According to Brian Bennett, the Big East blogger over at ESPN, this could be the beginning of the end for the Big East.
As I discussed extensively yesterday, there is a meeting this week in Washington, DC among Big 10 officials. (The actual meeting is for the Association of American Universities–the AAU… wait a minute… oh, never mind. I’m thinking of a DIFFERENT AAU.) Then, conveniently, there’s a BCS meeting next week (and yes, I’m referring to the correct BCS–the one everyone and their dog hates) in Phoenix, AZ. After that, the Big 10 coaches and athletic directors meet in Chicago, IL on May 17-19th. Wonder if we can get a candid of Rich Rodriguez and Jim Tressel having a beer together? There’s also a meeting with the Big 10 Presidents and Chancellors in early June. Man, so many meetings. Wonder if these guys get frequent flyer miles or at least discounted hotel rooms? Extensive expansion timeline also on ESPN.
Bennett thinks that Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse and UConn are targets; while WVU, South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville are nervous. I am going to be saying this until something actually happens–Big East: give East Carolina, Central Florida, Memphis and a few other schools in C-USA and lesser conferences a call and say, “step right up to the Big East!” Tell Georgetown and Villanova to step up their gridiron programs! 8 current Big East teams + the 5 schools I listed = 13 teams! Boom! Big East Football Championship game held every year at the new Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, similar to the Big East Basketball Championship being held every year at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I should run the Big East conference. But, the Big East Conference will sit idly by as the Big 10 prepares for College Sports domination.
If my “be smart and not lazy scenario” I just illustrated doesn’t happen, then either the Big East will be a 4-team conference in football (very unlikely) or the last 4 standing will go to different conferences. I see WVU & Louisville going to the SEC, Cincinnati going back to CUSA, and South Florida going to the ACC. I can also see the ACC scraping up the last 4 Big East teams. As much as ESPN’s beloved ACC makes me want to vomit, I would love to have a few cracks at Duke every year on the basketball court. The SEC, outside of Kentucky and possibly Florida, would be easy to dominate in basketball. In football, that’s a different story with Florida, Alabama, Georgia and LSU running the table. However, it helps that WVU is playing SEC schools once a season (Mississippi State, Auburn, and now LSU.) OK, I’ve rambled on too much on the conference shuffling topic.
I still say the Big 10’s best bet would be to give calls to Missouri and Notre Dame. 13 teams; there is their precious Conference Championship Game, and the Big East is left alone.
Stay tuned to HailWV.com for extensive (and I promise, it will be extensive) coverage of this ongoing story.
UPDATE: Our friends over at Spartan Avenue (that’s a Michigan State blog, for those of you going to school in Huntington, WV) have their Big 10 Conference expansion scenario laid out.