Big East Possibly on Tail End of Expansion

As a Mountaineer fan first and foremost, I thought my first article should be on the team closest to me in proximity and my fan loyalty.

After the dust has settled from the recent conference expansions and contractions, a report came out that the Big East was looking to add the University of Central Florida and the University of Memphis to the now eight-member league.

The additions of the those two universities would make an impact on the chatter about the Big East not being worthy of an automatic bid into the BCS and one of the four major post season bowl games.

But as soon as the report was released, the Big East was quick to deny any such expansion of the league.

The leaders, I feel like, did the right thing by not letting the story gain any traction before what could be the second wave of conference shuffling this summer.

The University of Colorado started the first wave of change by shifting their athletic program to the Pac-10 along with Utah from the Mountain West Conference. The biggest move in my mind was the University of Nebraska joining the ranks of the Big 10 a day after their former Big 12 member Colorado. The BCS-busting Boise State University moved from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West just last week.

If the Big East were to jump into the expansion game, they will have to pick their new invitees carefully so there will be no major blow to them like in 2005 when the Atlantic Coast Conference added Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College.

UCF and Memphis would be good additions, if the report is true, but with an eight-member football league and 16-team basketball league, some changes would have to be made to keep the harmony between the top college sports.

There has been talk of expanding the league with East Carolina wanting to join the Big East as they currently reside in Conference USA. The Pirates have won their conference title the last two years and have rapidly improved their athletic program by leaps and bounds including increasing the size of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and a budding rivalry with West Virginia in recent years.

Another team that would make good sense by joining the league would be the Naval Academy. The Midshipmen have made drastic improvements to their athletic program by making bowl games every year since 2003. The close proximity to other league members would make new rivalries grow quickly if they were to accept an invite. Navy would have to give up their independence in college football though unlike Notre Dame, they wouldn’t have such a difficult time deciding from outside sources like the Irish have to deal with in joining a conference.

A very off-the-wall suggestion would be the Big East turning the tables and raiding the ACC of some of their members. The Maryland Terrapins from the Atlantic Coast Conference would be a very nice addition since they were talked about being picked up by the Big 10. The Terrapins would have natural rivalries with West Virginia and Pittsburgh if they were to jump ship. Another ACC member that would fit into the revamped Big East would a former member in Boston College who since leaving early this decade has been a geographical oddity in the ACC.

The Eagles would feel like the old days being able to play old rivalries in more geographically located programs.

Although bringing in teams is all the rage, the Big East should think about letting their non-football schools as in DePaul, Marquette, and Providence to lack luster performance in recent basketball seasons.

The Big East could be stronger by removing multiple bottom feeders and adding stronger programs of the likes of what I said to rebuild the both sides of the Big East. With the inclusion of stronger teams, the threat of the potential Big 10 take-out order of the current teams would be postponed a little longer than the death sentence that has been received in recent months.