Two months ago, football fans around the country debated whether the Big East would disappear with the seemingly inevitable creation of the "super-conferences."
But even if the Big East did survive in name, after only a week into the NCAA football season, the once-giant conference looks like a ghost of its former self.
In total, the conference suffered four losses on an opening weekend full of games more often decided in the first quarter than in the fourth. The four defeats equaled those suffered by the ACC, Big 12 and Big 10 combined.
Even the conference's four victories, three of which came against Football Championship Subdivision teams, only generated more questions about the teams involved.
The season got underway Thursday night, and immediately, Rutgers limped out of the gate. The offensive line was unable to dominate a clearly inferior Norfolk State side; the Scarlet Knights were lucky to go into the locker rooms at halftime with a 6-0 lead.
Quarterback Tom Savage, once expected to lead the team to postseason glory, managed an anemic 148 yards passing, leaving fans wondering what the offense could do against an actual Division I defense.
But no one in the conference looked as bad as No. 15 Pittsburgh did later that night.
The Panthers this year had their highest pre-season ranking in school history and the inside track to a BCS bowl game as they traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the always dangerous Utah Utes. But Pittsburgh found itself on its heels from the start and needed to rely on a series of miscues by Utah to erase an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit and send the game to overtime. Even then, the Panthers could not close out the game, as an interception thrown by sophomore quarterback Tino Sunseri on the first play of overtime sealed the team's dismal fate.
On Saturday, the Big East looked even less big. Louisville lost at home to cross-state rival Kentucky for the fourth straight year after falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter, while Connecticut and Cincinnati added to the wreckage with losses against non-conference foes Michigan and Fresno State.
West Virginia, South Florida and Syracuse all managed victories, but none were too impressive. Even the Big East's biggest winner last weekend — South Florida, which thumped Stony Brook 59-14 — ended the first quarter embarrassingly tied at 14 points apiece.
So what wrong with the Big East?
Since the departure of Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech in 2003, the conference has not returned to the national championship.
This lack of prestige presents challenges to recruiters. The Big 10, led by Penn State, is encroaching on potential recruits from the east, while the ACC is coming up from the south.
The conference has also been incapable of holding on to top coaches. Bobby Petrino's leap to the NFL from Louisville in 2007 led to the collapse of that program, and now the departure of Brian Kelly has left Cincinnati in a similar situation.
Perhaps the Big East needs to be revamped from the ground up and take on the form of a mid-major instead of continuing to be portrayed as one of the nation's powerhouses.
While many top schools would more likely face a high school team than play on the road on opening weekend, two Big East squads traveled all the way to the West Coast this weekend and another two battled historic powerhouses on the road — a tough slate typical of teams from conferences like the WAC and MWC.
Ultimately, it may take the Big East swallowing some of its big ego to save itself from disbanding.
