Seven teams, and if Notre Dame went 11-1 and lost to USC by 75, they’d still make the four-team tournament in any season.

But Tranghese – to put it bloggily – totally pussed out here. There’s no way this thing was going to get done, but he and Dan Beebe had the opportunity to at least extend the conversation, but inexplicably (at least for those of us who aren’t super rich and soulless) chose not to.

A playoff is so obviously in the best interest of a league like the Big East (again, at least for those supporters of the conference who aren’t super rich and soulless). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if Louisville had beaten Rutgers and finished the ‘06 regular season 12-0, I sincerely believe there is no way they would have been allowed to play for the national championship. And somehow, I think that even that wouldn’t have been enough to give Tranghese the courage to stand against the even more rich and even more soulless powers that be.

It’s all just so frustrating.