Big East Expansion?

• Con_Alma

  I sure hope this isn't an option for Navy. They just don't seem to be right for each other.
  
  http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/20253/army-navy-expansion-options-for-big-east
  
  "...He quotes an unnamed college football industry insider who says the Big East could add Army and Navy on its way to growing to 12 teams.
  
  "I believe the league will approach the academies first and if they turn the Big East down, then they'll approach the other candidates," the source is quoted as saying. "There are a lot of hurdles to overcome. The Big East would have to convince them that's where they want to be."
  
  This isn't the first time the idea has been broached. The Big East considered Army and Navy a couple of years ago but ultimately the talks broke down. While there are advantages to adding the academies, there are also major questions about it.
  
  Amy and Navy certainly fall within the league's geographic footprint. Navy has experienced lots of success in recent years, and Army is on the way back up after making a bowl game last season. While they might not qualify per se as "big market teams," both are name-brand entities that would definitely have drawing power among current and ex-military personnel.
  
  But there's also concern about whether the two academies, whose missions are so much different than other Big East schools, could hold up under the rigors of a full conference schedule. Right now, both are independents who can schedule whom they want. Navy played Georgia Southern, Louisiaina Tech, Duke, Central Michigan and Arkansas State on its way to the Poinsettia Bowl last year; Army got to seven wins in part by playing Eastern Michigan, North Texas, Duke, VMI and Kent State.
  
  Both would have to be football-only members, and there's no doubt they could make more money as part of a BCS conference. But is that truly what they want to do? And how would the traditional, year-end Army-Navy game be handled in a league format? Can you really ever picture Army or Navy in, say, the Orange Bowl?
  
  I've written about this before and have come to the conclusion that it's not a great fit for either side. What do you think?..."
• Sonofanump

  Geographic footprint might fit well, but I don’t think either school would want to be tied to a conference where football is no higher #3 on the priority list against schools were football is clearly #1.
  
  I would think it would have to be both or neither, I doubt either would be in the conference championship game, so they would still play after the normal regular season is over.
  
  Maybe a partial schedule with each school so they can still play Notre Dame, Vandy, Duke, etc…
  
  Who else would they go after, Cusa schools? Buffalo?
• jordo212000

  

  Navy would be a solid choice for the Big East, but Army?
• enigmaax

  Weakens the Big East even more (which they don't really need) and damages the potential for success of Army and Navy. Terrible move for the academies competition-wise, but is probably a decent financial move. The balance of the league could be slightly impacted by going to two divisions but they could probably make a few more dollars with a title game. Not as bad of a move for the league.
• Con_Alma

  Yeah, I would think a school like Villanova or Conference USA member Houston simply from the TV market perspective.
  
  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/15164424/army-navy-might-hold-key-to-big-east-football-expansion
  
  "...Of all the expansion candidates, Villanova brings the nation's fourth-biggest television market in Philadelphia and one of the top FCS programs, having won the 2009 FCS national title and advancing to the 2010 FCS semifinals.
  
  Also in Villanova's favor is that it is already a member in all other sports so it gets to vote whether to admit itself as a football member. Still, the Wildcats would need 11 of the remaining 15 all-sport members to vote in their favor. By the way, Marinatto said ¾ of the membership must approve what teams to add. TCU joins the league on July 1, 2012, so if the teams aren't voted on until after July 1, 2012, TCU gets a vote and each team then must get approval from 13 of the 17 schools.
  
  Besides the academies and Villanova, the most obvious candidates -- and currently the strongest football programs -- are from Conference USA: UCF, East Carolina and Houston.
  
  Each one offers its share of positives and negatives for the league and the consensus among league personnel is that there isn't a clear-cut favorite or pecking order among the three C-USA schools.
  
  Houston is located in the nation's fourth-largest city and has the biggest TV market (No. 10) of the three. The Cougars also are building a new $120 million football stadium, projected to be completed by 2013.
  
  UCF would give the Big East two schools in Florida, guaranteeing the league's schools one trip a year to the state's fertile recruiting grounds. The Knights also would have the largest enrollment in the Big East.
  
  East Carolina, whose TV market (ranked No. 25) is surprisingly close to UCF's No. 19 Orlando TV market, has led C-USA in attendance the past three seasons and had the second-highest non-AQ home attendance average last season (49,665).
  
  East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland would not specifically address the Pirates' interest in the Big East, but did address with CBSSports.com whether ECU could compete in any conference. Houston AD Mack Rhoades and UCF AD Keith Tribble declined comment for this story.
  
  "I believe that East Carolina's ability to compete with most of the institutions in the conferences with automatic qualification has been proven on the field, in the stands and by the marketplace," Holland said.
  
  Since 2005, the Pirates have seven wins against AQ BCS conferences; the second most of the Big East candidates behind Navy's 14-17 record vs. AQ BCS teams.
  
  Holland also referenced the 2009 Liberty Bowl between East Carolina and Arkansas, which drew a 10.3 rating (2.4 million households) on ESPN in the combined markets of Greenville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte, N.C., compared to the 2008 Holiday Bowl between TCU and Boise State, which drew a 5.1 rating (2.4 million households) in Dallas/Fort Worth.
  
  Holland added the Pirates' attendance numbers -- they would have ranked fourth last year in the Big East in attendance (49,665) -- will increase when ECU's stadium expands to 60,000 in 2016.
  
  The downside to adding any of the C-USA schools is they likely would require membership in all sports, meaning the basketball league could grow from 17 to possibly 20. ..."
• Little Danny

  

  Guys, the Big East is having serious internal issues right . There is a lot of inter-tormoil between different factions of the conference- old guard vs. new guard, football vs. basketball, catholic schools vs. every one else, etc. There are some dynamic personalities in the league that are looking to form a coup and take over. There are people in colleges that do not play football who do not want things to change. The commissioner of the conference is a guy from Providence College who really is in way over his head. The Big East schools that play BCS football (Nova and Georgetown are not in the Big East for football and are FCS) want football to expand and improve and will likely split to form a new conference if necessary. I would not be surprised to see WVU AD Oliver Luck (Andrew's father) become the next commissioner of this league.
  
  The Army and Navy discusions are being thrown out there to salvage the current make-up of the Big East (a hybrid of teams that play football and those who do not). If you add Army and Navy as football only members, that would get the football conference up to 11 without increasing numbers on the basketball side which is already too high at 17. This would be ideal for teams like Providence College, Seton Hall and DePaul who would likely be thrown out on their arses and forced to play in the A-10 or possibly in a worse conference. I can tell you for the most part the football playing members of the conference have no interest in the academies at this point (maybe Navy, not Army). Frankly they are weary of certain C-USA schools who have repeatedly been mentioned (UCF, East Carolina or Houston) but I think they is more interest with those schools over the academies (and a move up of Villanova).
• goosebumps

  

  Yeah, Ive been following the BE expansion extremely close for the last year or so and I just don't see them adding Army or Navy. There's no way that either one of them will be able to compete on the BCS level. If for some crazy reason they were added, they could pretty much kiss ever going to bowl game again goodbye. (at least Army)
  
  My ideal scenario (and I honestly think it's not as crazy as it sounds):
  
  The BE is going to renegotiate its TV deal in the next year or two and looks to get a huge payday. The Big 12 remains pretty unstable since the non-Texas schools still resent the Texas and the power they have over everyone else. I would love Kansas, Kansas State, and Mizzou to jump ship shortly before we sign the new deal. May make it a bit more lucrative. If that were to happen there would be a split from the non-football schools. The new BE conference would still be the best basketball conference in the country and would get even stronger in football. 12 teams means a title game and might help with the TV deal. Adding Kansas, Kstate, and Mizzou would give TCU a few closer home games, and would give the conference a nice rounded shape.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  Navy would be a nice addition as a football-only member in my opinion. I would like to see it.
  
  East Carolina and UCF would be nice but the conference has too many basketball members. They need football-only members.
• goosebumps

  

  Extremely interesting article about a possible TV deal with NBC
  
  http://www.nunesmagician.com/2011/5/30/2197112/nbc-comcast-would-like-to-make-you-all-very-rich#storyjump