Hurricane Larry Scott has finally been reduced to a tropical depression and has stalled over the Midwest, leaving a trail of destruction for conferences with numbers in their name. The Big 12 now has ten teams. The Big Ten and the Pac-10 have twelve. Ironically, though, it was the conference that was expected to be decimated by re-alignment who ended up being unaffected.
Oh, yeah. The Big East lives on.
But could the smallest of the BCS conferences be flexing their own expansion muscles? Big East commissioner John Marinatto says no, and furthermore, he doesn’t want to talk about it. “We decided that we want to look at and study everything. And we try and do things in a quiet way behind the scenes,” said Marinatto during Big East Media Days in Newport, RI.
Whether there’s truth to the matter or not, Marinatto is shooting down expansion talks like Brett Favre and his “non-existent” text messages.
If the Big East were to add another member, the most prominent self-proclaimed candidate has been the University of Memphis. While Memphis was always in the discussion as a potential ninth member for the league, the school has never been seriously considered. That was, of course, until a report via kentuckysportsradio.com last Sunday stated that the university would receive a bid to join the Big East on Tuesday.
But Tuesday came and went with no bid to be had. The reason?
“You want to make sure you don’t penalize your other members by bringing in somebody that doesn’t add enough value to make it worthwhile,” said Marinatto.
What Marinatto is trying to say is… well, how can we put this politely? You see, you’re going to make the Big East… worse.
So, the Big East rolls on as an eight-team league with no plans of getting any bigger. But that doesn’t mean conference members aren’t being proactive. New West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck suggested that his school should take it upon itself to ensure a stable future. “Like any other university, you need to be smart and strategic, try to figure out, ‘If X, Y, and Z happen, what are the alternatives?’” mentioned Luck, a former quarterback for WVU and the Houston Oilers.
As of now, the Big East is standing tall. The question that looms, however, is how long will that last? They’ve survived one stormy off-season. How tall will they be standing next year?
Really Memphis? Thats nuts.. Has anyone from the Big East ever been their!! It would be the first conference expansion that actually down-graded the league.. The best part of that entire city, is driving out of it.. Why not UCF? Orlando is a fast growing city, has the tv market, and is firmly planted into the most fertile recruiting area in the country…
Two reasons to add Memphis:
1. Basketball
2. Fred Smith
Your right about the basketball, but the real money in the conference has to do with football.. It makes sense to raid three more markets, get a championship game (New York?), and go the distance…
Makes sense to me…it is what it is….
THE BIG “LEAST”
Next will be Middle Tennesse to make it 10 & add another mega “town” to this “up & coming conference—
Along with UCF, I think East Carolina Pirates would be a good addition. Then you give an ultimatim to Notre Dame: Join in football and bring Navy with you. ND would only have to add 3-4 games to play everyone in there division (Navy would be the fifth required) and they can keep all their other 8 slots free. ND might be forced to do it. This adds to the quality and viability of the league. You must be at 12 teams to not be pillaged by other confeerences.
He’s a boob. It’s a great rivalry game for Louisville, the basketball program would a bonus, can they be any worse than Syracuse and the $20 mil that Fedex has supposedly offered for their inclusion in a BCS conference would be a nice addition. If they want, they can reverse-ND and let them only play football and keep the rest of the sports in Conference USA (Dumb, I know but what the hell). What’s really stupid is the talk of elevating Villanova because it won’t make the conference any better, either.
Does it really matter football wise?
Nobody they add would keep the current teams in if a big-time conference came calling
Villanova won the FCS championship, and played Penn State pretty well on the road.
Why do I get the feeling this may have had more to do with not wanting to make the Big East a 36 team basketball conference, and again the subtraction by addition thing.
# Sean Martin says: August 5, 2010 4:08 PM ET
Villanova won the FCS championship, and played Penn State pretty well on the road.
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The last time that they played Penn State was 1951.
You’re right. I was thinking Temple.
# edgy says: August 5, 2010 5:08 PM ET
# Sean Martin says: August 5, 2010 4:08 PM ET
Villanova won the FCS championship, and played Penn State pretty well on the road.
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The last time that they played Penn State was 1951.
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And they knocked Penn State’s ass around the field while doing the Charleston.