Memphis Hires Former Big East Commish To Advise On BCS Move

Univ. Of Memphis Has Given Tranghese Six-Month Contract, $5,000 Per Month

The Univ. of Memphis (UM) has hired former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese as a consultant to assist UM's athletic department in its "efforts to gain membership" in a BCS conference, according to Phil Stukenborg of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Tranghese left the Big East at the end of June after 30 years with the conference, including the last 19 as commissioner. UM AD R.C. Johnson said that Tranghese was hired August 1 and is "being paid $5,000 per month from private donated funds." Tranghese was "given a six-month contract, which can be renewed." Tranghese said that he was "approached by several other schools to do consultant work, but he turned down the offers because they weren't 'something I was terribly interested in.'" Stukenborg notes UM has been a member of Conference USA since the league's inception in '95, and UM has "longed to take that next step and earn an invitation to a BCS conference." Tranghese said Johnson told him to "come and take a look at our program and evaluate it and tell us where you think we are, what we have, how we can improve." Tranghese: "R.C. and I have agreed upon that Memphis needs to be as good as it can possibly be in anticipation of things that might occur down the road, whether that's six months, two years, five years or eight years." FedEx CEO & Founder Frederick Smith, a longtime UM supporter, suggested that the Big East "may be poised to expand in football by at least one" school (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 9/16).

STEPPING UP TO THE BIG TIME: In Memphis, Geoff Calkins writes if Johnson "can get Memphis into a BCS conference with Tranghese's help, I forgive him everything." UM has "now done something that's smart and aggressive," and "let's hope it's the start of a trend." Calkins: "There's nothing that's more important to the future of the Memphis athletic program than figuring out a way to join a BCS conference. Some of us have been screaming that for years" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 9/16).