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Syracuse finally announced today the school would indeed be moving to the ACC in 2013. In other news, it may be warm outside this month and Fab Melo could’ve taken his studies more seriously. This always seemed like a no-brainer until the Big East began waffling a few months back.

“Yeah, we know what we said before,” you could imagine Joe Bailey saying as he pawed at the dirt in front of him. “But we were kinda thinking it over, and maybe you should stay for an extra year…”

This was always about the jilted Big East looking to recoup some more cash, since the conference is starting to look a lot like the Island of Misfit Schools. That venerable Big East tourney at MSG is gonna feel just like the old days when Houston battles UCF for a chance at Memphis in the quarterfinals.

Syracuse was staring at a 27-month window and $5M payout to jump from the conference. But for a mere $2.5 more, we can cut that wait time in half. Voila! And it cuts through cans too!

“Yeah, I don’t know if we can let you out of this deal… unless of course you’d be willing to pay a little more…” 

We all know this was untenable. West Virginia cried and groused and finally pushed its way out immediately. Pitt levied a lawsuit. Syracuse (for the most part) kept its mouth shut, and tried to play nice. It looked like the road was paved for an amicable split, but when The Electrician John Marinatto was dumped the Big East tried to play hardball again.

What would have been the end result? Two lame duck years in a conference that you want to exit? A bonus round of conference resentment from the other schools left behind? Another two Media Days in each sport distracted from the athletes? Letting this guillotine hang over everyone’s head until 2014 would have been short-sighted. 

Darryl Gross said the right things. “Both sides thought the deal was truly reasonable, and it was done in a most collegial way. We’re excited that we were able to negotiate and that sophisticated minds came into play and we were able to get it done.”

But let’s face it, the only thing the Big East can salvage is a few extra bucks. SU ponied up because it’ll recoup that soon in the new ACC TV deal. $7.5M to depart for a more stable and properly run conference in a calendar year? Money well spent.

Posted: D.A.

On top of Pitt’s lawsuit, Boise State has also been rumored to be discussing not jumping to the Big East and instead joining a Mountain West mega-conference. The Panthers and Orange have solid enough arguments: their presence is unnecessary because of the parade of brand new schools flooding the conference (SMU, Houston, UCF, Memphis, Navy, and Temple are all coming). The league also tipped its hand when in March “The Electrician” John Marinatto said:

“Our membership, given the speed and success of our expansion initiatives, I think it’s open to having the discussions with both Pittsburgh and Syracuse about them having an early departure. So we haven’t actually had those conversations yet, but our membership is certainly willing to do that at this point given where we’ve landed.”

But now the Big East is changing its tune, maybe only to force a higher price tag on actually leaving. Syracuse has $17 million dollars per year waiting at the other end of the rainbow, and two more seasons of being uncomfortable enemies of the conference makes little sense. The question is how much would litigation cost? Gross has not completely shut off the possibility of joining the lawsuit.

“We’ve been trying to resolve the issue of conference transition with the Big East. We’d like to avoid litigation, but we’re keeping all of our options open.”

West Virginia sued to leave this summer. Pitt and Syracuse had assumed they would skip out next summer, but litigation seems to be an uneasy final destination. Wrangling in the courts is just a dog-and-pony show, however. It didn’t stop  WVU from bolting when it wanted to, and it won’t stop Pittsburgh either. With Boise State turning into another TCU before our eyes, Syracuse should want out ASAP as well. The Broncos have until June 30th to make its decision. If Boise State decides to bail, then the Big East might try to hold onto SU and Pitt until ’14 even tighter.

Of course, interim commissioner Joe Bailey has shown the same delusion as his predecessor. His knowledge of the Broncos’ intentions sounds like he’s whistling past the graveyard – which is exactly what the Big East is right now, a burial ground of everything the conference once was.

“Well, my sense is that unless you hear differently, I think that there’s full commitment from their standpoint”

In other words Syracuse: get out now. Bailey hasn’t offered much information on whether he’s open to Syracuse and Pittsburgh fleeing a year from now, but Pitt’s lawsuit speaks volumes. But Bailey and the Big East have no intention to stay together long term. While Syracuse has played its departure diplomatically, it may be time to ruffle some feathers. The Orange should think about joining Pitt’s battle to leave next year, because there’s simply no reason to be stuck in this clusterfork for two more seasons.

Posted: Kevin Fitzgerald

How does this effect Syracuse? Let’s put aside this suddenly sticky timeframe for a moment (rumors abound the Big East will not let the Orange depart in ’13 as originally assumed) and look at the conference when SU finally lands there.

• Stability

No matter if FSU stays or not, the ACC is still a better ship to be on than the Titanic of the Big East. A new commissioner, an unknown broadcast deal, a league with teams in California, Texas and Idaho. Plus, bitterly divided sides between private Catholic basketball schools and public football-playing ones? No thanks. The ACC without Florida State and Miami is still better than a Big East with Houston and San Diego State. 

• Similarities

Florida State’s biggest gripe is that the conference is tilted toward North Carolina and Duke. Honestly, that’s fine by Syracuse. SU has much more in common with academically respected basketball institutions than enormous sprawling in-state football ones. While one of the huge benefits of the ACC move is to sit at the adults’ table for football, SU’s most powerful athletic brand is obviously hoops (which is comparable to most schools in the ACC). It works well to be surrounded by presidents who want to keep basketball a priority, and joining a league on Tobacco Road is a safe bet.

• Money

Look, FSU can scoff at the cash and chase dollars in the Midwest, but Syracuse wasn’t seeing anything close to this in the Big East. What football conference with Navy, SMU and Memphis is going to land a $3.6 billion deal? While it may not be a significant bump for the existing members of the ACC, it’s an enormous leap for Syracuse and Pitt. Here’s the concerns from Dan Wetzel’s story at Yahoo! Sports:

“The reality was bad, however. The initial bump in television revenue is actually just over $1 million a year, sources said, and a total in the $12 million range next season. The deal is back loaded so the bigger money comes in escalator provisions that, considering how broadcast rights keep growing, probably will be below market by the time any sizeable gains are realized. That additional $4 million per school, per year? That won’t come until 2021, nine years in, sources said. Privately, almost everyone was troubled by the deal.”

This is a Florida State problem, not a Syracuse one. Signing that long a contract does seem silly. How do we know how the football pie will have grown in 2022? One would imagine with the new playoff system TV rights will be even more valuable a decade from now. But ultimately, if you have an issue with $17M a year and you are claiming you’re still losing money then you might want to cut down on the golf outings and Christmas bonuses.

So FSU is trying to say the ACC won’t let it sell its own third-tier games. For the record, ESPN has kept open the possibility of the ACC Network down the road for that exact situation – which would be worth more to each school. But apparently, the ‘Noles could just be flat lying to drum up support.

“The ACC later said Haggard was incorrect and third-tier basketball rights are not maintained by schools. And no one has any idea what FSU could get from some of its weaker football games.Many in the league are wondering how much Haggard himself came up with the third-tier conspiracy, what he thinks is in the deal or why he believes it even matters so much. It seems like a ploy to drum up fan support for a bold switch. Nothing rallies boosters like the idea of Coach K bullying someone into action, even if it isn’t true. Whatever bias there may or may not be, few think it’s enough to leave the league.”

I got no quarrel with a school looking for its best destination because of the bottom line. That’s exactly what Syracuse did. But for crying out loud, now you’re just going to push some panhandle bubba in front of the fans and start obvious lies to create unrest? Stay classy Florida State. Like the chick who won’t stop talking about her boyfriend problems on Facebook, it feels like FSU is just trying to create drama for attention before the ACC meetings.

Oh, we can’t compete with the SEC schools around us anymore. 

Aw, look at how much money Texas is making. 

Boo hoo, we lost money last year. 

Well, who’s f***king fault is that you Nole nimrods? One of the biggest reasons the ACC didn’t get more money for the conference deal is because the supposed power of the league hasn’t done jack squat in 15 years. Where’s all the national titles FSU is playing for? Where’s all the epic Seminole-Hurricane clashes these days? I mean, if you can’t even win the flipping ACC, how can you be complaining about needing better competition?

Fact is, you let good ol’ Bobby Bowden hang around too dadgummit long and the football program rotted into a .500 mess. Jimbo Fisher might have it primed again for some big things. But how can FSU look anyone in the face and complain about its football competition? The last time the Noles won the ACC was seven years ago with an imposing 8-5 record. The last time the program had less than three losses was in 2000. The first Seminole taken in this year’s draft was in the 4th round. Let’s have some self awareness FSU. 

So yeah, I’d like to see the southern fried math on this one. Add the potential slight bump in TV money for a new Big 12. Then subtract the cost of your non-revenue teams having to fly to Kansas and Oklahoma for a chunk of games. Then subtract the costs of flying into major hubs like Ames, IA and Lubbock, TX instead of Boston and Charlotte for some longer trips. Then subtract the potential of playing in the Big 12 title game or getting a playoff bid because Texas and Oklahoma will stomp you into oblivion the same way Clemson and Virginia Tech have been doing. Then decide if the overall interest and relevance of your games will really increase when you play Kansas State, Iowa State, West Virginia and Baylor versus your longtime ACC rivals.

What’s the final number there, goobers?

Posted: D.A.

Even when the Big East exponentially disintegrated in the months following the announcement, there were still a few stragglers who rued SU’s departure – a loyal minority who wanted SU to save the conference it once founded. But now, even the most ardent Big East traditionalists have to admit Darryl Gross and the Orange decision-makers were correct in abandoning a sinking ship.

By the looks of it, SU hopped straight from the Titanic to a Carnival cruise, then struck a deal to stay onboard the vessel through 2027. The official news came down yesterday that the ACC and ESPN have extended their television contract for another 15 years. But this wasn’t a stroke of luck for Syracuse. It’s the whole reason the school joined in the first place.

The move to the ACC was always about money, and this television agreement assures Syracuse that it will indeed ring the cash register. The new deal is work $3.6 billion, or an average of about $17.1 million annually per school. That’s unheard of green for the Big East. There also is a provision allowing for renegotiation every five years, in case it looks beneficial to start the ACC Network, just like the B1G has.

Compare the ACC’s lucrative 15-year pact to the Big East’s situation. Its current deal with ESPN will expire after next season. After turning down respectable proposals from ESPN in the past, the Big East will sit down at the bargaining table stripped of its core identity, and bring a strange mash-up of Northeast basketball schools and far-flung football ones. The league will attempt to start a bidding war between Fox, NBC, CBS, and ESPN. But in all likelihood, the Big East will find a TV contract worth cents on the dollar in comparison to the other BCS conferences.

And that’s in large part due to the wonderful work of Mike Tranghese and “The Electrician” John Marinatto, whose treacherous run atop the Big East finally came to an end this week. His parting words were ironically illogical.

“Our recent expansion efforts have stabilized the conference for the long term, and we are likewise well positioned for our very important upcoming television negotiations. As a result, I felt this was the right time to step aside and to let someone else lead us through the next chapter of our evolution.”

Those comments sit somewhere between stubbornness and obliviousness. The league is remarkably unstable, trying to find common ground between Seton Hall and San Diego State. There is still a grouping of northern basketball-only schools sharing time with large state institutions from Texas and Florida. UConn and Rutgers have been clawing at the walls to get out, and will jump at any opportunity to join the B1G, Big 12 or ACC. Now the conference will have its third leader in just a few years trying to salvage TV money in an ever-changing college football worlds. Stabilized, huh? Marinatto was essentially forced into his resignation, and his words sound delusional and ignorant.

In a few days’ span, the Big East overthrew its clueless leader, and the ACC cashed in with a huge TV deal. The evidence continues to show that Syracuse moved wisely back in September.

Posted: Andrew Kanell

Syracuse.com

Should Syracuse follow West Virginia’s lead and bolt the Big East immediately? There is certainly support from Orange fans to “pull a Mountaineers” and ignore the 27-month waiting period. But it’s not as easy for SU, since the situations differ.

WVU was hellbent on leaving for the Big XII in large part because the conference needed to fill a major hole. Missouri and Texas A&M are both headed for the SEC and that leaves two glaring voids in the ’12 football schedule. It cost $20 million (and a lot of Oliver Luck whining), but West Virginia finally got its way. TCU will also join the Big XII this season.

Where does that leave SU and Pitt? Both are ACC bound by the ’13 football season, but unlike the Big XII, their new conference is in no rush to get its two new members in-house. The ACC is stable at its current 12 schools, and has no reason to help pry the Orange and Panthers away before the path is legally cleared. An immediate departure would also leave the Big East with a measly five football schools for this season, but would retain its BCS bid. Gotta love this system.

Which leaves the Electrician John Marinatto in total scramble mode to fix the football schedule. Option 1:  Get Boise State to join early. That would leave the Mountain West in FML mode, but hey in conference realignment it’s every man for himself.

Option 2: Let’s mix it up. Every remaining Big East school could play a home and home with its closest geographic opponent (like the always exciting NBA preseason). This means SU would play Rutgers twice. Why not welcome RU back one final time (potentially) to the Dome? (And hopefully avenge the worst football game ever.) The downside would be if the Syracuse “home game” of this series is morphed into a neutral site game at Yankee Stadium or MetLife.

There is talk of West Virginia assisting with helping schedule a Big XII opponent for each team in the Big East. What impetus WVU has to lend a hand to the conference it just fought an ugly PR battle with is debatable.

Option 3: Add an FCS opponent like Stony Brook. The good news? Adding a 2nd non-FBS game is the formula SU used in ’10 to get to the Pinstripe Bowl. (Only one FCS win counts toward bowl eligibility. But the 2nd “breather” on the schedule helped SU build confidence that season, and work on in-game adjustments.) The bad news? It’s ugly football.

Staying in the Big East for a final season is the best option. A farewell tour will be kinda cool, especially in a basketball league where SU was a founding father. One last chance (in conference) to prove Georgetown sucks. One more chance to make fun of UConn for not being smart enough to make the NCAA tournament. Hell, now that SU has this Louisville thing figured out, let’s get them again too.

In a statement yesterday, Dr. Gross said:

“We’ve been following and anticipating the developments and their potential impact on our program, and will respond to inquiries at the appropriate time.”

SU athletics was obviously aware this could be a possibility. Luckily, Nancy Cantor and Dr. Gross have been proactive throughout this whole process. It’s hard to imagine SU forking out $20 million just to leave a year early. It probably means standing pat until 2013. Either way, see ya ‘Neers. Don’t forget that coonskin cap on the way out.

Posted: Craig Hoffman

SI.com

With the conclusion of the college football season last night, and the release of the final rankings today, it’s time to take a look at the future landscape. There are a lot of moving parts right now, particularly in conference realignment and Syracuse’s move to the ACC.

It’s been assumed the move was an upgrade in football conferences for the Orange, but a closer look reveals that surprisingly, the ACC wasn’t much, if any more successful than the Big East this season. In bowl games, SU’s current conference was significantly more successful than its future one. When the league’s champions met in the the Orange Bowl, West Virginia obliterated Clemson 70-33.

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For all the heat the Big East takes as a football conference, it accomplished two goals the ACC did not. It won a BCS game, and finished with a winning record overall. The Big East was 3-2, with wins from Rutgers, Cincinnati, and WVU. Those wins also came against the Big 12, SEC, and ACC respectively.

On the other side, the ACC had by far the worst bowl season of any major conference, going 2-6 and seeing its champion embarrassed in Miami. One of the ACC’s wins did come against the Big East, with N.C. State beating Louisville.

Even more interesting is to look at what the records of the post-realignment conferences would be. Shockingly, the margin grows even more in favor of the Big East when you factor in new additions Boise State, Houston, SMU, and San Diego State. Those squads went a combined 3-1, which would make the Big East’s record a very solid 5-3 (subtracting the West Virginia and Pitt results).

Bowl games alone aren’t the ultimate judge of a conference’s strength of course, but the final AP poll shows similar results. Here, the two conferences stack up pretty evenly, with the ACC placing three teams in the top 25 to the Big East’s two. The highest ranked team in either conference is West Virginia at #17, a few spots higher than top the top ACC team, #21 Virginia Tech. Here, once again the numbers swing even stronger towards post-realignment Big East when you factor in #8 Boise and #18 Houston.

The ACC still does hold a significant edge in recruiting, and has more big name programs with the Seminoles, Hurricanes, and Hokies, plus a rising Clemson team. But at least this season, these storied programs were outplayed by the overlooked Big East.

You would have to expect programs like Florida State can sustain more long term success than one like Houston. Going forward, especially with the recruiting edge, the ACC is still the better conference, and the more stable one for Syracuse to be a part of.  But, in the short term, that “step up” in competition appears to be a much smaller one once you take a closer look.

Posted: Steve Neikam

It is funny, isn’t it? Commissioner John Marinatto has to stoop to inviting programs with little national cache and foreign area codes in order to replenish his depleted conference, while selling everyone this is all very exciting. Right.

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To be fair, it’s not like SU can look down its nose at any football program after an awful 5-7 season. Boise State is a legit national power, Houston was a top 10 program this year, and San Diego State and SMU both had better seasons than the Orange. But outside of the Broncos, these additions don’t make the Big East any more relevant on a national scale. 

The five incoming schools signify a waving of the white flag by Marinatto. The Big East can no longer be considered one of the nation’s best football conferences (that’s a stretch even now). This is not the outcome Marinatto had ever planned for.

His best bet was to keep all of the current Big East schools in tact, and if possible add TCU and/or Boise State. That plan failed spectacularly, in large part because he balked on a potential television contract with ESPN.

The only other way to preserve respectability was to merge with remnants of the Big 12. That possibility went out the window when the Big 12 remarkably did what the Big East couldn’t do – stay relatively intact.

This current expansion became the Big East’s only option. This is where The Fizz finally stops laying into The Electrician, who has served as one of our favorite punching bags. The new expansion adds one national power and four respectable television markets – Houston, Dallas, Orlando and San Diego (even if these programs rank at the bottom of sports interest in their cities).

Oh, the commissioner deserves considerable blame for allowing the Big East to break apart like wet newspaper, but his latest decision actually makes sense. Notre Dame will never join the Big East as a football member. The basketball schools have pulled in their own direction. TCU would much rather align with in-state rivalries and the star power of Texas and Oklahoma. 

Boise State is about the best the Big East can do right now. San Diego State may only serve as a west coast partner with the Broncs, but it’s sadly not the worst option either.

With only five football members previously committed to the Big East beyond 2013, Marinatto had to do something. He couldn’t just continue to sit idly by as schools vacated his conference. Granted, it’s still laughable to hear him talk up the new-look Big East.

“The Big East conference is the first truly national college football conference.”

Uh huh. So why don’t you just call it the Big MAC then, Johnny Boy? Because that’s about what it’s turned into.

Out: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. In: Boise State, SMU, Houston, San Diego State, and Central Florida. Scratching at the walls to leave: UConn, Rutgers, Louisville. 

Not a very good trade, but don’t confuse the reason why you should be making fun of Marinatto.

He should never have let SU and the others leave, but once they did, Marinatto had no better choice than to pursue the schools he did.

Posted: Andrew Kanell

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We are used to epic flameouts, not living up to the preseason hype, losing out on the recruit, March disappointment, fall embarrassment. Making it worse is that we actually do know what being the king of the hill feels like – except, it’s in lacrosse. And unfortunately, that standing matters to like, 27 people.

Thank goodness for 2003, because for at least one moment, we were champions. Then again, that was a magical run, a shocking display by a handful of freshman, sprinkled in pixie dust. Not exactly a display of pure strength. We endure slights about the weather, the economy, the drab Dome, the middling football attendance for a middling football program in a middling football conference, the continued early exits in the tournament.

Guess what? We may be on the cusp of all that changing. This hasn’t just been a good week for Syracuse. This has been a f***ing great week. And it’s been an incredible month for the Orange. Go back to the day SU announced the move to the ACC. That was September 18th. What’s changed since then? Oh, only everything. In the best way possible.

Look at this timeline:

• 9/18 – Syracuse accepts invitation from the ACC.
• 10/20 – SU picked atop preseason Big East hoops poll. Ranked top 5 nationally.
• 10/14 – Living legend ‘Melo joins Midnight Madness as recruits look on at an insane Carrier Dome.
• 10/21 – Orange crush #11 WVU on national television.
• 10/25 – CNY native, top 5 recruit Dajuan Coleman chooses ‘Cuse.

In the middle of all this, the league has turned into a total dumpster fire with the Mountaineers the latest defection and total misery befalling the commissioner and his conference. The Three Amigos are preparing for their first games as members of the Orange. Ryan Nassib had a performance to make you believe he’s the perfect quarterback for the next two years. Wegman’s opened up a store outside of Boston for all us New England transplants. And there’s a wondrous new t-shirt symbolizing your support for The Dougie (only $14.99!).

Let’s face it, life is good. And how often have we said that as Orange Nation? Honestly, it’s not far-fetched to believe we are entering a golden age of Syracuse sports. No one expects SU to compete for the BCS championship anytime soon, but I think we’re all in agreement Doug Marrone has the right passion and plan to continue to build this program. Look what he’s already accomplished with Groobers’ smoldering wreckage. That was a seismic night on Friday. Apathetic fans have a reason to believe again. Recruits were impressed watching on television. The Dome felt like the Dome finally. Either way, because of Marrone this program is set up for the long haul.

The basketball team has some of the best returning talent in the country. There are still plenty of ifs, but this team is stacked. That elusive Final Four was supposed to happen two seasons ago before the basketball gods once again found a way to Keith Smart the run when A.O. went down in a crumple. Maybe this is The Per’fesser’s moment. One last dance in a city he’s had some major tourney history in – New Orleans hosts Final Four 2012. Oh, and one of the best centers in the country just so happened to grow up in your backyard and he’s thrilled to throw on the Syracuse snap-back.

And the move to the ACC has been brilliant. Yeah, it still hurts to think the ferocious battles with UConn, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s are going poof. That mystical Big East tournament at MSG will be a mosquito frozen in amber. Just perfection. But could you imagine still clawing your way out of the league like West Virginia, Rutgers and Connecticut are doing right now? Everyday is another reminder you’re quickly getting pulled into the Sarlac Pit, a dark, murderous hole where Air Force and SMU and Houston will now play. Recruits are all saying the same thing: “the ACC makes me excited about Syracuse.” Money in the bank, baby.

We’re not used to being the ones that are charmed, but don’t look now Orange Nation – we are on the verge of being the great ones.

Posted: D.A.

“He began Thursday’s talk at the team’s annual preseason luncheon to introduce his players with a joke saying that Occupy Wall Street protesters have found a new target.

‘They left Wall Street. They stopped picketing Wall Street and they stormed the Atlantic Coast Conference for more corporate greed.’”

This is just awesome. Slick Rick is throwing big ass stones in a Pitino residence entirely made of glass, complete with a few glass dining tables he can do the boogity on. Wow, Pitino is calling out greed? The guy who’s made it his own personal mission to chase dollars over stability, to have ripped apart his family for instant gratification, is going to espouse loyalty.

• Read The Fizz’s Ongoing Coverage of Big East/ACC Realignment

Remember when once upon a time he left a college basketball program (Providence) to chase the money of the NBA (Knicks)? But he sucked at that job, so he went back to college (Kentucky). Then he left that university (which had taken a chance on him when his reputation wasn’t so sterling) to run after the riches of the NBA again (Celtics)? But left that organization in ruins, bailed as the going got toughest, to go back to the safe haven of college (Louisville). And it just so happened that stop was the blood-rivals of his last college job?

Yeah, well that guy is ranting about loyalty.

What a disingenuous bucket of moral scum.

“We’re going to be in the Big East for the next two years, regardless of what happens. But to me, my loyalties stay in the conference that took us away from Conference USA and brought us into not only a BCS bowl, but also a chance for us to be on television more than we’ve ever been on, to play the tournament in Madison Square Garden. So we’ll see what shakes out. Tom Jurich will, at the right time, approach that subject. For now, we’re just very happy to be in the Big East.”

For now, being the operative words. Because if Missouri votes to join the SEC and the Big 12 extends an invitation to Louisville, Slick Rick would jump into that quicker than Karen Sypher. What’s the level of fraud Pitino reaches with that last quote? A perfect score? One million?

“We’re going to be in the Big East for the next two years, regardless of what happens.” Just dripping with douche. Yeah, guess what? So is Syracuse and Pitt. That’s the legal binding to the league. “My loyalties will always be with the Big East.” That’s because you don’t have a better option, you snake. You know, like how sorry you were you put your family through that extortion ordeal… only after you got caught. “For now, we’re just very happy.” Yeah, sounds like famous last words before a relationship falls apart. The addendum, “But if the Big 12 comes knocking, well then ‘yeehaw,’ see ya in Texas!”

The pathetically miserable bitterness toward Syracuse, Pitt and the ACC is laughable. Oliver Luck is begging to be invited to a new conference. UConn got stiffed at the alter by the same program they tried to strong-arm a decade ago. Slick Rick would love to jump ship (he has a history of saving his own ass and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves).

But this guy rises above the rest. Somehow, Pitino is so slimy, so underhanded, so morally corrupt, he actually becomes the most noxious hypocrite in an NCAA full of them. Congrats, Ricky. The devil is here to see you now.

Posted: D.A.

“Four days after TCU president Victor J. Boschini Jr. assured Marinatto that his school was committed to joining the conference next season as planned, the Horned Frogs look to be Big 12-bound.”

I mean, how much of a disgrace is the Big MAC turning out to be? This is like the party that was awesome around 7p, then disintegrated into a sloshy dude-filled boozefest around midnight, and now it’s 2a and there’s three kids in the kitchen doing whip-its.

“He told us over and over how much he wants this conference to move forward. There was no wavering at all from him,” Marinatto told USA Today.

This is so pathetic it almost hurts to watch. Marinatto is getting stiffed by a program that has been in the WAC, C-USA and Mountain West in the last decade. You’d trust Marinatto to fix your fuse box, not your athletic conference. He was entrusted with one duty: save the Big East. So what did The Electrician do? Balked at ESPN’s last television offer. Well played, Johnny.

• WVU’s Oliver Luck is the reason SU is smiling
• Is Rutgers in, and UConn out of the ACC?
• Leaving Rutgers & UConn gives SU a football push
• How did officials pull this off so silently & quickly?
• SU to the ACC: A necessary evil

How about this for a double-whammy for the Big MAC? The loss of Syracuse, Pitt and TCU would mean only six football-playing schools – and you need 7 to keep the BCS bowl bid. The solution? Oy vey.

“One possible restructuring possibility now for the Big East is to invite Navy for football only, add Temple and Central Florida for all sports and have Villanova make the move up to the FBS level in football.”

If you’re Rutgers or UConn right now, what are you thinking? “We’re stuck with Navy and ‘Nova? Someone grab the cyanide capsules.” I mean, at least homecoming will be a blast for the Huskies and Knights. You have your pick of the litter of miserable, pitiful football teams to schedule.

If the Big MAC loses WVU and Louisville too, it’s time to just focus all your attention on basketball. Let Rutgers, UConn and Cincinnati beg for mercy at the Big 10, Big 12 and ACC’s doors. Huddle up Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John’s and try to merge with the power hoops teams of the A-10. You have zero chance of being anything worth fighting for in football. Play to your strength, keep the urban, big city influence in hoops and play games in MSG, Philly, DC and Brooklyn’s new digs.

Would the last one in the Big East, please mop up Bob Huggins’ puke in the bathroom? Thanks.

Posted: D.A.