From the New York Post:
http://tinyurl.com/6qomjp
"The Post has learned that the Big East has explored deals with Army and Navy in football. The concept is for each of the service academies to play four Big East opponents each season on a rotating basis."
I don't quite see what Army and Navy get from this association. Apparently the BE teams would then get eight conference games, and these games would count in the standings, but what do the academies get? Money? Bowl affiliations? Clearly not full membership.
Very odd arrangement. One that seems aimed at keeping both the football schools and basketball schools happy, but we'll see how this pans out.
What they get is four locked-in games a year against solid teams somewhere nearby. They already are locked in playing the other two service academies, so this gives them six solid games a season. They can do what they want with the other six. One of the reasons Army wanted out of C-USA and Navy did not want to join is that they wanted that flexibility. Air Force is in a different position, since they are in the Mountain West. With the exception of USF, any of these opponents would be a short trip.