Big East Expansion

The Big East Conference is finally looking to expand for football. This season the 8-team football conference is struggling and currently doesn't have a single ranked team. Teams that have had success in the past few years such as West Virginia, Cincinnati, USF and others have stuggled to get wins. Since losing Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, the conference has slowly lost its status of being a big time football conference. The conference has not had a team play in the National Championship since Miami was in the league and lost to Ohio State in 2002.

The conference needs not only to add a big time program but also needs to get bigger. Another possibility is to have a conference championship game. The Big East has shown interest in a few schools so far and the list is expected to grow. They said that they will look to add two teams to make a total of ten. Here's a look at possible candidates that could fill the need. The list is in order based on how much their addition would make sense.

• UCF - The Knights have been a strong contending team for the last few years and are currently ranked 23/25. They have produced NFL players and held their own against some of the stronger teams in the country. Right away UCF would make the Big East better. They would compete with any team in the league. Geographically it makes perfect sense. Right now USF is the lone southern team in the conference. Adding another Florida team would help USF to not feel so out of place and would also make the USF-UCF rivalry stronger.
• Villanova - Nova makes a lot of sense because they are already in the Big East for basketball and have been one of the best teams in it. Their football team isn't half bad either as they won the FCS Championship last season. Being in Philadelphia would help the Big East since it is such a large market. It may take a few seasons for Nova to establish themselves as a good FBS program, but it can be done. The Big East has already done this with UConn, taking a basketball powerhouse and turning it's football program from an FCS team to a contender in conference.
• Notre Dame - Adding the Irish would be a life saver for the Big East. ND has a rich history and a lot of success. They would be a perfect fit for the Big East. They are already in the conference for every other sport. However, Notre Dame has said repeatedly that they will remain independent. No matter how much it would make sense, the realism of this is slim. They have too many rivalries and a lot of money coming from the contract with NBC. If I'm the Big East I make a serious move and tell ND to join for football or remove them from the conference altogether.
• TCU - This would help the Big East the most at this time. TCU is currently 3rd in the BCS and is undefeated. They played in a BCS bowl last year and look as if they will be a National contender for years to come. The Big East needs someone like TCU. The Horned Frogs need the Big East as well, as the winner of the conference is guaranteed a BCS bowl spot. Geographically it makes no sense however. Texas is nowhere near the East and travel costs would be high. Also the school wants all olympic sports to also join the conference and the Big East has said that they do not want to add on to it's 16 teams for basketball.
• Temple - The Owls were in the Big East for football not too long ago. Then their football program was not very strong. Now the program has totally turned around under head coach Al Golden. They dominated the MAC last year and are doing it again this year. They also beat UConn this season and nearly upset Penn State on the road. They play at Lincoln Financial Field and again play in the large market of Philadelphia. Temple would be fine with being a football-only school as it's other sports are in the A-10.
• Houston - It seems as though Houston is a back up plan for TCU. Again geographically they are not a fit. However the Big East may be more focused on getting better than staying closer to the East. Houston has had a solid program the last few years and would benefit greatly from moving to a stronger conference.
• Memphis - The Big East has already taken teams from Conference USA when Louisville, Cincinnati and USF joined and it has paid off. With the exception of this season, Memphis has had a good football team. They attract solid recruits and they would reestablish rivalries with the former C-USA teams.
• East Carolina - Staying in C-USA, why not take the team that won the conference the past two seasons. ECU has wanted to join the FCS and their resume is very good. In recent years they have shown that they can beat ranked teams and just this year beat NC State. However they do not have the market that the conference is looking for.

These teams make sense for different reasons. Only two will be taken and the conference is looking to get better so it may want a team that will give them more credibility right away. That is where TCU makes sense. It would give the Big East much more credibility as well as help themselves by joining an automatic BCS qualifying conference. The big question is whether the Big East would expand all the way out to Texas to add the Horned Frogs or Cougars of Houston. Another question is whether the Big East would allow the schools other sports teams to join the league.

In the end I think that UCF and Villanova will be the two teams that join. They make the most sense all in all. UCF has been begging for the opportunity to join a BCS conference and Villanova is already a powerhouse of the Big East in basketball. There definitely is a chance for TCU to join still. The Big East needs TCU and they need the Big East. Whether they can get over the issue of location and letting their other sports teams join may decide it.