[bigboydan]

Big East Looking To Add 9th Football Team

NEWPORT, R.I. - Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said that although his league is interested in adding a ninth football-only member, there isn't a viable option available.

Tranghese said his league has had recent discussions with Army and Navy, but "there just isn't any interest on the other side."

"We've talked about a ninth member," Tranghese said. "I think our league members would strongly consider it if there was a ninth team that would make us better. But we don't see it out there right now."

The Big East's dream team, of course, is Notre Dame. But the Fighting Irish, who are Big East members in all other sports, remain content as an independent.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH: Every Big East team except Syracuse and West Virginia will play a Division I-AA team this year. Because league teams need five non-conference games, Tranghese said he doesn't have a problem with league members scheduling I-AAs.

"People are playing I-AA teams because they can't fill their schedules out," Tranghese said. "I'm hoping our schools will schedule some quality non-conference games."

This is the sixth consecutive season Syracuse has not scheduled a I-AA team. Of the six BCS conferences, the Pac-10 has the fewest games against I-AA teams (one), while the SEC and Big 12 (eight each) have the most.

Here is the breakdown, by percentage, of the number of teams in each BCS league with scheduled games against I-AA: Pac 10 (one team, 10 percent), ACC (six teams, 50 percent), Big Ten (seven teams, 64 percent), Big East (six teams, 75 percent), Big 12 (eight teams, 75 percent) and SEC (eight teams, 75 percent).

ODDS AND ENDS: Tranghese said he has no opinion on USF's decision to discontinue the UCF series and said it's USF's call to make. "That's up to the institution to decide what's best for them," Tranghese said. … Louisville's Tom Jurich was recently named national athletic director of the year by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal. The Cardinals, who had nine teams reach the NCAA tournament in 2006-07, and Florida are the only schools to play in the College World Series, a BCS bowl game and the Final Four in the past three seasons. … Here are the final standings in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup all-sports standings for the 2006-07 school year for the Big East's 16 members: 22. Notre Dame; 28. Louisville; 54. Rutgers; 57. West Virginia; 71. Pittsburgh; 75. Providence; 76. Georgetown; 82. UConn; 85. St. John's; 110. Syracuse; 127. Marquette; 132. USF and Villanova; 153. DePaul; 196. Cincinnati; and 289. Seton Hall.

[pags11]

they can have Temple back...haha...