Big East Linkage is a news roundup feature on BECB. Feel free to send us any relevant links, stories or posts you think might be interesting to readers at bigeastcoastbias at gmail dot com.
It's not directly related to the Big East, but, former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe is now the offensive coordinator at LSU. Big East Coast Bias' own Pat Johnston wrote a very nice editorial wondering if Kragthorpe's failures at Louisville and elsewhere should concern LSU fans.
In the never ending saga over Big East expansion ahead of the new television contract in 2012, there are an increasingly large number of people begging to call for the Big East to expand not just to 10 football teams, but to 12. The latest to join the call is former East Carolina and current South Florida head coach Skip Holtz. Holtz said:
There's been a lot of talk about do you go from nine to 10, which I don't know how much sense that really makes, when the Big Ten left the model of 10, the Pac-10 has left the model of 10. Both of them more or less said 'This model doesn't work. Let's go to 12.' I think we have to look hard at it. Having TCU come into the league will add an awful lot of instant energy when you look at the success they've had right now as a program. It gives you a balanced schedule with four (home) and four (road). I think we need to look hard at going to 12.
Louisville was busy on the recruiting trail. The Cardinals landed a pair of football commitments from Miami, hosted four star quarterback Tyler Gabbert as he ponders where he will transfer, and landed a basketball transfer in George Mason forward Luke Hancock.
Connecticut will play with ten scholarship basketball players next season. They'll do so because the team's academic APR fell below the NCAA minimum.
It's the time of year where the preseason magazines start rankings teams. Athlon has counted town its top 27 and West Virginia checks in at the lone Big East team at #17. Meanwhile, everyone's favorite gambling guru Phil Steele has Pittsburgh at #27 in his preseason top 30.
With the NBA Draft order now set, the only Big East player projected to be taken in the first round is Connecticut's Kemba Walker.