Big East Expansion: What Would Adding BYU Mean for the Conference?

BYU has officially been invited to join the Big East only for football, and according to reports, the Cougars are seriously contemplating joining.

Joining the Big East, which is now down to just five football-member schools—Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida—would be a bit of a risky move, given the instability of the league right now, but it’s definitely something that BYU, which is in its first year of independence, has to consider.

The Big East has already reportedly invited six non-AQ schools—Air Force, Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Navy and SMU—to join the depleted league.

If those six schools and BYU all joined, that would give the Big East a nice, even 12 teams, and it would allow the conference to split into two divisions and possibly even have a championship game.

The question is, though, if the Big East adds BYU, Boise State and the rest of the non-AQ crew, would that be enough to save the conference’s BCS bowl bid?

It remains to be seen, but it would certainly be a big boost to a conference that’s lost four prominent programs—Pittsburgh, Syracuse, TCU (which was never actually a competing member) and West Virginia—over the last two months.

The Big East has been forced into a drastic strategy that may or may not pay off, however, it would be interesting to see all of these teams come together and form college football’s first ever national conference.

Would it have the depth and the strength of power conferences like the SEC, Big 12 or Big Ten?

Certainly not, but if the Big East can snag all seven teams, it will probably be enough to save the conference’s automatic BCS bowl bid.

More importantly, it would save the conference from having to turn into a basketball league.

If BYU does decide to join the Big East, it would definitely add some legitimacy to the league, and it might be enough to entice the other six schools to make the move as well.

BYU is only the first domino in the Big East’s westward expansion plan, but right now, the Cougars’ decision looks like it will have a big effect on the conference’s future.

If BYU joins, then the other six dominoes could all fall in the Big East’s favor.