Conference Realignment: How Much Longer Will Big East Football Last?

Last night I found myself having a tough time deciding whether to watch the Big East showdown between Pittsburgh and South Florida and a rerun of "How I Met Your Mother."

I also found it a little concerning that it was so easy to pick the latter.

Sure, Neil Patrick Harris is damn funny, but this was a good Big East opener that featured an exciting Pitt team that had just taken Notre Dame down to the wire and a No. 16 undefeated South Florida team.

What wasn't to like?

OK, fine, so they aren't the most exciting teams in the nation with the most exciting players. But this was a Thursday night game with no other sports going on.

South Florida running back Darrell Scott might be the best running back you've never heard of. Might as well take a look, right?

Wrong.

Even when it was still close in the third quarter and it appeared it might head for a close finish, I couldn't force myself to stay on the channel.

Is this the future of Big East football? Do they really have the excitement or must-see factors to attract viewers?

Unfortunately, besides students, alums and in-staters, I don't think a whole lot of people care about Big East Football right now—it's still a super conference for basketball, don't worry.

Now with the loss of Pittsburgh and Syracuse—and the addition of TCU next year—the Big East is down to seven teams.

And the former Mountain West powerhouse Horned Frogs might just be the best of the bunch.

The supposed favorites in the conference have now been embarrassed two straight weeks. Last week it was West Virginia at the hands of LSU, and now South Florida. 

Does this conference really have any great teams? The conference's best win is South Florida barely holding on against Notre Dame. Other than that, there's not much. Is everyone just going to beat up on each other?

Probably. Not much excitement in that.

For the time being, no more schools are changing conferences but you have to wonder how long that will last.

If schools are serious about their football programs and don't have a highly successful basketball program to lean on, can you really stay in the Big East?

Schools like South Florida and even TCU probably can't stay there for long. Big East football just isn't good enough. It isn't exciting enough. It's not going to draw TV contracts like the mega-conferences will and it won't pull in enough money for certain programs.

Big East football is on the way down and there's no cure in sight.