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The Daily OrangeThe missing piece: Big East coaches clamoring for 9th team, but league officials remain steadfast
By Matt Ehalt
Posted: 10/26/09, 11:19 PM EST Section: Sports
The number eight has different meanings to those within the Big East.
To Associate Commissioner Nick Carparelli, Jr., the Big East doesn't "know any other way" than to have eight conference members. The league has had eight football teams every year but one.
Then there is West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart. To him, the number eight represents the number of Big East games his team would play, should the conference add a ninth football team. Currently, all Big East teams play seven league games, which mean they play an uneven number of home versus road games.
A ninth team would mean playing four at home, four on the road.
"It's a bear," West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart said of the current eight-team format. "That's for the guys in the league office who are a whole lot sharper than me to make those determinations, but we would be so much better off if we had the ninth team playing football. Four and four, it just balances it out really good."
Unfortunately for Stewart and the rest of the Big East coaches, the likelihood of a ninth team joining the league anytime soon is slim. While the coaches have been pleading their case to bring in a ninth team for scheduling and economic reasons, Big East officials say there is currently no movement toward expansion.
"Ultimately, the only people that can make the decision regarding conference membership are our presidents," Carparelli said. "And at this time, our presidents have no desire and have showed no interest in changing our current conference membership."
Big East school presidents have the final say in the matter. They meet two or three times a year, and though Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor said she did not attend the latest meeting, due to scheduling conflicts, she did not believe expansion was a focal point of the conference.
"It's not been that big of an issue, as far as I know," Cantor said. The conversations at the presidents' meetings of the Big East are about the identity and the strength of the conference as it is."
To Associate Commissioner Nick Carparelli, Jr., the Big East doesn't "know any other way" than to have eight conference members. The league has had eight football teams every year but one.
Then there is West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart. To him, the number eight represents the number of Big East games his team would play, should the conference add a ninth football team. Currently, all Big East teams play seven league games, which mean they play an uneven number of home versus road games.
A ninth team would mean playing four at home, four on the road.
"It's a bear," West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart said of the current eight-team format. "That's for the guys in the league office who are a whole lot sharper than me to make those determinations, but we would be so much better off if we had the ninth team playing football. Four and four, it just balances it out really good."
Unfortunately for Stewart and the rest of the Big East coaches, the likelihood of a ninth team joining the league anytime soon is slim. While the coaches have been pleading their case to bring in a ninth team for scheduling and economic reasons, Big East officials say there is currently no movement toward expansion.
"Ultimately, the only people that can make the decision regarding conference membership are our presidents," Carparelli said. "And at this time, our presidents have no desire and have showed no interest in changing our current conference membership."
Big East school presidents have the final say in the matter. They meet two or three times a year, and though Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor said she did not attend the latest meeting, due to scheduling conflicts, she did not believe expansion was a focal point of the conference.
"It's not been that big of an issue, as far as I know," Cantor said. The conversations at the presidents' meetings of the Big East are about the identity and the strength of the conference as it is."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 4
ryan
posted 10/27/09 @ 11:45 AM EST
And reason number 9,679,513 why cantor is an idiot:
"I think that the most important thing is really the academic fit and a fit with the values of the institutions that are in the Big East," Cantor said. (Continued…)
NT_SU08
posted 10/27/09 @ 11:57 AM EST
I think it's time to give once Notre Dame an ultimatum. Join as a full football member, or be kicked out of the conference altogether. They've been siphoning our bowl ties for too long, and right now they're not as strong as they once were to use that as leverage. (Continued…)
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