Big East Expansion: Air Force Is Better off Staying out of the Big East

Air Force is one of six non-AQ teams that is reportedly being invited to join the depleted Big East, along with fellow Mountain West member Boise State, Conference-USA members—Central Florida, Houston and SMU, along with Navy, who is currently an independent.

Although there is no word yet on whether or not the Falcons will make the move, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette (http://www.gazette.com/sports/names-128010-gen-thompson.html), those in charge of the decision are apparently leaning towards staying in the Mountain West.

Air Force has been a Mountain West member since the conference first began back in 1999, and to now pick up and move to a conference that is centered primarily in the eastern time zone would be a risky move, especially given all the turmoil that the Big East has endured over the last two months.

Since September, the Big East has lost three competing members—Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia—and one future member, TCU, to other BCS conferences, and the league is now down to just five football-member schools.

That’s why conference officials initially devised a strategy to invite some of the top non-AQ teams from around the country.

Still, you have to wonder if this is the right move at the right time for a program like Air Force.

Financially, the school would certainly receive a boost by joining a BCS conference, but if the Falcons finish 5-7 every year in the Big East and miss out on postseason bowl games, would the move really be worth it?

The Big East seems like dangerous territory right now, and it may not necessarily be a place the Falcons want to fly.

There is still an opportunity that the Mountain West and Conference-USA could merge, and if that happens, Air Force would be a much better fit in that type of conference than the Big East.

It should be interesting to see how all of the dominoes fall, and if the six-school strategy actually works for the Big East, but at this point, it’s still very much a conference that is on life support as it tries to find a cure for the realignment infection that came along and devastated the league.