Looking for reasons why our football program is in shambles? How bout the fact that our athletic director still thinks he's living in 2002? "If we were Syracuse and we were in the Pac-10 for the next few years, I would say, 'How do you dethrone SC?' In the Big Ten, I'd say, 'How do you dethrone Ohio State and Michigan?' In the SEC, anybody can win it; it's just a strong conference. The ACC has Florida State and Miami."
For the record, that's a two-loss USC who's a Dennis Dixon injury away from not winning the Pac-10 this year. And a Michigan who lost to Appalachian State. As for Florida State and Miami, they had a combined record of 12-12 this season.And from the "quit while you're ahead" department, Gross adds...
"Then you look at the Big East and you say, 'Hey, I've got a chance here.' You can make a case for Louisville, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, us. We want to be the one to carry the flag for this conference. It's important for us, in our vision, that we are the premier team in this conference."
Is Gross implying that Rutgers, South Florida and Cincinnati, all of whom will be playing in bowls this season, are not on the elite level that Pittsburgh and Syracuse are currently on? Or has he just not checked the standings since Greg Robinson took over? Probably for the best.(Ed Note: Apparently those quotes literally are from four years ago. So score one round for Gross and for reading clearly. My bagels.)