Well, this will cause some tremors in college sports over the next couple of years. Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese has announced that he will retire in June 2009."I am stepping down at this point because I believe it is the right time," added Tranghese. "The Conference is in great shape and it will give my successor the best opportunity to be successful."Tranghese will have been the Big East Commissioner for 19 years when he steps down. He was the first employee of the Big East conference, the second Big East commissioner.
He was also the force that managed to keep the conference intact and a full member of the BCS after Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech left for the ACC. He prevented the conference from splitting into two conferences -- football schools and basketball schools -- by refusing to choose one over the other.
The football schools needed him because he had the connections and relationships with the other conferences and their commissioners to stay in the BCS. His expansion of the conference into 8 basketball schools (this includes Notre Dame) and 8 football schools. Has surprisingly worked to this point.
