Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102150029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Big East Conference football is good. Very, very good. Things only can get better for Tech, which will have a television presence for the first time and a guaranteed home schedule without having to be involved in 2-for-1 deals or buyouts (as when Florida State bought out a scheduled 1991 game).
The Big East will come up with a bowl arrangement, meaning it will be far easier for a Tech team to finish 7-4 and retain realistic hopes of a postseason game. That hasn't been the case in the past; the Hokies have been uninvited at 9-2.
What's more, there's excellent name identification in the Big East. Miami has had the nation's No. 1 program for a decade and shows little sign of backing off. And even if the Hurricanes stumble, they still figure to be good.
Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia are good football schools. Boston College was when it was Flutie-sized. And Rutgers figures to benefit as much as the Hokies, maybe more.
Rutgers has made a couple of bad decisions in its lifetime. The first came when it was named. As the University of New Jersey - which it is - it would have had a far greater name identification. The other mistake was unforgiveable. Rutgers elected not to join Big East basketball at its conception; thus, small, private, undistinguished Seton Hall took its place. P.J. Carlesimo says thanks.
Temple is the only weak link, and the Owls were 7-4 last year, including a victory over the Hokies. It's doubtful if Temple football ever will take Philadelphia by storm, but stranger things have happened, and with the Big East leadership, now it has a chance.
So color Big East football an excellent move for all concerned.
As for its basketball program, Tech has elected to remain in the Metro Conference, seemingly for financial reasons. The Metro has a basketball-TV deal with Raycom Sports that increases in value annually. This is the first season of a five-year, $4.3 million contract. The Atlantic 10 also has a TV deal, which isn't as lucrative.
For the Metro - a league that lacks inspired leadership - to survive, it must effectively kill off what remains of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Metro loses Florida State, South Carolina, Cincinnati and Memphis State, its most-prominent members other than Louisville. It figures to gain South Florida and UNC Charlotte. Other than those of you who get whipped up about TV markets, that rates a whoop-de-do.
In fact, Raycom could seek a renegotiation of its Metro TV contract because of the changing faces in the league and membership subtraction. Tampa and Charlotte are large markets, but the question is how well does each of those potential Metro teams deliver TV homes?
The Metro will have no impact as a six-team league. It must add a couple more schools. But which ones are available? South Alabama is favored by Louisville for some unaccountable reason. Western Kentucky is not, for an obvious reason.
Regardless, what's mostly left to pick up comes from the now-five-school Sun Belt, which also is losing Alabama-Birmingham and Old Dominion while adding Arkansas-Little Rock. There might be some Midwestern possibilities, but that just enhances the geography lesson.
Seemingly, the Metro doesn't want Virginia Commonwealth. Neither does the Colonial, which was spurned by Tech, although that makes the most geographical sense in the sports other than football. The Rams are desperate. They appear to be getting the cold shoulder from everybody, and what will remain of the Sun Belt isn't worth saving.
Tech could have killed off the Metro by leaving. But that would have affected just two schools, Southern Mississippi and Tulane, which would have been welcomed by the Sun Belt or the American South. Louisville is big enough to play as a basketball independent, or it could join the newly created Great Midwest and help that league enormously.
Perhaps Tech will make more money in the Metro, although I'm not sure that's a future given. But it says here it would have been better to have established an eastern identity by going into the Atlantic-10 with its fellow Big East football members or by accepting the Colonial's offer of a state bus league where its alumni could see it play often.
Television notwithstanding, I give the Metro a thumbs down. And if Louisville doesn't regain its basketball authority, this is a conference with no redeeming value.
by CNB