Big East Hating

ESPN televised the Florida State-NC State showdown tonight, which was won by NC State in an upset, 24-20. The lowlight was NC State Chuck Amato forgetting to wear his Mansear (or Bro). That guy has Mickelson-esque Man-boobs. I would expect an FCC fine for indecency in ESPN's mail tomorrow (much like the one Fox Sports Net will receive for new Pens owner Jim Balsillie's dropping of an S-bomb while in the booth tonight).

Come on, cover those up, Amato!

My brother, also a rabid Pitt/Big East fan, pointed out that Kirk Herbstreit commented on the quality of play being so great in the ACC, hence the loss by Florida State. Statements like these seem to be a common trait of ACC apologists such as Herbie. NC State lost earlier in the season to lowly D-I teams like Akron and Southern Miss. Florida State in turn just lost to a bad NC State team. Larry Coker's seat is so hot in Miami that he is being treated for burns. So tell me again why the ACC is so great?

The Big East has 2 of the top 8 teams in the AP Poll; the highest ACC team is Clemson, at #15. Yet the common perception is that the ACC is a wildly superior conference to the Big East. Big East haters always cite the lack of the conference's top-to-bottom power. Yes, I realize Syracuse is not very good, but they do have some history, and have produced some of the NFL's best players, such as Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison. They're capable of a turnaround...heck, they almost beat Iowa a few weeks ago. But what about Duke, one of the worst D-I football schools of all time? How about North Carolina? They couldn't even find a way to get Willie Parker in the lineup! Don't tell me the ACC has no weak links.

The Big East was raided by the ACC a few years ago and had to go into survival mode; of course there was going to be a downtime. But WVU's win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl was the first sign to the national media that the Big East may be able to bounce back sooner than expected. As it looks now, the Big East has the best basketball conference and a football conference that grows stronger every day.

Football teams like Pitt are winning recruiting wars over the Tennessees, the Ohio States, and the Penn States of the world. Just a short time ago they were fighting for kids that were being courted by Akron, Ohio U or Toledo. A lot of credit goes to coaches such as Wanny who have done a great job in that department. But there would be no Wanny if schools such as Pitt, Louisville and WVU did not pay up to keep viable coaches around. The conference has made a commitment to stay and improve as a credible football entity.

The Big East is not yet where is wants to be, but is getting stronger every day. To the ACC apologists such as Mr. Herbstreit, just keep an eye on that scoreboard the next time it reads finals like "Pitt 38, Virginia 13", WVU 45, Maryland 24", "Louisville 31, Miami 7", and "Rutgers 21, UNC 16".