Conference Realignment: Will Big East Be Left out of Super-Conference Theory?

Conference expansion in NCAA sports is an inevitable truth, so the sooner that the "lesser conferences" get on board, the easier it will be for them in the end.

What precisely is the end you ask?

That's the problem with this whole equation. Nobody really knows what the end is for certain. The one thing we do know is that the landscape of college sports is significantly changing.

Conferences like the Pac-12, Big Ten and SEC are starting to expand, and there is not much the smaller conferences can do about it.

In the past year or two we've seen significant changes within the conferences; most notable was Nebraska moving away from the Big 12 and into the Big Ten, and recently Texas A&M also leaving Big 12 country for the bright lights and hype of the SEC.

Nobody knows what the end game is, but a rather appealing and accepted theory is starting to emerge from the ashes.

Jay Bilas of ESPN writes about this theory in his ESPN Insider blog. He only thinks four conferences will be left standing. The Big 12 is already starting to crumble, and Bilas believes the Big East will be next:

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Change makes a lot of people really nervous, but fans of college athletics are getting a crash course in how to cope with it. And the latest round of conference realignment is just part of the inevitable move to four superconferences that will total around 64 teams and control all of big-money football and basketball.

As of now, we still have the "big six" conferences, which all get automatic bids to BCS bowls, and they are the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12. Of course, in the superconference world, it seems likely only four of these leagues will continue to exist. And when we break things down conference by conference, it becomes clear that the Big East's days are numbered.

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For those who are still holding on to hope that conferences like the Big 12 and Big East will exist in this super-conference era, it may be time to start slowly letting go.

Unfortunately, the truth of college sports is that it is a business, and when all is said and done the big conferences are going to get the money. Conferences like the Big 12 and the Big East are going to start getting picked off.

Their high-profile schools are going to be recruited to join one of the super-conferences. There, they will get TV coverage and high profile-games, which also means high-profile checks.

The Big East doesn't have what it takes to bring in those kinds of programs, especially when football is the dominant source of revenue in college sports.

Here are Bilas' final thoughts on the matter:

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The Big East may very well survive this inevitable change, but it will survive as a lesser league, not as a major power player in the future of big-time college football and basketball. The Big East never really fit together like other conferences, and conference realignment has been coming for a long time. The Big East just wasn't built to deal with it as well as other leagues were. Sadly, it appears likely that the Big East as we have come to know it is simply gone.

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Nobody knows how all of this will end, and there is a possibility that the Big 12 and Big East can somehow find ways to attract enough high-profile programs to their conferences to remain relevant in the new landscape.

That possibility is starting to look very slim though, especially with the changes coming faster and bolder as the weeks go on.

Will the Big East be left out when all is said done?

To be honest I have no clue, but with the way things are looking right now, I wouldn't be surprised.