Big East hurt by Rutgers' success

Successful college football in Jersey was once a farfetched dream. After Thursday night, it’s a dreadful reality for the Big East.

Rutgers’ stunning –and that’s not saying enough– 28-25 win over Louisville all but confirms that the black sheep of BCS conferences will not send a team to the national championship game, even if the Scarlet Knights win out.

This isn’t even about the undeniable need for a playoff in college football. That’s not going to happen. It’s about the Urban Meyer’s of the world that voiced their disgust with Louisville possibly playing in the title game. It’s about all those coaches that didn’t speak out, instead using a top 25 poll to state their opinion. It’s about Jason Whitlock, who still voted the Cardinals tenth on his writer’s poll ballot even after last Thursday’s win over West Virginia.

All of them were right. The Cardinals do not deserve to play for the national championship. But if it wasn’t for last night, they would have been there Jan. 8. No one outside of a few columnists trying to be different actually believes Rutgers is BCS title game worthy. But a team that could have finished second in the country would have been.

Now Florida and Texas and USC and all of the “stronger” one loss teams can breathe easier. One of those schools will back into the title game without having to worry about some unbeaten Big East team, no matter what Rutgers’ record is.

In the long run, a strong team from the biggest media market in the world will be help the Big East thrive. The future of the league is promising.

It’s the present that's looking cloudy.

Here’s the scenario that it would take to get to Rutgers to the BCS title game – Why don’t we get drunk and blog?