Big East Football's Future: Are 10 or 11 Conference Games a Reality?

West Virginia AD Oliver Luck is not afraid to speak his mind.

When he realized Bill Stewart could never lead the Mountaineers to a championship, he crafted a plan to rid WVU of the Mouth of Morgantown.

Now he's talking about the future of the Big East, and what he's saying just may be what the conference needs to guarantee long-term success.

In a recent interview with MSNsportsNet.com, the athletic department's mouthpiece Luck spoke about WVU's future as well as the Big East's. While talking about the addition of TCU in 2012 and the possible addition of Villanova as a 10th conference team, the father of Stanford All-American Andrew Luck warned everyone that they shouldn't be surprised if Big East teams start playing 10- or 11-games in conference.

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves here. Luck did not say the Big East is expanding to 12 teams, but read between the lines, and you can see he has become a leader in the conference. Luck can do the math and see the value of having 12 teams and a conference championship game at the end of the regular season.

"Number one, football is crucial and is responsible for the bulk of our revenue. Number two, every team has a scheduling philosophy. For us, we want to have a high profile, attractive AQ non-conference opponent on our schedule," Luck said in the interview with MSNsportsNet.com's John Antonik.

So if WVU has just one non-conference game, who would the Mountaineers keep?

Marshall is a possibility, but this arrangement would give WVU the ammunition it needs to get out of this series. The most obvious choice would be to retain Maryland, a solid ACC team. WVU and the Terrapins renewed their rivalry in 2011, and the series has been a positive for both sides.

On the flip side, WVU fans have also enjoyed recent two-game series with Colorado, Auburn and LSU. The Mountaineers also have upcoming two-game stints with Florida State and Michigan State. Those games are great for season-ticket sales.

So does a 12-team Big East make sense? That depends on the make up.

Here's who we know will likely be in the conference by 2013 or 2014: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, TCU, Villanova and West Virginia.

Who will round out the conference if it goes to 12? Early favorites are well known names like Central Florida, Houston and East Carolina.

Does this solve the Big East's identity crisis? Too early to tell, but it would be a bold move for a league that hasn't been know for making those type of decisions.