Big East Expansion

Piotr, let's wait and see if this actually happens. TCU to the Big 12 and shrinking makes sense, but the Biiiig East might collapse of its own weight before coming into existence.

 

This thing could really backfire on Boise and SDSU if this New York Daily News story is true (and Dick Weiss has always been a very reputable source). Stuck in the Big East, alienated from the biggest western conference that will have you, and perhaps with no more AQ spot for the Big Weast:

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/weiss/2011/11/reports-bcs-could-eliminate-automatic-qualifying-status-for-the-six-major-conferences

If the Mountain West adds Utah State and SJSU:

Wyoming
Colorado State
Fresno State
San Jose State
Utah State
New Mexico
UNLV
Air Force
Nevada
Hawaii

That's a decent sub-AQ football conference, the MAC of the west, and a competitive hoops conference (Hawaii will be in the Big West in all sports except football). They could play a complete round-robin and fill the three non-conference schedule e with WAC teams for the home games and Pac-12 opponents for decent road paydays with easy regional travel, and even some 2x1s with the bottom half of the Pac-12.

 

More grist for the antitrust suit.

 

I still don't understand how NJIT can afford to play in a conference where they have to fly to North Dakota.

 

Student fees.

 

The Big East makes absolutely no sense here - I don't even think adding Boise makes sense.

The league could have put together a better collection of teams in terms of what fits and works.

 

All that matters is cable deals and keeping a BCS bid.

It doesn't matter if no one watches SDSU, as long as the Big East can say it has games on the cable systems in Southern California and gets a cut.

 

If Boise State is doing this just for the AQ bid, they're dumber than I thought.

No guarantee that's even going to be there by the time the Broncos join this potpourri of a football conference.

 

Yeah, when I think of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, I think of the Atlantic Coast.

 

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

 

Isn't the bid contractually there until 2014? If the BCS tries to pull the bid after that, that's when the court and Congressional fun will begin in earnest

 

Air Force staying in the MWC.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-bigeast-airforce