The Big East Carolina

With the news that the Big East conference officially coming out and saying that they plan to expand and add 2 more teams in football has raised a lot of eyebrows. There are rumors about Villanova coming on board since they are already in the league in basketball which makes sense even though they have turned down an offer back in 1997. Also being rumored are Central Florida, TCU, and Houston in this expansion process but where's the love for little old ECU!

The TCU and Houston choices are a bit confusing to most because they are from Texas and nowhere in the east geographically. Also if the Big 12 (or will be 10) were going to add members to replace the loss of Nebraska and Colorado wouldn't these two teams make the most sense? Apparently its not about the region you're in or maybe it does? Since the Big 12 already has an overwhelming presence in the state of Texas adding these two good teams doesn't add to their audience but it would add to the Big East market. Also TCU is currently a top 5 team and with the recent success being in a BCS conference they would be an automatic qualifier for a BCS game instead of hoping computers and pollsters can get it right.

Now for UCF one of the biggest forces driving the Black Knights bus would be the fact that they are in Orlando, Florida. Granted they are having a very good year this year but outside of their market how does their resume stack up? The Knights are 2-39 against the BCS schools so how does that add prestige to any conference that's trying to get more of a national presence. And why are the East Carolina Pirates not getting more attention if they are the two time defending Conf USA football champions?

In a rebuilding year with a new coach Ruffin McNeil the Pirates are just one game behind UCF in the standings. Losing so many seniors ranking #118 out of 120 Division I teams in returning letterman from last year this is truly an amazing accomplishment. Also take into account the Pirates have built in rivalries regionally that they play and who are all with the BCS label. Some may think adding UCF would make an instant rivalry with USF but if you add ECU would there be a bigger rivalry to USF than the Pirates considering the way Bulls current coach (Skip Holtz) left ECU?

Getting back to the all important "market" where does ECU stand? If you look at where the ECU fan base is centered which is from Charlotte, NC to the Tidewater area in Virginia its the 3rd largest market for television. On top of all the new upgrades in the football stadium and other facilities ECU has the highest average in attendance in the conference by almost 11,000 fans with an average of around 50,000. They rank second among all non BCS schools in attendance and actually have better attendance numbers than about half the Big East currently. Plus how important is it being in a huge market if you can't even fill the seats anyway. The last USF vs Rutgers game barely had 20k fans there and they were in Tampa home to 4 million people!

Its time for the Pirate Nation to get up and be heard so that the Big East knows the quality of a program like East Carolina University and all it has to offer. We are the greatest fans and our program can truly make an impact out of the gate if extended an offer into the conference. I know in our rebuilding year we've had some major struggles especially defensively but we sit on the verge of yet another bowl season. With the BCS label we'll be able to recruit better and bring in better talent and add much needed depth to a good team. Half the Big East teams we've faced in Conf.USA (Cincy, Louisville, and USF) or have been apart of our out of conference schedule (West Virginia) recently so there's already familiarity established amongst the universities.

How can you have a Big "East" without East Carolina!?!