Big East targets Boise State to save football relevance
Because Texas wasn't "not-east" enough!
The carousel of college conference realignment continues! Most conferences seem to be set with their current rosters for next year, except for the Big East, who saw two traditional powers (Pitt and Syracuse) leave for the ACC and newcomer TCU, scheduled to join the conference next year, change their mind and join the Big 12 instead. That left the frequently disrespected conference with only six football teams for next season, West Virginia being the flagship among them, which only led to more talk about taking the automatic BCS bid away from the Big East. The remaining members of the conference are rallying together to save their status as a BCS conference by making plans to expand to a 12 team conference. Reports now are the top program being targeted by the conference to save their football relevancy is perennial BCS buster and new member of the Mountain West Conference, Boise State. Wait, what?
From ESPN.com:
The Big East is considering adding Boise State football to help bolster the conference’s chances of retaining its BCS automatic bid, though both sides still need to be persuaded that it’s the right move.
The official said that some Big East leaders believe the priority in expansion should be bringing in programs that will ensure the Big East remains an automatic qualifying BCS conference when the current Bowl Championship Series television and bowl contracts run out after the 2013 season.
The BCS has a formula for evaluating the strength of a conference that takes into account the final BCS rankings of each team in a league. Even if Boise State joined the Big East next season, its final BCS ranking of 10th while playing in the Western Athletic Conference last year, and its ranking this season while playing in the Mountain West Conference, would count toward the Big East’s ledger when it is reviewed after the 2013 season.
It makes sense for the Big East. They are void of football powers and continually get embarrassed when they are forced to send out their conference champion to get slaughtered by the other conferences. UConn couldn’t even give tickets away last year to the drubbing they took at the hands of Oklahoma and it was an opportunity to get out of Connecticut in the winter! But the Broncos are only one team. Who else is on the Big East’s radar?
Aside from Boise State, Navy and Air Force also have been targeted as football-only members by the Big East, and the league is considering Temple from the Mid-American Conference and Central Florida and East Carolina from Conference USA as members in all sports.
SMU and Houston from CUSA also are possibilities, allowing the Big East to regain the presence in Texas it thought it was going to have with TCU.
Eesh, so Boise State is really the belle of this ball. The Big East is looking to save its football playing reputation and so they look after Boise St. to Temple, Central Florida, East Carolina, SMU, Houston, and two of the service academies? Not exactly a murderer’s row of powerhouses and not a lineup that will do much to improve the Big East’s BCS standing. It’s understandable that the Broncos have some reservations about making this move. First reservation, the travel:
Having the Texas schools, along with Air Force, which is in Colorado Springs, Colo., in a western division of the league, would give Boise State some reasonable road trips. The closest current Big East football member to Boise, Idaho, is Louisville — 1,879 miles away.
The nearest road trip if Boise St. committed and the Big East moved forward would be over 3,700 miles round trip. As a small state funded school, that sounds like a pretty easy way to go over your travel budget every year. Not to mention the jet lag on the players, traveling cross country for every road game, which is not an easy thing to do.
The second concern, and possibly just as pressing as the travel, is the status of the Big East even if Boise St joins:
The official said Boise State has concerns about the commitment of the Big East’s current members.
The Big 12 could be in the market to expand again, especially if Missouri leaves for the Southeastern Conference, and Louisville and West Virginia are among the schools it would consider adding.
The Big 12 could be in the market to expand again, especially if Missouri leaves for the Southeastern Conference, and Louisville and West Virginia are among the schools it would consider adding.
The Big East seems to be the place other conferences go to pick the top teams out to fill in the middle tier of their conference. The ACC is doing it with Pitt and Syracuse now after already doing it with Miami and Virginia Tech years ago and UConn is campaigning to join them. The Big 12 will come sniffing around if and when Missouri finally gets that invite to the SEC they’re pining so hard for and the Big Ten is right there if they ever decide to bump up their membership. If Boise St commits to the Big East only to watch the top teams of the conference bolt, the Broncos will find themselves in another conference like the WAC, only with a great deal more travel.
Also, how can you have a conference called the Big East and be entertaining teams that will be a thousand miles or more from the east coast? Has every university cut their geography department?
