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| Big East football has secured a network deal, according to reports. |
When folks ask me about the Big East and Temple University football, I pretty much have one answer:
"Would would rather make road trips to Oxford, Ohio, Ypsilanti, Mich., Muncie, Ind. or Dallas, New Orleans and Tampa?"
I rest my case.
"Would would rather make road trips to Oxford, Ohio, Ypsilanti, Mich., Muncie, Ind. or Dallas, New Orleans and Tampa?"Temple football had two choices and two choices only:
Stay in the MAC and continue to take those trips to the directional midwestern schools, play Tuesday night games at home before 11,000 fans in a 70,000 seat stadium, and die a slow long death or go to real cities to play real teams and play college football almost exclusively on the day God created it for:
Saturdays.
That's above and beyond what talks loudest in college sports yesterday, today and tomorrow:
Money.
According to a report today on Yahoo Sports, the Big East is about to sign a football and basketball deal with the NBC Sports Network that will pay each team $2 million per season.
Considering that Temple was making pretty close to zero dollars (it made money only in the bowl season) with the MAC, it was a no-brainer that the Owls make the move to the Big East last year do everything they can to make it work now.
From all accounts, SMU, Tulane and South Florida are happy to be in the Big East. Cincinnati and UConn have one eye on the door, but no other suitors. If anybody leaves, there's a group of schools wanting to come in that approximates the New York Giants' season-ticket waiting list.
Temple is sitting on a talent gold mine playing in a $521-million stadium, another potential gold mine
I'd love to see former Temple football "rival" Buffalo, a big city within shouting distance, given first dibs.Selfishly, I think the Owls are in a much better position to compete and win in this league than they were last year and that position should even be improved going forward now that the offense has transformed from 1912 cloud-of-dust style to a 2013 spread in just a couple of months.
If you put the pin in the protractor at 10th and Diamond and created just a small semi-circle that includes the states of Pa., Md., NJ, NY, Conn., Mass., Del. and Virginia, there is 46 percent of the nation's population inside the circle. There is only one Big East school, Temple, in the middle of that circle.
Temple is sitting on a talent gold mine playing in a $521-million stadium, another potential gold mine.
There's nothing about Tulane or SMU football that scares me. Heck, Temple beat a Navy team that hammered SMU only a couple of years ago.
Temple football is on solid footing now and it behooves the Owls and Cincinnati and UConn to make it work.
Any reports of the Big East's collapse are premature and should be put to rest by this impending deal.
