Big East vs. WAC? A few numbers ...
As you can tell, I'm spending a decent amount of time on Twitter.com -- up to 465 followers, so I'll give a shoutout to No. 500 when I get there -- and I like that you can go to search.twitter.com and see what people are saying in real time about USF, or the Big East, or "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs."
So anyway, here's a tweet I read on Friday: "Other than 1
conference having 3 teams that should be in D2 and other being in NYC,
what's the difference between Big East and WAC Football?" Then a follow-up: "Combine the teams
from the past 5 years: West Virginia-Boise St, who you got? Fresno
State-USF? Hawaii-Louisville? Nevada-Rutgers?"
So I figured I'd do the research and see how the Big East and WAC compare. I used the past four years, since the Big East had different teams in 2004. I think the easiest criteria that the two conferences share would be nonconference games against BCS teams. Yes, the WAC probably has a higher percentage of those on the road than the Big East, but it should be a relevant statistic.
The Big East's record against other BCS conferences (and Notre Dame) since 2005? It's 38-39, including a 19-18 mark in the past two seasons. The WAC? In the same span, the WAC has a 13-62 record against BCS opponents, including a 7-30 mark in the past two years. So the Big East has fared nearly three times better against comparable competition.
How many Big East teams have a .500 record or better against other BCS league teams in that span? Five of the eight -- West Virginia is a stellar 10-2, Louisville 9-3, USF 5-5, Rutgers 4-4 and Connecticut 4-4. The rest are Pittsburgh at 3-6, Syracuse at 2-10 and Cincinnati at 1-5.
How many WAC teams have a .500 record against BCS opponents since 2005? Zero. Boise State, the league's best offering, is 3-4 against BCS teams. Fresno State is 4-8, including a great 4-3 record in the past two seasons. And Hawaii is 3-10, though its record was 0-4 in 2008. The rest of the league? Not so good: San Jose State is 1-7, Nevada 1-8, Louisiana Tech 1-9, Idaho 0-8, New Mexico State 0-4 and Utah 0-4.
And in the past two seasons, Fresno has more wins against the BCS (four) than the rest of the WAC combined -- the other teams are a combined 3-27. The WAC has done a good job of consistently putting a team in the top 10 late in the season, albeit against a lesser schedule than teams in BCS leagues. I don't know if that puts the league on par with any of the BCS conferences.
Probably won't have a post until Sunday, so I hope everyone has a good, safe 4th of July ...

Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
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