Big East Expansion: Floundering Conference Will Be Saved by Rumored Additions

With teams like West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh on the outs, the Big East looked to be in dire straits in terms of remaining an elite football conference.

That is likely to change thanks to some rumored high-profile additions to the conference.

According to Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com, the Big East is set to announce that Boise State, Houston, San Diego State, Central Florida and Southern Methodist will all join the conference beginning in 2013.

Both Boise State and Houston have developed into non-BCS powers over the past several seasons, so their additions should more than make up for whatever losses the Big East has incurred. From a geographic point of view, the new members make little sense. But in terms of rebuilding the Big East as a football conference, the move is a no-brainer.

It has become very apparent over the past few seasons that the Big East was the runt of the BCS litter. That has been exacerbated recently as Connecticut received a BCS bid last season and an underachieving West Virginia team got that honor this year.

The Big East still won't compare with the likes of the SEC and Big 12, but I believe that adding Boise State and Houston in particular will make the conference seem far more legitimate. It remains to be seen if the conference will maintain its automatic-qualifier status, but you have to believe that this move would be enough to make that happen.

San Diego State, Central Florida and SMU may all appear to be fodder in order to beef up the Big East's team count, but all three schools have had some success at the non-AQ level in recent years. A move to a more high-profile conference should only bode well for their recruiting clout and exposure as well.

Overall, this move seems to be an obvious one for the Big East, as well as for all the teams involved. It wasn't long ago that the Big East seemed like a conference that was ready to dissolve, but come 2013, it will have a new lease on life and will be very much on the road to recovery.