Big East Expansion: Questions Abound as TCU Appears Headed for Big 12
News broke yesterday that TCU has received an offer to join the Big 12. That is a big blow to the Big East who has now lost three teams in the last month after the departure of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC.
While TCU has not officially accepted the invitation, they are expected to do so shortly. This will leave the Big East with only six football schools and they now find themselves scrambling to find additional members.
Near the top of the list at this point are East Carolina and Central Florida. The Big East would also like to add Air Force and Navy, but the loss of TCU may scare those two schools away.
The problems are not likely to end for the Big East as Louisville and West Virginia are favorites for expansion to other conferences.
An emergency conference call is taking place today between the Big East big wigs and something must happen soon to help stabilize a conference crumbling fast.
Losing Pittsburgh and Syracuse was much more of a blow for basketball than football. The Panthers and Orange were two of the top basketball programs. They have not been as successful in football, only combining for a share of a conference title in the past five years.
The departure of TCU hurts immensely on the football field. They would have instantly been a contender to win the Big East every season.
If the Big East does not begin to pull itself together in the next couple of weeks, it could find Louisville, West Virginia and maybe others jumping ship.
One interesting possibility if Missouri moves to the ACC is combining the football schools of the conference with the Big 12. The Big 12 would only have 11 teams with the loss of Missouri. BYU looks like they will not end up in the conference. Adding five teams from the Big East (Louisville, West Virginia, Cincinnati, South Florida and Connecticut) would make a 16-team power conference.
That would leave Rutgers as the only remaining team. The Scarlet Knights could be a favorite to join the Big Ten if they expand.
While this is only a thought, the possibility of a 16-team conference with the power in both football and basketball could make the new Big 12 the most dominant conference in sports.
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