Big East looking at football expansion
The Big East conference presidents met on Tuesday 2 November and agreed that adding two new teams to the football conference would be in their best interests.
The Big East is currently the smallest conference in college football with only eight teams, and the presidents believe that adding two more teams would help to build the brand as well as develop the level of competition.
“Today, our Board of Directors affirmed a set of key strategic initiatives, including expansion, designed to enhance membership stability and maximize our value,” said Big East commissioner John Marinatto.
The conference refused to comment any further on their future plans of expansion and on who they are considering to join the conference.
Nevertheless, early reports indicate that there are several teams under consideration. The most likely new member is the Villanova Wildcats, who are members of the conference in basketball and are currently sitting third in the Football Championship Series
coaches poll. Other teams who have mentioned they are interested in moving up are the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who have been the class of the FCS for the past three seasons, and the Delaware Blue Hens, both of which are in perfect proximity to current
Big East members.
The conference is also looking at adding teams that are already part of the Bowl Championship Series. The Temple Owls have been mentioned and they are currently leading the Mid-American conference, while the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and Memphis Tigers
have also had their names thrown around. However, neither Memphis nor Middle Tennessee is experiencing as much success as Temple.
Perhaps the most interesting reports have the Big East expanding west to include the TCU Horn Frogs and the Houston Cougars. Both TCU and Houston may welcome a move, as their success is often downplayed because of their affiliation with the Mountain West
and C-USA conferences respectively.
Regardless of the additions it should help to reinvigorate a Big East conference, which has lost some of its prestige in recent seasons.
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