Navy Football: Midshipmen Announce Plan to Join Big East in 2015

The Big East continues to get bigger, assuring that they stay BCS-eligible after a series of programs left the conference. The Navy Midshipmen are reportedly set to join the Big East by 2015. 

USA Today reports Navy and the Big East announced the two would come together for football only starting in 2015—the academy could not join earlier because of scheduling commitments—and a television agreement Navy has with CBS. 

What This Means

The times, they are changing. Navy has played as an Independent since 1879, so you can imagine just how revolutionary this decision has been. 

As the USA Today report assumes, the move to the Big East should not disrupt Navy's relationship and scheduling with other service programs like Army, nor should it affect any future games with Notre Dame. 

This is also goes a long way to ensure that the conference remains stable amidst dramatic turnover. The Big East is set to lose Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC and West Virginia to the Big 12. They will take an addition of talent anywhere they can get it at this point. 

What's Next?

The Big East is finally living up to their namesake as Boise State, Houston, SMU, Central Florida and San Diego State are set to join. 

By 2015, Navy will join, making 11 viable football programs. There is hope that the conference can secure another program by that time. That would allow them to have a conference championship game and really assert themselves as a fully-functioning conference. 

The report's most important piece of information is the exit fee. With Navy joining, the fee to exit the Big East goes from $5 million to $10 million. That makes the conference all the more stable, as it would take a mammoth financial hit to leave. 

With yet another football team coming in, it seems almost ridiculous that we once considered the death of a Big East ship that was quickly taking on water. 

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