While College Football Live lazily cites a poorly-written story in the New York Post, ESPN's Mark Schlabach is actually engaging in real journalism.
A Big East official told me Monday the league has no plans to add Army or Navy as members.
The New York Post reported Monday the Big East explored the possibility of adding the Black Knights and Midshipmen as pseudo-members, in which the service academies would play four current league schools in rotating seasons. Army and Navy both play college football as independents.
The Big East official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the league "had discussions with Army and Navy several months ago, but there are currently no plans to move forward."
- I played 18 holes with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano at Newport National Golf Club on Monday. It was only Schiano's second round of the year. Scarlet Knights fans must be happy to know their coach isn't spending all of his time on the golf course. Schiano said the first round was played in Mexico during the spring.
- During a Nike junket for coaches, Schiano learned that Fresno State was looking for an opponent this coming season because Kansas State pulled out of a game. The Scarlet Knights were still searching for an opponent and it couldn't be a Division I-AA school. During the golf tournament, Schiano and Fresno State's Pat Hill agreed to play a Sept. 1 game at Rutgers Stadium. Schiano called this year's Fresno State team "its best team in 15 years."
- Schiano said running back Kordell Young, who missed the 2007 season with a knee injury, is on pace to be ready for the start of next week's preseason camp. Schiano raved about freshman running back Jourdan Brooks, a 6-foot-1, 255-pounder. Schiano said he envisions Young and Mason Robinson carrying most of Ray Rice's load until Brooks becomes comfortable in the Rutgers offense. Schiano said he might use as many as three running backs to replace Ray Rice's 2,000-plus yards from a year ago.
Rutgers was picked to finish fourth in the preseason media poll.
Rank Team Pts.
1. West Virginia (22) 189
2. South Florida (1) 149
3. Pittsburgh (1) 128
4. Rutgers 110
5. Cincinnati 98
6. Connecticut 97
7. Louisville 69
8. Syracuse 24
Meanwhile, Governor Corzine is vowing to keep his promise.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine is not backing down from his pledge to help raise $30 million as part of the $102 million project to expand Rutgers Stadium's capacity to 55,000, his spokesperson says.
A series of articles in the Star-Ledger of Newark about costs related to the Rutgers' football program concluded with a report that the governor's campaign "has all but collapsed."
"It's only seven months (since the commitment was made Dec. 5). These things take time. People need to relax," said Deborah Howlett, the governor's communications' director.
And as far as Rutgers is concerned, the $30 million is still somewhere in the pipeline.
"The university has not received any formal notice retracting the governor's written commitment to raise $30 million for the stadium expansion," said university spokesman E.J. Miranda.
Miranda also said the Star-Ledger did not accurately reflect the opinion of the Rev. M. William Howard, chairman of Rutgers' board of governors. The newspaper reported that Howard "acknowledged the university may need to take on most of the cost itself because the fundraising campaign is falling short."
With ethics rules preventing Corzine from opening his legendary rolodex, I'm very curious as to what he ultimately has planned to fix this debacle.
If you want BE-day minutae, you're in luck.
Mike Teel, Tiquan Underwood, Courtney Greene and Kevin Malast are here along with coach Greg Schiano, and they'll talk to reporters tomorrow along with representatives from the seven other teams in the Big East. Last night the conference kicked off the festivities with a clam bake in Fort Adams State Park, on property that was once owned by President Dwight Eisenhower. Ike, apparently, had some pretty nice summer dibs: a big but not mansion-sized house on a hill overlooking the Rhode Island Sound.
Earlier in the day, the conference held a golf scramble, and Greg Schiano was in the winning group, earning him a free set of irons.
Lenn Robbins, writing in the Post, makes the case for each BE program.
Ronnie Girault was released by the Chiefs.