I don’t think the Big East was much better pre-raid. I understand that’s the perception, but I don’t think that ever matched up with the actual on field results.
For example, the league’s bowl record was actually much better post-raid. I do agree that the BE was definitely better at the top pre-raid. However, it was also much worse at the bottom of the table.
As bad as Syracuse became, they never approached the complete disgraces that Rutgers and Temple were for most of the Harris era.
That’s the thing about the retooling that is kind of tragic. It actually worked!
USF, Cincinnati and Louisville all came in and definitely added to the quality of the depth of the conference. None of them were what Miami was before they left, but no program in America was matching what Miami was doing in the late 90s and early 2000’s. Frankly, few programs in the history of college football could match that run.
However, by the late aughts, Miami was also not what they had been prior to going to the ACC, so that drop off would have happened anyway.
USF at one point reached No. 2 in the country, Cincinnati went to multiple BCS bowls and Louisville was every bit the equal of Virginia Tech. West Virginia became a much, much stronger program under Rich Rodriguez than they were at the end of the Don Nehlen era, actually winning several BCS games against national powers. Randy Edsall also did a nice job at UConn, qualifying that program for a BCS game. Also, Greg Schiano is the greatest coach in the history of Rutgers football and developed them into a very competitive program - FAR better than they were when Harris was coaching at Pitt.
I think the difference in the quality of the league pre-and post-raid is often grossly overstated – I really do. I think the actual data supports that position, even if the perception does not.