Big East Future in Jeopardy With Possible Move of Missouri to SEC
With Texas A&M already slated to join the SEC next season, it is looking more likely that Missouri is getting ready to make a break and follow their Big 12 rival. This would not only leave the Big 12 with eight teams, but also open up the question of whether or not the Big East and Big 12 would combine to form a power conference.
The eight remaining members of the Big 12 would be Kansas, Kansas St, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Texas, Texas Tech, Iowa St and Baylor. This not only leaves openings for numerous teams, but also the possibility of the Big 12 and Big East combining to form a 12 or 16-team league.
If the combination took place, some of the likely candidates would include TCU who is scheduled to jump to the Big East next season, but is located in Big 12 territory. The other candidates that the Big 12 has deemed as the most likely to fill the open spots are Lousiville, Cincinnati and South Florida.
This would expand the conference back to 12 teams and reach a broader range of television markets, including as far east as Cincinnati and Tampa, Florida.
West Virginia would also be on the list, but if they jump to the SEC, that is where the Mountaineers will go. With the possibility of Missouri joining the SEC, adding West Virginia and one other school would give the conference 16-teams.
The two remaining schools, Connecticut and Rutgers could land in the ACC, or possibly the Big 10 for a team like Rutgers.
The remaining Big East basketball schools, would more than likely form their own all-basketball conference and add a few teams such as Butler, Dayton and Xavier.
While this is still a long way away, it is looking more and more likely with the recent jump of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC that the Big 12 and Big East will have to get together to keep their conference strong and stay at a level where they can compete with the big boys from the SEC, ACC and Big 10.
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