It’s been a crazy period in college sports with conference realignment – actually this time it’s a contraction – dominating the news.

The PAC-12 has been decimated, losing traditional powers UCLA and USC to the Big 10 and then seeing the bulk of the conference leave for the Big 12 in the last few weeks. Conference commissioners seem only focused on growing revenue and the size of their leagues and often disregarding long-time rivalries, fan enjoyment and student-athlete welfare.

It’s a new age, but then again these moves have been occurring for nearly 30 years. Mike Tranghese knows this all too well. As the long-time commissioner of the Big East he was the force behind growing that league to include football and then watched much of it disintegrate for the same reason. Tranghese sees what’s happening these days and is largely disgusted at “the damage being inflicted,” saying “the thing that scares me is I don’t think the general public cares,” he said on the 401 Podcast. “The Presidents don’t seem to care. They’ve allowed conferences to destroy other conferences and end relationships that have lasted for over 100 years.”

Tranghese shares strong opinions on what could be next, why the NCAA Tournament should not be touched and how today’s Big East is positioned in this current landscape.

“The Big East is stationed in a great place,” Tranghese said. “I’m not certain they need more schools – all that does is drive people down (the standings).

This is our 50th edition of the 401 Podcast! We’ve welcomed some great guests over the last several years and I need to thank producer Kevin Collins for all his great work. CLICK HERE for all of our previous episodes.

The 401 Podcast is brought to you by our friends at Haxton’s Liquors.

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