Big East Expansion: The Subject Everyone Hates to Love

Well, the Big East meetings are over, and as far as we fans are concerned, it seems like not much progress has been made. The meetings were cut a bit short as the Athletic Directors meeting adjourned early (thanks a lot, Holgorsen). So, like any good blogger, I took it upon myself to do nothing but speculate with the vague information I've gathered in the past few days.

First, I would like to emphasize what exactly the purpose of expansion is: Conferences choose colleges as targets for expansion due to the potential assets it could bring the conference. The Big East is looking for several things mostly including a large media market (by which I mean lots of money) and good football and basketball teams (money). Everything revolves around money. TV deals, bowl games, big markets, ticket sales, they all lead to cash. It's clear what the conference officials are after.

The coaches in the league generally agree that it's time to expand, but to how many? Most say 12, but are there really three other teams that are good enough to add to a BCS conference? Of course there are names like East Carolina, Central Florida, and Houston, but do they really add a significant upgrade to the conference?

It looks like I'm not the only person who thinks UCF isn't right to add to the conference right now, as UConn head basketball coach Jim Calhoun doesn't think UCF is a "sexy name right now", saying they'd be "kind of good," but not really an ultimately attractive option. I have to respectfully disagree with Calhoun in his next sentence, where he says "I don't think South Florida will care about that, having them come in so close by." Clearly Calhoun isn't a frequent visitor of The Bull Rush, or else he'd know what was wrong with that statement. It is nice to have someone whose opinion matters to the Big East share a view with those of us in Tampa who no one's listening to.

Someone tossed Army and Navy onto the stage, suggesting that they join as football-only members. Whoever suggested this didn't take into account the fact that Navy is quite happy touring the nation, seeing all the other schools and having their annual Navy-Notre Dame game televised nationally in the middle of the season. They also failed to recognize the fact that Army was a part of Conference USA as the same time that current Big East members Louisville, Cincinnati, USF, and TCU were still around, and scraped together a 13-67 record as a member. So maybe those two aren't truly viable options for football either.

So who is the right choice? Is it one of those regular choices, Houston, UCF, or East Carolina? Or is it someone who hasn't gotten enough attention, like Southern Miss or SMU? Or maybe someone else that no one has really mentioned yet? Tell us what you think in the comments.

I'm going to go on the record right now as saying that Northern Illinois is every bit as qualified to join the Big East as UCF in football standards, so take things like that into account. I seem to be the only supporter of Southern Miss joining the conference, so please, tell me why no one agrees with me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I need someone to tell me why. I also am a big proponent of trying to lure a school or two away from a BCS conference, so keep that in mind as well.