Category Archives: Big East

02.12.12
by

Bradshaw, Hart headed to CUSA meeting

Conference USA
Big East
MAC

If you are a big fan of 1970s TV sitcoms like I am, you remember Sargent Schultz.
He was the Nazi who would say, “I know nothing. I hear nothing. I see nothing” when Colonel Hogan would break the prison camp rules on Hogan’s Heroes.
Well, when it comes to Temple and the conference realignment situation,  Temple AD Bill Bradshaw makes Sargent Schultz look like a blabbermouth.

Bill Bradshaw

That’s why I find Bradshaw’s trip to Dallas today intriguing. I did not hear it from him, but from reliable people that both Bill and Temple president Ann Weaver Hart were on the same plane to Dallas today.
Since I don’t think either is the other’s type, I’m guessing it must be on official business only and not a tryst.
Just so happens the CUSA meeting is in Dallas today.
CUSA lost a valuable member in Memphis. It is looking to replace that value with value.
I can’t think of a more valuable replacement than Temple.
Now I think the Big East is where Temple belongs. Most schools in the Big East are like Temple. Temple is in the East. I think Temple and the Big East were made for each other. I also think Cecily Tynan and I were made for each other but I can’t convince her of that and, besides, she’s married.
Temple isn’t married to the MAC. It’s sort of like a platonic friendship with no future.
Now that the Big East and Memphis are married, Temple has to move on from a platonic relationship and look to procreate its football legacy.
Maybe not.
There are only three reasons, as I see it, for Bradshaw and Hart to be in Dallas today:
1) Sign the papers for an all-sports membership;
2) Sign the papers for a football-only;
3) Hear what the CUSA has to offer.
It’s a tough call because Cecily (err, the Big East) has been a big tease of late and thrown out feelers that she might be interested.
CUSA is a hot number, sort of like Amy Buckman but nowhere near as hot as Cecily.
MAC is Cathy Gandolfo.
Amy has made clear that she has the hots for me and the feeling is mutual.
Cathy is no more than a friend.
Do you hold out for the dream girl or go for Amy or get stuck with Cathy?
We should find out more in at least a couple of days.
For me, it’s a 50/50 ball with Amy and Cecily. If Cecily doesn’t make her move soon, I’m going with Amy. I’m sitting by the phone but I’ve got a limited time to wait and if she doesn’t call, I’m outta here. I’ve waited long enough.
Cathy, we can still be friends.

02.08.12
by

Memphis and Temple by the numbers

In addition to 2-, 1- and 2-win seasons the past 3 years, Memphis adds this fan base to BE football.

Memphis-Temple by numbers:

  • TV market (Temple 4th, 2,993,370 households; Memphis 49th, 669,940)

  • Full-time students (Temple 39,386; Memphis 22,755)

  • 2011 avg. football attendance (Temple 28,060; Memphis 20,078)

  • 2011 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10)

  • 2010 football record (Temple 8-4; Memphis 1-11)

  • 2009 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10)

  • 2011-12 current basketball record (Temple 17-5; Memphis 16-7)

  • 2012 football recruiting rank (Temple 54th, 1st in MAC; Memphis 87th, 6th in CUSA)

    • If there’s one famous quote that sums up Temple’s long-running sad saga with the Big East, it might be something Damon Runyon once said: “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Runyon’s quote was in in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Big East these days. By adding Memphis to ostensibly replace West Virginia today, the Big East inadvertently might have set the charges to blow up its own house. The BE is neither swift nor strong, bereft of men of understanding and today’s chance decision could prove its undoing. Memphis is the worst program in college football today and has been for the last three years. This story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal talks about the school’s putrid attendance and provides a photo of an Oct. 15 game against East Carolina. Despite what it looks like, it was not an end zone photo.

    Without a doubt, the smartest Owl
    ever (Wayne Hardin) meets the
    swiftest Owl ever (4.29 speedster
    Travis Shelton) at a luncheon
    on Monday.

    Now, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by an excellent reporter named Paul Zeise, Pitt is saying, “Hey, if West Virginia can leave by 2012, so can we” and may petition for early admission to the ACC. Syracuse could soon follow.
    Can you say implosion?
    Hey, at this rate, Villanova might be the only team left.
    From Temple’s standpoint, chaos is good.
    The more teams leave the BE, the better the chances that the Catholic Cartel’s blocking of Temple fails in the next go around which could be as early as weeks and months and not years.
    Does Temple want to even join this ship of fools?
    Well, yeah.

    College football is about the break off into the haves and have-nots and, no matter what you say about the current Big East group (even the leftovers), they are still part of the haves and probably will be.
    Big East schools will have a seat at that dinner table.
    Pressing their noses at the window looking in at the feast will be CUSA and MAC teams, unfortunately.
    They won’t even get scraps and, as a result, probably starve and die of hunger.
    Temple could stay in the MAC, but who’s to say what configuration college football will have for traditional MAC teams five years from now. I don’t want Temple to be in that group to find out.
    Implosion?
    Bring it on.

    12.07.11
    by

    Temple and the Big East in layman’s terms

    When I think of Temple’s courtship of the Big East, I think of the classic romantic movie “Say Anything” starring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobbler and Iona Skye as Diane Court. John Mahoney is the overprotective and general sleazebag father.
    In the iconic scene, Dobbler raises a boombox and plays Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” and Court eventually sees the two were meant to be together.
    In the Temple football courting Big East version, playing the role of overprotective father and overall sleazebag is Villanova. Playing the role of the Mid-American Football Conference has been every other girl Dobbler has met up until that moment who paled in comparison to Court.
    Temple was all set for a Big East invite in October until Villanova lobbied the other Catholic schools in that conference to keep Temple out.
    In the movies, Temple’s boombox moment would have been its football TV ratings (tops in the MAC and among the best in the nation, rising attendance figures in football and its world-class basketball program). Seeing all this potential in its backyard, the Big East would have rolled out of bed into Temple’s arms.
    Cut.
    It’s a wrap.
    Applause.
    In this Temple reality version of Say Anything, the dirty dad (Villanova) tells the daughter he’ll cut her off if she’s got anything to do with the new guy and she makes the incorrect decision of doing what her dad tells her to do and not following her heart.
    She then goes all over the country looking for the perfect man, wishing she could find someone as perfect as the guy in her backyard with the boombox. She spents the rest of her life regretting that decision and withers off and dies. That pretty much sums up the Big East and Temple these days.
    On Dec. 7, 2011, a day that will live in Big East infamy, the Big East traveled 3,000 miles to get the Temple of the West (Boise State) and a San Diego State football program that averages far less in attendance and TV ratings than the Owls do. Not to mention SMU and Houston, so we won’t.
    Temple has a world-class stadium, a football program that has averaged more than eight wins in each of the last three seasons, and is within easy driving distance of the original Big East footprint.
    Sadly, the boombox moment appears to be over and this Big East girl does not want Temple. Time to move on to someone (Conference USA, perhaps) who will appreciate Temple and help the Owls realize their full potential. The other girls, the MAC, will understand.
    If the Big East withers off and dies, and it will, that’s their loss.

    10.26.11
    by

    MAC Blogger Roundtable: Week 9

    Graphic by Bull Run’s Tim Riordan

    If you were wondering why my post “Shallow Hal” remained up on the screen for a few days, it’s because I’m just coming out of a 72-hour Chester Stewart-induced stupor.
    On Saturday night, I just sat at the computer staring at the screen for 27 minutes (yeah, I checked the computer clock) after Temple’s 13-10 loss to Bowling Green.

    This was me after watching Chester  Stewart
    take a sack on the game’s final play Saturday.

    I felt like the late Jack Buck.
    I kept repeating to myself …. I … can’t … believe … what … I … just … saw.
    The perfect metaphor for the day was Stewart taking a sack on the game’s final play. I went back and watched that play three times. It was obvious that he knew the guy was coming at him. He had only one choice: Throw the ball downfield and hope Rod Streater comes down with a miracle catch. Taking a sack wasn’t an option.
    Instead, he took a sack and the clock ran out.
    Why did he take a sack?
    Just another chapter in a book on situational unawareness that Chester could write about his four years at Temple.
    I’ve been jarred back into reality by this week’s deadline: MAC Blogger Roundtable, Week 9.
    This week, it’s our good internet friend (as opposed to real friend), Tim Riordan of the great Buffalo blog: Bull Run. You should take a look at his site. It’s a beautiful thing. If I had only one-tenth of the html skills as Tim and my real friend, Dave Gerson, I’d be a happy man.
    This week’s questions:

    1) Parity, a good thing or a bad thing. Outside of Toledo at the top and Akron, Kent, Miami, and Buffalo at the bottom every team has looked about equal. Is this a good thing for the conference or would it be better to have just four very prominent teams.
    TFF: I’m a big fan of the NFL, so I love parity. Heck, I loved it when the Giants beat the unbeaten Patriots. That said, I’d love to see Temple go unbeaten just once before I pass on to the great unknown. I think it’s a good thing for the conference, but a bad thing for my imaginary wallet (I don’t have money to bet) since I’ve been taking a beating predicting MAC games.
    2) Coaches Hot Seat. The Following MAC coaches are showing up on the ever popular coaches hot seat list. Pick one and tell us why is it or is not fair to have them there (disclaimer Clawson is on the list but I can’t imagine why so I am leaving him off)

    (12) Rob Ianello, Akron
    (13) Jeff Quinn, Buffalo
    (15) Dan Enos, Central Michigan

    TFF: Enos doesn’t deserve to be there. Central Michigan has done some good things.

    3) Best new hire. Of the four(?) new coaches in the conference who, at this point, seems to be the best hire.

    TFF: Steve Addazio. I love the guy. I love the way he competes. I love the staff he’s put together. I love what he’s done despite the fact that Golden’s Achilles Heel was his inability to recruit a quarterback. I will go from loving him to liking him if he loses to Ohio. If he loses to Ohio and Miami, I will go from liking him to tolerating him. If he loses to Ohio, Miami and Army, I will go from tolerating him to loathing him.

    4) Ron English is flying high and the EMU *EAGLES* might be going to their first Bowl if they take care of Business. Surely their Coach is going to start getting some looks from other programs (if you can win at EMU right!). Is Turner Gill’s experience in Kansas a cautionary tale to schools who look for that one new up and coming coach? How many years of winning should a mid-major coach put forth before a big time program drops millions on them.
    TFF: I would think a three-year sample is better than a one-year wonder. I think that’s the way most BCS programs will approach it going forward. The fact that Ron English recruited Ryan Brumfield shows me he has a keen eye for talent.
    5) We all know the MAC does not necessarily award Bowls to the best teams. In MAC contracted bowls the bowl committees, not the conferee, get to pick their representative. Assume the MAC is going to get four Bowls but there are five bowl eligible teams. Make a case for your team, or a team you think is likely to be that 5th wheel.
    TFF: I think Temple’s case was solidified by a 38-7 win at Maryland that could have EASILY been 45-0. Addazio took three knees on the Maryland 1 to end the game after putting his third-team defense in on the prior series, allowing Maryland to score. Addazio has been Mr. Nice Guy, maybe to his detriment. He’s had three backup quarterbacks play in shutout wins without any of them throwing the ball. One of those guys is going to have to throw the ball soon.
    6) It’s looking more and more like either (a) Temple won’t be going to the Big East or (b) there won’t be a big east football space to even invite Temple. Is the MAC, even with UMass and Temple, a stable football conference for the next year or two?
    TFF: I think the MAC is stable, with or without Temple or UMass. I don’t think UMass is going anywhere.
    7) Rank’em
    Toledo
    Temple
    Western Michigan
    Ohio
    Northern Illinois
    Eastern Michigan
    Bowling Green
    Central Michigan
    Miami
    Ball State
    Buffalo
    Kent State
    Akron

    10.19.11
    by

    What should Temple do?

    You’ve heard the phrase by now so many times that you might recognize it by its four-letter abbreviation:
    WWJD?
    What Would Jesus Do?
    It’s a reminder of a moral imperative on how to do the right thing.

    “What would I do, Fr. Peter?
     State your  case, but  I certainly would not run down Temple
    University. As Donovan McNabb said to T.O,
     keep their name out of your mouth.
    I say welcome TU in with open arms.
    That’s what I would do.”

    Nobody at Villanova consulted that checklist before trying to run down Temple University for the last week on a Big East conference call. At the time, according to reports in the New York Post and the Boston Globe, Temple appeared to be a shoe-in for all-sports membership. Three days later, Temple was an afterthought. It was not hard to see why. Rather than promote its own name, Villanova _ according to well-placed sources _ spent the better part of three days on the conference call running down Temple.
    It lined up opposition for Temple for all sports membership, mostly from its fellow WWJD schools, like Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall and St. John’s.  The WWJD schools said, basically: “Well, you are against them joining in all sports. We’re against them joining in basketball. Why don’t we just conspire to keep them out altogether.”
    Villanova: “Err, yeah, OK.”
    So Villanova destroyed about a 100-year relationship with a fellow city institution to keep its tenuous spot in a tenuous conference.
    (There’s no maybes there. Villanova declared War on Temple with this Pearl Harbor sneak attack and Temple, in its righteous might, will gain the inevitable triumph so help it God. Apologies to FDR.)
    Speaking of God, can you imagine Jesus getting on the phone and saying, “Don’t let those chumps associate with us.”
    No, he’d welcome them with open arms.
    The more important question now is: What Should Temple Do?
    Or WSTD?
    I listened to a lot of possibilities in that area both pre- and post-game on Saturday, ranging from holding a press conference lambasting them to canceling this year’s basketball game and next year’s football game to suing Villanova and the Big East.
    All interesting suggestions from good, well-meaning, people.
    It’s a tough call either way, but I say Temple is doing the right thing by staying quiet and working behind the scenes, which I’ve been assured that it is.
    Put it this way.
    The chances of Temple football finishing the regular season 10-2 currently is a better than 50/50 shot.
    If that happens, Temple becomes a national story.
    There’s no conference in the country that would not want a 10-2 team coming off consecutive 9-3 and 8-4 seasons.
    There’s no conference in the country that would not want the fourth-largest TV market in the country that offers a team with demonstrated and documented TV ratings success over a three-year period.
    WWJD?
    Villanova failed that test over the last seven days and I don’t think even confession absolves them of that sin.
    WSTD?
    Temple is passing it right now.