I love message board chatter, especially when it's coming from a Big East message boards. Shortly after Navy's 41-17 shellacking of UConn yesterday, the Big East message boards erupted in debate about how bad UConn is, which inevitably led to some discussion of how good Navy really is. So far, the results are mixed.

Needless to say, the UConn fans are going crazy. For the most part though, a lot of the fans are writing doomsday scenarios on their own team and giving the Mids comparatively little credit. One fan called Navy a "not an all that good team," which I guess would make UConn a "God awful" or "Dude were horrible" team. Many are maintaining it was UConn's own defensive inconsistency, as opposed to Navy's offensive execution, was the deciding factor in the game. Amazingly, the issue of Navy's "easy" schedule came up again. Many a UConn fan maintained Navy's success comes only at the hands of weak Div I-A programs. Ironically, I guess we can now consider UConn one of these teams.

Rutgers fans don't exactly know what to make of the romp, although right now are leaning more to the side of "UConn is just that bad." One fan was adamant that the Navy triple option, which torched UConn for over 600 yards, wouldn't work because Rutgers recruits kids from New York. I kid you not, here is the logic of a Mr. NewRo:

I'm 100% confident the Navy option won't work vs us. The reason for this you ask? Well its because of Courtney Greene. This is a guy who played in southern New York. Where every team runs the same damn triple option that Navy runs. If we have Court play pitch like in high school. All the rest of the D has to play is fullback and the QB. Courtney will light up any wingback that they try to pitch it too. Its what he does.

Ok, welcome to college football Mr. Ro, where the game works a tad bit faster then what you see from your local pimply faced 15 year olds. Nevertheless, several Rutgers fans have expressed concerns over Navy's option, insisting that if the Scarlet Knights overlook the Mids, they will pay the price.

Meanwhile, the West Virginia fans seem to think the Mids deserve the Tire Bowl, and in general, took the UConn lose pretty well. Considering that WVU isn't exactly in position to finish third in the Big East ,(at least not at this point) this isn't exactly a surprise, but it's good to see the team getting some recognition, especially from fans of the fourth ranked team in the country.

Lastly, and most importantly, we can safely say "no" once again to any idea that Navy will join the Big East. Some BE fans (and I don't blame 'em) think that Navy would be a perfect ninth member for the conference, but the reality is the Academy is in a great situation with it's Independent Status. I'd take an 8-4 season with a Bowl game over a 6-6 season and a middle-of-the-pack finish any year.