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And if all else fails, call your governor for help.

Someone please tell the honorable Gov. Mark Warner that his state has a $535 million shortfall of support for basic education. Let's see, the Hokies in the BCS (which is what this is all about), or the educational welfare of children in Virginia?

Matt Hayes left out that the RINOs, RATublicans, and RepublicRATs of the Commonwealth of Virginia, aka the other Warner, Senator George Allen, and state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore refused to let principle stand in the way of politics and followed MarkyMark Warner's DimRAT lead.

At least Gov. Jeb Bush is showing some character.

For all of you who think that the betrayal of the Big East conference was done cleanly with all the cards on the table, remember you are siding with Clintonite Donna Shalala, the UM President who stated publicly and privately that UM had no plan or thought to leave the BE conference. Personally I could care less how it ends up but I hate to see liars get what they want, do you?

Officials from Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Rutgers have filed suit against the ACC, charging that the league and Miami and Boston College conspired to leave the Big East more than a year ago, despite Miami's assurances that it wasn't going anywhere.

Awww... couldn't happen to a nicer, more upstanding bunch. I mean, it's not like they told Temple they were members of the big east in good standing in 1998 when the University spent 7 million dollars on a new Football training facility and then held a secret vote to push them out of the conference.

Mike Tranghese and his b.e. A.D. cadre are getting their just desserts. Honor among thieves...

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

Miami was never a good fit for the Big East, geographically culturally or competitively. What they did bring to the table was football money and the prestige of their national titles and BCS Bowl appearances. While they seem a bit mismatched culturally with the highbrow ACC, UM at least has Florida State as a neighbor/rival who can be just as cruel and cutthroat as they are. And the Criminoles' dominance of ACC football has been rarely questioned. Even when their QBs go to jail, Florida State still manages to get the BCS bid.

But the ACC wants 12 schools, not ten, so they can have a conference championship game and the money it makes. So they courted Syracuse and Boston College for no real reason other than the schools give them visibility in the New York and New England television markets. Geographically, an easier fit would be Virginia Tech and East Carolina but they don't help television-wise.

The Big East has always been strange for an athletic conference because it allows schools with no football program (Georgetown, St. Johns, Villanova, etc.) to join them for basketball and not football. So the football part of the conference has always lacked stature - that was, until Miami joined. Now, like the gold-diggers they are, Miami is moving on to what it sees as a richer boyfriend. They've had their boob job and are just marrying up.

The little five consist of two schools (UConn and Rutgers) that are unlikely to be football powers anytime soon. So what we are *really* talking about is Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Virginia Tech being left at the altar. They can fantasize about Notre Dame joining them for football, as it did for basketball but, get real. The Irish are in the ideal situation football-wise and wouldn't even seriously consider joining the more prestigious Big 10 (11) conference to give up their rich NBC contract. That 12th spot in the Big 10 is really reserved for Notre Dame. Everyone knows it.

Pittsburgh could make overtures to the Big 10 and might woo them with the appeal of competitive football and basketball programs and a good media market, not to mention a built-in rivalry with Penn State. But, to do so, the Big 10 has to give up its own fantasy of landing the Irish.

And there's a strong possibiltiy that the dominoes will land on Conference USA which has some schools (Louisville, Cincinnati) that would like to see their football programs move up and other schools (Tulane, Houston) whose football programs might go under. Might Virginia Tech and West Virginia find some new partners?

As for the politicians, why be surprised either at their mettling or their grandstanding? It's what they do and what some of their voters (alumni) even expect them to do. But, in the end, they don't have the authority to make anything happen here, other than troll for voters.

As someone who thought Miami and Florida State had a far too easy road to get to a BCS Bowl every year, I actually welcome the merger because then one or the other might not get to go every year. Let them find out what the Big XII and SEC schools already know - that you can beat yourself silly trying to get to a conference titile game, lose there, and wind up with the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl or the Culligan Water Holiday Bowl as your reward. They can ask Florida how fun that prospect is - if they're still on speaking terms with the Gators.

I view all this as hilarious. The Big Least is getting just what it deserves.

Yeah, this is a real shame. I hate to see anything tarnish the squeaky clean image of college football.