In hindsight, the Big East 2.0 (2005-12) was actually a solid football conference. It won 5 out of its 8 BCS bowl games, had a member finish in the Top 10 50% of the time, and won nearly two-thirds of its bowl games, far exceeding the ACC and other power conferences. However, it never had a truly elite program like Miami was in the early 2000s. Had 13-9 never happened and WVU advances to the BCS National Championship, would that have altered the conference's long-term fate?
Keep in mind that TCU was on the way and UCF could've been invited down the line as well. Would that have been enough for ESPN to offer the conference a better TV contract in 2010, potentially surpassing the ACC?
Keep in mind that TCU was on the way and UCF could've been invited down the line as well. Would that have been enough for ESPN to offer the conference a better TV contract in 2010, potentially surpassing the ACC?