack every year? It will be a novelty at first and of course they will sell out when Ohio St, Michigan and PSU come to town (only because those schools will buy the tickets). They will have the opportunity to share in revenue, but their chances of playing in a BCS bowl will be greatly diminished. The fact that the rest of their sports wll have to travel over a 1,000 miles for most away contests is certainly not good for the them.

I don't think the BE losing Rutgers is doom and gloom. Rutgers is not so great that they can't be replaced. What the BE really needs is a school like Syracuse to return to competitive football. They certainly have the resources to return a national ranking but haven't been able to be competitive in recent years. If the BE can survive the loss of Miami, VT and BC I think they can survive the loss of Rutgers as well. It's certainly not good for the BE to lose Rutgers, but they will once again be given the opportunity to show they deserve to keep a BCS bid. If several teams can step up over that time, they will be keep their bid.

[The Ancient Enemy]

You cant just look at it from a football standpoint, though.

Who can replace Rutgers? Army? Buffalo? Buffalo is 5-10 years away. They'll be 50 when their coach gets a real job offer. There are no programs locally who would leave the ACC/SEC/whatever to join a conference that already is under scrutiny with an auto bid. They are also about to lose the Gator Bowl bid. Recruiting will suffer and then the field product will follow. You gotta read the signs.

Even if we do, NJ has a tremendous amount of talent every season. It's not like they are trying to build a program win Alaska. Rutgers is a program that can really benefit from the Big Ten.

[abpk2903]

As much as Big East fans probably hate to admit it, being in the Big East puts a ceiling on your football program. Rutgers could lift off that ceiling. Rutgers could finish 5th in the Big Ten certain years (2 BCS bids) and still get a New Years Day bowl. However, in the Big East does the second place team even go to a New Years Day bowl? When recruiting against Big Ten teams the Big East seems to lose a good many more than they win. The fact that playing in the Big East means playing most of your conference games with a half full stadium does not help. Not being on national television 3, 4, 5 times a season doesn't help. The Big Ten offers a packed stadium nearly every week and numerous national televised games. Look at the stadiums in the Big Ten, 3 stadiums seat over 100,000 people and are sold out every week. Not one team in the Big East has near the prestige of Penn State, Michigan, or Ohio State. In all honesty, Wisconsin probably is more prestigious than any Big East school. I know TAE says this is more than just football but lets just look at it as a football only move for Rutgers and it still makes sense for them.