A Pity for Penn State: The Big East Blunder

Penn State suffers from the some of the same ills which plagued programs like Syracuse and Pitt.  Albeit the Nits are stronger then those two old rivals.

Instead of invading Big Ten recruiting crowns and stealing stars, Pennsylvania and surrounding Big East states have been raided by Michigan and Ohio State.

Think Terrelle Pryor and Chad Henne.

Penn State can't compete in the trenches, particularly the offensive line, with the very best of the Big Ten.

Joe Paterno will tell you recruiting is harder.  Much, much harder than it was not so long ago.

Not only does the much improved, wide open MAC conference draw players away from the traditional Eastern football powers, but the emerging Florida schools, South and Central Florida, have tapped out Eastern recruiting in the Sunshine State.

Florida State and the Miami Hurricanes, both in decline, feel the heat from the new cross-state competition also.

Rutgers began to keep players in Jersey.  UConn and Boston College kept New England players home.  

Strong, exciting programs in West Virginia and Virginia Tech brought in talent.

Penn State, Pitt, and Syracuse, meanwhile faced a future drawing players from a state in decline.

Pennsylvania, once a talent base unrivaled for high school players, fell victim to a cruel demographic decline.  Industry fled, the population aged, and the young people flocked from the depressed state in droves.

The state that produced a string of legendary quarterbacks—Unitas, Montana, Marino, Lujack, Blanda, Kelly, and Namath—and piles of tough linemen was in serious decline.

The western Pennsylvania steel mills downsized or disappeared.  Manufacturing fled all parts of the Keystone State.

Rust Belt road routed east.  And many folks, unable to find jobs, grabbed a one-way ticket out.

Players like Biletnikoff, Ditka, Bednariak, Munchak, Ham, Capellettii, and Dorsett just weren't available anymore.  The talent base had thinned due to outside forces, and the thinner player base had more programs trying to grab them.

So the former Eastern power programs Penn State, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse declined.

But one wonders—what if Penn State could have worked it out with the Big East?

The Nits would certainly have an easier path to the BCS, and might even be stronger by perhaps keeping Big Ten recruiters out of Big East recruiting grounds.

The fans would enjoy the games more, playing local rivals instead of far-flung Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota.  Driving to away games used to be a fun thing for many Penn State fans.

Other Penn State sports programs would not be flying around the country constantly to compete.

But for football, how does this sound if Eastern football didn't splinter so?

Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami, Rutgers, UConn, and Louisville.

Or add South Florida, Cincinnati, Army, and Navy, divide them in two, and play a lucrative championship game.

The Big East Fourteen would have fun.

And a pretty damn good fourteen at that.

Penn State belongs battling the beasts of the East.

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