Conference Realignment: Big East Knew What It Was Getting into with TCU

If you date a woman that is way hotter than you, you are asking for trouble. The Big East started dating TCU, and that is where the conference made a mistake. 

At some point, you would have thought that the Mountain West or WAC would have sat the Big East down and given it a good talking to. "What are you doing, Big East? You know TCU is just going to hurt you."

ESPN reports the Big East is in full depression mode as TCU readies to leave the conference for the Big 12—that much more attractive conference everyone is talking about. 

If they do leave, the Horned Frogs will be hit with an exit fee of at least $5 million. That would be the equivalent of the season of Entourage you can never get back from the girl you broke up with. 

All of this is to say that the Big East knew what they were getting into when they accepted TCU into their conference. It was a pure you scratch my back moment. 

Both the conference and the program needed something from one another. The Big East needed another program for their small conference, and TCU was a budding name they could flaunt as they claim big boy status. TCU needed a bigger conference as they continued to establish themselves on the national stage. There was always the feeling that they would leave the Big East if another, even bigger conference, came a calling. 

TCU was never a long-term answer. It couldn't have been. This is a school that has eyes on BCS Bowl bids every season. With a tougher conference, the chance to move up as a prominent program escalates. 

The Big East's only mistake was batting above their weight. The Big 12 has looked to schools with aspirations to be better than they are, proving they can make it in the Big 12. The Big East was instead taking a school that was settling for inclusion in a BCS conference. 

Take a look in the mirror. Are you a 10, a seven or a five? That will answer who you should target on your next date or bar tryst. It is also a good rule of thumb to a conference looking to expand. Sorry Big East, you just aren't a 10.