The 2007 BIG EAST Conference football season began with questions as to how the league could possibly keep the momentum going on the heels of a season that was generally regarded as the best in conference history.
The 2007 season ended with West Virginia’s Bill Stewart carried off the field following a decisive win in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and a never-in-doubt victory by Rutgers in the International Bowl.
In between was a season that mirrored the surprises and excitement that comprised the 2007 national college football season – a year in which the BIG EAST continued to stand as one of the top conferences in the game.
West Virginia’s win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl gave the BIG EAST’s representative four Bowl Championship Series wins in the last five years. The conference was a combined 32-13 outside the league in 2007, with the .711 winning percentage standing behind only the 2006 (37-8, .822) and 2000 (28-9, .757) seasons as the best in BIG EAST history.
The 2007 season also gave the BIG EAST a combined record of 89-37 under its current alignment, by far the best three-year run by the conference at any time in its history.
But wins and losses don’t tell the whole story. Seven of the eight BIG EAST teams were either ranked or received votes in one of the three major national polls. Four of the eight were ranked in the top 10 at some point, while two schools – West Virginia and USF – were ranked No. 2. The Mountaineers spent one week as the No. 1 team in the nation in the USA Today poll.
The conference championship picture wasn’t finished until the last game of the regular season. West Virginia found itself with a piece of the title for the fourth time in the last five seasons, while Connecticut, just four years removed from Division I-AA status, celebrated a share of its first BIG EAST championship.
The final national polls listed two BIG EAST schools among the top 20 and five that received at least one top-25 vote. Individual success also followed with two players – USF defensive end George Selvie and Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber – earning consensus all-America status and two others – Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm and West Virginia linebacker Reed Williams – being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team.
The BIG EAST Conference’s entrance into football was announced Feb. 5, 1991. The league gained instant credibility with its level of excellence on the field and with its television and bowl relationships. The BIG EAST has been a charter member of each of the major bowl agreements with the major conferences, beginning with the Bowl Coalition in 1992, followed by the Bowl Alliance in 1995 and the Bowl Championship Series in 1998.
Since its birth, the BIG EAST has been a national power both on and off the field. Commissioner Michael Tranghese served as coordinator of the BCS for two years from 2002-03. He has spearheaded the development of BIG EAST football since its beginning. The BIG EAST has been a frequent contender for the national championship. Eight times in the league’s 17 seasons, a BIG EAST squad has played for a claim to the national crown in a postseason game.
The 2008 season will mark the first year of a six-year arrangement with ESPN that gives the BIG EAST unrivaled exposure on ABC television and the ESPN family of networks. ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC will carry a minimum of 19 BIG EAST home games each season, marking the highest guaranteed total on ESPN and ABC in league history. Championship Saturday in December will include one game either on ESPN and another on ESPN2. At least four BIG EAST games will be featured on ESPN’s Thursday-night package each year.
In addition, ESPN Regional will continue to produce and distribute its Game of the Week package to a nationally syndicated audience, reaching more than 30 million homes. Most of these games also will be available as part of the ESPN GamePlan subscription service. Finally, a minimum of five home games will be carried on ESPNU.
Extensive television exposure and the BIG EAST have been synonymous terms. For football, the league established its own regional television package in 1991 before it had played a game. The BIG EAST Television Network immediately was the largest regional college football network in the country.
The BIG EAST has always aligned itself with prestigious bowl games. The league is one of the original founders of the Bowl Championship Series and continues to be one of only six conferences that receives an automatic annual bid.
The BIG EAST Conference champion earns the league’s automatic BCS bid. The BCS – which enters its 11th season in 2008-09 – is a five-game arrangement for postseason college football that is designed to match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game and to create exciting and competitive matchups between eight other highly regarded teams in four other BCS games.
If the BIG EAST champion finishes No. 1 or No. 2 in the final BCS standings, then that team will earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. Otherwise, the league champion will compete in one of the four remaining BCS bowl games – the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl or the Rose Bowl. Each bowl hosts two games once every four years - its traditional game plus the National Championship Game approximately one week later.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration among Division I conferences and football bowl partners, the BIG EAST and Big 12 Conferences — along with Notre Dame — forged a bowl partnership beginning in 2006. This agreement assures both BCS conferences’ or Notre Dame’s participation in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl and Brut Sun Bowl over a four-year period. The Konica Minolta Gator Bowl or Brut Sun Bowl can pick a BIG EAST team after the league’s representative to the Bowl Championship Series has been determined. The Atlantic Coast Conference will provide the opposition in the Konica Gator Bowl (CBS) and the Pac-10 Conference will participate in the Brut Sun Bowl (CBS).
The Konica Minolta Gator Bowl has the first selection at the conclusion of each season. During the four years of the deal, the BIG EAST (or Notre Dame) will send a team to both the Gator Bowl and the Sun Bowl twice.
The Meineke Car Care Bowl is now in its seventh year with the BIG EAST Conference. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, which is played in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., picks after the Konica Gator Bowl or Brut Sun Bowl.
The BIG EAST Conference also aligned itself with the International Bowl in Toronto, Ontario, and the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., beginning in 2006. In the International Bowl, the BIG EAST representative faces a team from the Mid-American Conference. In the PapaJohns.com Bowl, the opponent is from the Southeastern Conference.
The 2008 season brings another addition to the BIG EAST’s bowl picture with the introduction of the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field. The St. Petersburg Bowl will be televised on ESPN and will pair the BIG EAST representative against an opponent from Conference USA.
The addition of the St. Petersburg Bowl gives BIG EAST teams access to at least six postseason games each year.
