You can make a strong argument that the Big East is the weakest of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences, and you would probably win the argument 99 percent of the time. You can also make the argument that if not for Tranghese's work, there may be no Big East at all.

When the Big East was formed in 1979, there was no football and the league sported just seven schools -- Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College -- competing in basketball. The league has since grown into a 16-team mega power in basketball and a very respectable eight-team league in football. The league now has 16 fulltime members and one associate (17 in all). Loyola College in Maryland is a member in women's lacrosse. Just about all the success the league has enjoyed over the last 25-plus years has been the result of Tranghese's work.

The loss of Miami and Virginia Tech in 2004 and Boston College in 2005 were big hits to the legitimacy of the conference, but the Big East has maintained its status of a BCS-caliber conference with the additions of Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida. Both the Hokies (No. 9) and Eagles (No. 10) were ranked in the final Top 25 poll at the end of last season, but so were recent Big East top dog West Virginia (No. 6) and Cincinnati (No. 17). After my Pitt Panthers were dismantled 35-7 by Utah in the Fiesta Bowl in 2005, it looked as though the Big East may soon lose its automatic BCS bid. However, with Tranghese at the helm, the additions of Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida in 2005 helped bring the conference back into the BCS mix.

Many college football fans will remember the exciting November and December stretch of games between West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers back in 2006. One of the major reasons why people will remember those games is that they were all nationally televised on ESPN. The conference has Tranghese to thank for so much national exposure the past couple years. In 2006, the conference announced it had reached a new six-year deal with ESPN to televise its games, a contract now running through the 2012-13 season.

The conference has had only 2 commissioners in its nearly 30-year history -- Dave Gavitt and Tranghese. The conference continues to be on the rise and whoever takes over Tranghese's reign will have big shoes to fill, but this is one Big East fan optimistic the league is in good shape for years to come.