By
Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
There is no shortage of
conference expansion theories floating around, with everyone from
Hartford to Honolulu giving their two cents.
As you navigate through
the discourse, it's important to differentiate opinion from fact. At
this stage, the majority of what has been written about conference
expansion has been strictly the subjective thoughts and theories of
those writing them.
About the only thing of
which we can be nearly certain is that something is going to happen,
something potentially cataclysmic as far as conference shakeups go. And
this time the Big Ten will be the catalyst in shaping the new landscape
for college athletics.
Exactly who moves and
where they move to is still a bit of a mystery.
The good news for East
Carolina is that it is in far better shape than it was the last time
there was major upheaval. ECU is a much more attractive product and has
far better leadership than it did before.
Even so, the Pirates are
hardly a slam dunk to land in a BCS Automatic Qualifier conference —
potentially the Big East — when the dust finally settles. Here is a look
at what East Carolina brings to the expansion table, along with
potential pitfalls.
What East Carolina
offers
FOOTBALL SUCCESS: With
four consecutive bowl appearances and two straight Conference USA
titles, East Carolina is the most attractive option for the Big East
competitively. Historically the Pirates have been much better than both
Central Florida and Memphis, owning a convincing edge in both
head-to-head series.
If you think expansion,
you also have to look far beyond how teams perform in their current
conference settings, and study how much they have succeeded when
crossing outside of their league boundaries. With recent victories over
Boise State, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and
West Virginia, ECU simply has no close rival among non-AQ schools
thought to be in contention of a possible Big east berth.
FAN FOLLOWING: From day
one, athletics directory Terry Holland has touted East Carolina's fans
as its greatest selling point. There is no comparison between the
Pirates and UCF and Memphis in football attendance numbers.
The Pirates fill Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium to capacity with regularity, something the Knights and Tigers
rarely do. ECU also has a reputation for traveling well to
non-conference games and to postseason bowls.
FACILITIES: While many
schools discuss the possibility of expanding facilities, East Carolina
is actually doing it. With 7,000 new seats being added to Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium, capacity is moving to an even 50K. And by wisely making the new
end zone addition student seating, it opens premium seats as season
ticket options for generous donors. As a result, the Pirates are on pace
to shatter season ticket numbers.
As nice as the new
football addition is, the expansion doesn't end there for ECU. A
sprawling new athletics campus that includes new facilities for
softball, soccer and track and field, among other sports, means the
Pirates will have attractive venues for all sports starting next season.
If the Pirates don't land
in an AQ conference, facilities won't be the issue.
SCHEDULING: East Carolina
might be the only non-AQ school that hasn't endured a scheduling
hardship since the inception of the BCS. If anything, the Pirates have
flourished. In addition to playing N.C. State and North Carolina
regularly, the Pirates just completed an annual home-and-home series
with West Virginia and are currently in the middle of one with Virginia
Tech.
ECU has also enjoyed
recent partnerships with Navy and Virginia, and also has an upcoming
series with South Carolina on the docket.
MEDIA ATTENTION: East
Carolina attracts more media attention than its C-USA counterparts, and
it isn’t even close. The Dowdy-Ficklen press box is the only one in the
league that approaches capacity, and it also attracts media members from
out of town.
Though technically
Greenville isn’t considered a major media market, several big-market
outlets make their way Down East for gameday.
TELEVISION APPEAL: The
Pirates have traditionally made for good TV, dating back to the 1991-92
season when ESPN aired a pair of thrillers — the opener against Illinois
and the Peach Bowl victory over N.C. State. Exciting offense, an
attractive schedule, and a highly competitive program are largely to
thank for that.
You will be hard-pressed
to find another non-AQ program that has secured more spotlight
nationally-televised appearances in recent years than ECU. Even Boise
State often gets relegated to Friday night.
Potential obstacles
THE BIG EAST FOLDS: This
is the absolute worst-case scenario for East Carolina. Should the Big
Ten take three or more Big East members and another league, such as the
ACC, scoops up a few more, the Pirates would likely find themselves
without an AQ option.
Sure, there is the
optimistic view that perhaps, should a certain far-south destination
freeze over, the ACC might take the Pirates should it get heavily
pillaged by the SEC. But you'll have a hard time convincing me that
there is a scenario in which the ACC would consider ECU.
As far as BCS AQ
conferences are concerned, it's Big East or bust for the Pirates. And
that's assuming that the Big East would keep its AQ status, which is
hardly a given. Even if it doesn't, it would clearly be a geographic and
competitive step up for the Pirates.
TELEVISION MARKET: I know,
I know. When considering the Pirates' television market, you have to
look beyond Pitt and its neighboring counties. I get that. And yes,
there are huge alumni populations in the Triangle, Triad, Charlotte, and
Tidewater Virginia. You don't have to convince me on that one, either.
But someway, somehow,
Holland will have to convince someone that television market sizes are
both misleading and overrated. It's not a stretch to suggest that the
Pirates have more eyeballs focused on them in Raleigh than UCF does in
its own hometown. Even so, conference administrators must listen to TV
suits who are fixated on Nielsen rankings.
BASKETBALL: If East
Carolina doesn't secure AQ status, perhaps hoops will be its ultimate
undoing. To say the Pirates have been historically bad on the hardwood
would be an understatement. ECU hasn't reached the postseason since 1993
and is on its sixth head coach since that appearance. Even the presence
of Holland hasn't helped much on the hoops front.
On the bright side,
Holland could always point to a brief period of moderate success during
the mid-90s. The fact that a practice facility is in the works certainly
doesn't hurt. But that likely isn't enough to convince the Big East
brass of the Pirates' potential in hoops.
GEOGRAPHY: Unless you
charter a plane, Greenville isn't the easiest place to get to. And
considering the Big East is an airport conference, that could be a
sticking point. It's not an issue for football, and in some cases not
for basketball, but the other sports are forced to fly commercially,
which means a 90-mile bus ride from Raleigh-Durham.
Football recruiting could
also be a concern. North Carolina annually produces about 40 Division I
FBS signees and has five FBS schools. On top of that, the state's top
blue chippers traditionally leave the state for programs like Florida,
Penn State, and Tennessee. It's just hard to envision Big East schools
seeing North Carolina as a football recruiting draw.
