Some Thoughts on Big East Expansion

Now, I should preface this by acknowledging the fact that I realize I have no influence on what actually happens with the Big East Conference as they work on their expansion process. I can only offer opinions and insight, but honestly, no one important is really listening.

With that said, I still do write on the internet, which almost qualifies me to speak my mind (not everyone should have that privilege. Looking at you, Mike Bianchi). It seems I ruffled the feathers of quite a few of our thin-skinned friends over in the East with a post I made earlier this week stating why adding Central Florida is not an appropriate move for the conference at this time. Let it be known right now that this website is not an anti-UCF blog, it just so happened that my thoughts were converse to what they think over in Orlando. At this time, I want to present what I think about all the candidates for moving up, and what the Big East officials should do after they do grab a team.

First, there are several candidates currently in contention for moving up to the Big East from either FCS level or other conferences. Of these, the most talked about have been Villanova, UCF, and Houston. I've been a proponent of adding Southern Miss to the conference for a long time, and I've heard mentions of adding East Carolina or other C-USA schools.

Let's start with the obvious choice, Villanova.

The Pros: Nova has been loyal to the Big East conference for 30 years. They've kept a consistently excellent basketball program and their football team has won multiple FCS national championships. It would be easy for everyone else in the conference to bring them up.

The Cons: Having the Wildcats move up makes 17 teams in the conference for all other sports, a gross imbalance. Their football team will take a few more years to transition to the FBS level, and can't even play in the conference until 2014. And of course, there's the biggest concern of all: Where they're going to play. Their current stadium arrangement can be expanded to 30,000, but they need to sell tickets. Also, as many believe USF opposes UCF moving over, many speculate that Pitt is against Nova's attempt to move up.

Final Grade: B

Central Florida

The Pros: The Knights boast the second-largest student population in the country, meaning a school that should have lots of resources for revenue. They're based in the fantastic recruiting ground of Florida, where even two-star recruits have a chance to excel. Some say being in Florida provides a natural rivalry with South Florida as well. Their recent success has made pro-UCFers think it's time for a move up.

The Cons: The Knights have the second-largest student population in the country, meaning getting into the school is about as complicated as opening the front door. They also have an endowment of $115 million, which is less than half of the current lowest in the league. They're based in the fantastic recruiting ground of Florida, where the rest of the Big East does its recruiting, and therefore would even further thin out the recruiting for everyone else. The reality of their proximity to Tampa is they would still be left behind rivalry-wise, as USF has established rivalries with West Virginia and Rutgers, and is working on building one with Miami and Connecticut. Their recent success is just that: recent. Before this season, there hasn't been much to talk about in Orlando, not to mention that no one goes to games, even when they're playing well.

Final Grade: C+

East Carolina

The Pros: ECU is in an excellent location for expansion. They have a lot to offer in terms of recruiting, which is currently passed over by Big East teams on their way to and from Florida. They've had success, winning Conference USA several times under former coach Skip Holtz. They have pretty good support for their athletic programs, which is vital for a prospective school looking to make a move.

The Cons: The Pirates have the lowest endowment of any of these prospective schools at a mere $100 million. They did win Conference USA in football in consecutive seasons, but that coach bolted for a Big East team. Academically, they're not exactly what the big East would be looking for if they're trying to increase their academic profile nationally. Aside from football, their other programs have performed at a very average-to-below average level. They've been unable to show much consistency in basketball success, which means they'll be dead in the water in the Big East.

Final Grade: D+

Southern Miss

The Pros: Personally, I believe USM is the best fit for this conference. They bring a great recruiting ground in the Mississippi-Louisiana area, an area that is currently untouched by Big East teams. Hattiesburg provides a geographical bridge between the coastal schools and Texas, at least to Dallas, but possibly to Houston as well. They have a history of athletic greatness, producing football stars like Brett Favre and making a regular appearance in the final AP top 10 or 15 in recent seasons, and their basketball team is always competitive for conference titles. They would also bring their own rivalry over to the conference, one that was partly renewed this past bowl season. They and Louisville, who currently don't really have a rival, were pretty fierce rivals during the Cardinals' C-USA days.

The Cons: There is one main concern for Southern Miss making the hop over to BCS play, and that's their market. USM doesn't have too much trouble getting people to show up for games, but the TV market is Hattiesburg, Mississippi isn't exactly comparable to the one in Dallas or Tampa. Southern Miss basketball, while competitive for conference titles, doesn't have many tournament appearances to show for it. They technically did beat a Big East team this season, but that team was South Florida, who ended up 10-23.

Final Grade: B+

Houston

The Pros: Houston is an excellent location for everything the Big East is looking for. They provide a great market for television in Houston, and also provide a geographical bridge between USF and TCU. They have an endowment of $497 million, which is larger than half of the current schools in the Big East. The recruiting in Texas is outstanding, and West Virginia future head coach Dana Holgorsen is very familiar with the high school coaches from his days at Oklahoma State. They have fantastic history in basketball, appearing in several national championship games, and the turnout for Texas football is never disappointing. Recently, they've posted arguably one of the best college QBs in the game in Case Keenum.

The Cons: A large endowment is likely the product of plenty of oil money than academic success, seeing as how their university is unranked by US News (they don't rank the bottom 25% of the schools). Despite being based in Texas, they have to battle for recruitment with BCS schools like Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas Tech, and now TCU. Throw in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, in addition to a Big East school here and there on their visits to Dallas, and that recruiting ground is paper thin.

Final Grade: B-

As you can see, all these schools have different things to offer this conference, but ultimately it's up to the conference officials to decide which of these things have more weight. With the addition of TCU and Villanova it appears that the Big East is looking to add to its academic profile. However, if you consider that there's a battle between a Philadelphia school, an Orlando school, and a Houston school after just adding a Dallas school, maybe they're just in it for the money. I think even after the conference figures out what's going on with Villanova, they're going to want to get to twelve football members and split into divisions (this allows a conference championship, which means more revenue). If that does end up happening, it only seems logical that the conference gives those non-football members the boot. This way, the television revenue would only have to be split among those schools instead having to give the other 8 schools a cut. The hardest part would be to split with Notre Dame, the richest school in the conference, but if they don't want to contribute to football and just take a share of our basketball money, I think it's time to tell them to commit or leave.

Until the Big East releases another negotiation with Villanova, it's going to be a rough time waiting for a result. All we can do now is wait and speculate, which never gets easier. Oh, and we can read blogs about it, don't forget that.