Big East Expansion: Conference Will Be Stronger Than It Was Before

With the announcement of the Big East's expansion coming as soon as tomorrow, the conference is silently singing high praises.

A meeting between the five remaining football schools was held in New York City this past week and the dwindling group might have finally picked up the needed weapons in making the Big East a fighting force once again. The additions will include Conference USA's Houston, SMU and UCF in all sports along with western programs Boise State and San Diego State merging as football schools only.

The expansion won't be physical until the start up of the 2013 season—a similar time of departure for Syracuse, Pittsburgh, TCU and West Virginia.

Even though the Big East has lost major programs, they have also gained huge media markets and upcoming athletic programs in the process.

SMU and Houston carry a star-studded state to the helm when it comes to recruiting high school athletes. The C-USA programs also rank No. 5 and No. 10 in the Nielsen Media Research which measures media output and audience rating. The University of Central Florida towers as the second largest school in the nation and also ranks No. 19 on the Nielsen Media Research list.  

Media and public relations aside, the future Big East pieces will be major players in the conference. Boise State continues to prove its football worth by landing in the BCS Top 10 four out of the past six seasons, while Houston and UCF continue to man the pack as leaders in future football.

There are a lot of moving parts, causing impatience and frustration for many of the school's athletic programs, but the monopolizing prowess of the BCS leaves many teams as the last man picked.

The Big East doesn't want to be left out and schools like Boise State, UCF and Houston don't want to be picked last. Time can only tell if these schools can reclaim football glory for the Big East, but the potential is there.

They may be the leftovers, but no one ever said it was wrong to enjoy last night's meal.