Study Long Study Wrong

The writing is on the wall. The Big East has lost their ability to compete as a football conference and lack the desired power of their once envied basketball conference. With the anticipated additions of Boise State, Air Force, UCF, SMU, and Houston, the Big East is doing anything to save their BCS automatic qualifying bid. Since losing Pitt and Syracuse, the pressure has mounted on Big East Commissioner Marinatto to save a conference that is coding. When no interest from other power conference teams seemed to come their way, the Big East begin to look to smaller conferences to fill the void left by two of their strongest teams. As the other teams saw the declining respect of a once proud football conference, West Virginia has pulled the trigger and has now joined the Big12. This leaves a well-respected Louisville, Connecticut and Cincinnati as the only attractive teams left in the Big East. So what are they waiting on? The best offer of course. In a college landscape that has been filled with so much money that even “the Donald” would envy, they are seeing which conference would best suit them. Louisville needs to make a play at the Big 12 and even the SEC, while UConn should only look to Pitt and Syracuse for direction and join the ACC. This leaves Cincy in a tough situation. They lack the luster of a dime piece. They’re about a 6 ½. They work hard, have a great mind, but they rarely wear any makeup to cover their blemishes and could stand to lose a few pounds in problem areas. In conference terms, they have a stadium issue, it looks like a big high school. They are solid in their football and basketball programs, but NCAA tourney births are rarely their and more consistency in football bowl games could be better. Marinatto has stood idly by as the rest of the power conference commissioners have been sharks and made their conferences better. About eight years ago, everyone watched in amazement as John Swafford (ACC commissioner) jumped on the opportunity of acquiring Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech away from the Big East. Because of that acquisition, the ACC was able to almost match the amount that was given to the SEC from ESPN in television revenue. The PAC12, SEC and Big10 have now followed suit which almost left the Big12 in conference disintegration. Now, because Commissioner Marinatto “studied long and studied wrong”, the Big East is in total disarray trying to save a once proud conference. Kevin Lewis is a retired NFL linebacker who now does motivational speaking, complete athletic training, and coaching and football seminars. Also listen to him via radio on Fridays at 7p.m. on 740am and www.voiceamerica.com.Follow Kevin on twitte.com/klew59sports and facebook.com/klew59sports.If you have comments or inquiries contact him at www.klew59.com or klew59sports@gmail.com.