But the conference commissioner has maintained -- and did again last week -- that there are no fish to fry on the issue. Even though the Big East is the smallest BCS-affiliated conference with an unbalanced schedule that forces a disparity in league road games, causes each team to have five nonconference games while most teams in the country have four and has no league championship game with its big payday.
Tranghese said outside of a few coaches who want a ninth team, UConn's Randy Edsall among them, the subject is not on the table with Big East presidents and athletic directors.
"Schools aren't talking to me and I'm not talking to anybody," Tranghese said. "People [from schools interested in joining] call me and I tell them I'm not talking because I'm not authorized. Plus our people have no interest. You get your board members, fans, it's incredible. I have told anybody and everybody it's not happening. Don't bother me."
OK, but what if a deal too sweet to beat existed? Just for kicks, let's put one on the table in the form of, say, a job application. The school should be willing to:
--Play a conference football schedule with zero compensation from the Big East so current members don't have to give up any of their share of revenue.
--Be responsible for negotiating a television contract for home games until the league wants the school to be a part of its package.
--Not expect any of the league's BCS revenue until earning a BCS bid of its own representing the conference.
--Come in as a football member only. Other sports would play in another league in order to not interfere with the league's current 16-member setup for all other sports.
--Show a solid track record of putting fans in the seats at home, on the road and at bowl games -- all on a trial basis for a few years.
Who would take that chance?
East Carolina.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, insiders with knowledge of East Carolina's position talked of doing all of the above.
That's how confident they are in coach Skip Holtz's program. By the way, Skip wouldn't return the call on this one, and athletic director Terry Holland said he had no comment.
Told you it was sensitive.
"We would agree to all of that and others," said one prominent ECU supporter. "Our partnership could be described as a 'hand-in' partnership rather than a 'hand-out' partnership. We wouldn't be asking for anything except the opportunity to prove ourselves as good and productive partners of the eight institutions playing Division I-A football."
The schools that pushed for expanding their leagues and creating league championship games in football did it for the money, but they also did it to ensure their futures.
The Big East has set itself up for life in basketball. In football, we're not so sure.
What happens if Notre Dame, in the Big East for all sports except football, decides it's going to the Big Ten?
What would the Big East do? The league would need to fill Notre Dame's spot. Navy? Memphis? Central Florida? East Carolina?
"We will not take anybody as a federated member," Tranghese said. "We dealt with it before [with Temple]. It didn't work out. We've lived it and we're not going down that path again."
Yeah, Mike, but you let ...
"That happened 13 years ago with Notre Dame. The league was struggling at the time. We had just invited Rutgers and West Virginia and the presidents of the basketball schools said they would like to add a school with a national presence in basketball and other sports, and they agreed to that. Now, if you look at what Notre Dame has done in basketball, cross country, women's basketball for this league, there's no one out there that can come close. When we took them in, there was a clear understanding what it meant in football and [the presidents] understood it.
"As for now, anybody who says I just want to play football ... it's just not happening because the agenda of any institution is to become a full member."
There will be interest in a 16th member again if Notre Dame does go to the Big Ten and takes the rest of its teams, too.
"Look, there are teams out there that could probably help us but they're not available," Tranghese said.
Technically, that's true. After the ACC ripped Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College from the Big East's mitts, practically every league freaked out in terms of getting exit fees and other penalties together as part of future agreements with member schools. East Carolina, a member of Conference USA, says it would deal with whatever the penalty was to leave.
Whether it's to address the immediate unbalanced schedule issue or the need for a long-term fix if Notre Dame leaves, Memphis, Central Florida and East Carolina should be getting good looks right now.
But it's unlikely that Memphis, Central Florida or any other school would be willing to do what ECU supporters believe the program is willing to do.
Memphis would be a plus in hoops. Central Florida would be fine for recruiting purposes in football. However, neither can boast of having one of the best nonconference football schedules in the country with an SEC feel at homes games like East Carolina can.
Those schools don't have a six-year contract in place with West Virginia. They can't brag about traveling as well as ECU does. ECU is also believed to be open to guaranteeing the purchase of 2,500 tickets to Big East away games.
Think about that. At $40 a pop, that's another $100,000 for the home school in gate money. Notre Dame is the only school in the nation that would even attempt a guarantee like that.
And here is East Carolina, ready to go with that plus a whole lot more, all on a trial basis.
ECU insiders and supporters have convinced yours truly that it is not afraid to take risks -- and you can determine that for yourselves when you see their nonconference schedules.
There's no league in the country in a better position to help ECU right now than the Big East -- and vice versa. And then there's the future. Will Big East's football league be ready when it comes?
dconner@courant.com
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