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End of An Era for the Big East and Pac-10

I shouldn't let today go by without noting the retirement of the commissioners of the Big East and Pac-10 conferences. Both men have been in their jobs for what seems like an eternity and I guess in the college athletics world, it probably is. Michael Tranghese has been commissioner of the Big East for 18 years, following Dave Gavitt, its first commissioner and Tranghese's boss at both the Big East and Providence College from where Gavitt brought Tranghese in to be the Big East's second employee. Tom Hansen has been commissioner of the Pac-10 for 26 years, dating back to to the time in which the conference was the Pac-8.

Tranghese may well be remembered as the man who saved the Big East. More than anyone else, he is responsible for holding the conference together following the ACC raid on the conference and the defection of three key football playing schools. He went out and found new members Lousiville, Cincinnati and South Florida and has been able to balance the interests of the eight, mostly public (all except Syracuse) football playing schools against the eight (including Notre Dame) private, Catholic non-football playing, basketball dominant schools. It has not been an easy task but the conferenc is far stronger now than it was before the raid, as evidenced by on field and court results and its new contract with ESPN, which Tranghese often refers to as the Big East Network. It is a level of prosperity that no one in the league takes for granted and no one would have thought possible in the wake of the ACC raid. However, Tranghese leaves his successor, his right hand man, senior associate commissioner John Marinatto (another former Providence guy) a major football task and that is to upgrade the conference's bowl games. The last time that bowl contracts were signed was right after the ACC raid, and bowls were skeptical of the New Big East. As a result, outside of the BCS slot, the league's bowls really don't measure up to the caliber of either the members of the conference or their fan support and it will be Marinatto's first job to upgrade those significantly.

Tom Hansen leaves behind a legacy of overall athletic excellence unequalled anywhere else in college sports. As usual, Pac-10 schools dominated this year's Directors Cup, placing eight schools in the top 25 (where are you Wazoo and OSU?) topped by Stanford in its customary spot at number one. In addition, Pac-10 schools won 11 national titles, more than any two other conferences combined. The Big Ten and ACC were next with five each. The Pac-10 also had nine runner-up finishes. However, there is still a major challenge Hansen leaves for his successor, Larry Scott, former CEO of the WTA. The Pac-10 has to improve its television contracts or strongly consider the formation of its network. It longstanding relationship with Fox has simply not been sufficient to place it before a national audience. It may do well in its natural market, although I'm not really convinced of that, but outside of the West, the conference lacks visibility.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on June 30, 2009 (boomark / email).