"The Latest on Expansion"

[Clam Crowder]

Its in the rumors section of ESPN. Any insider want to share, even though someone will tell you your breaking the law?

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors?&action=upsell&appRedirect=http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors

[KaKawwImAnEagle]

neat

[chren21]

Big East expansion TopEmailShare Stefan Stevenson writes for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the Big East conference has been in talks with TCU about joining their conference.

The move is clearly centered around football, and it's unclear if the university's other athletic teams, basketball included, would join the Big East as well in a potential move. Returning to the Mountain West would almost certainly not be an option for the other teams, as there would be too much bad blood between the school and the league following the football team's defection.

TCU would likely have the option of having its basketball and other teams join another league out West, but there's also a chance that the hoops team could join the Big East as well. If that happens, and the conference doesn't want to expand beyond its 16-team blueprint, that could spell trouble for some of the league's weaker basketball-only members (DePaul, Providence and Seton Hall come to mind), as subtraction was certainly a rumor that was discussed in the first wave of conference expansion speculation.

The Horned Frogs would be in for a rough go of things if they joined the Big East -- they finished 5-13 in the MWC last season, and the hoops team does not garner the same attention or fan support of the football program.

- Jeff Dooley



Andy Katz
Can the Big East expand without disrupting hoops?

"The easy thing for the Big East to do is add TCU to give it a nationally recognized football program and then hope that current member Villanova bumps its football program up from FCS to FBS so that basketball doesn't have to be disrupted. Adding schools like Army or Navy for football-only would work since those schools put their other sports in the Patriot League. Temple might also work since football plays in the MAC, while all the others compete in the Atlantic 10."

[Clam Crowder]

Thanks, it's nice to see that our name didn't come up in that list of schools that may be eliminated from the Big East, at least in this article

[bamamarquettefan]

I could certainly handle TCU, Army, Navy for football only and Nova bumping football up.  Conference championship game, still a 16-team basketball conference with no one dumped, and who would be unpatriotic enough to dump the BCS status of the Big East with two of our military schools in the mix.

Things really couldn't have gone better so far though.  Not only the Big 10 going west for the only team they need, but Utah being grabbed to really hurt the Mountain West's hope of replacing the Big East for the BCS bid.  If we get TCU as well, that leaves just Boise State and other really small markets in the Mountain West.

[GGGG]

I tell ya, if I were TCU, I have no idea what I would do.  On the one hand, getting into a BCS AQ conference is obviously a good thing.  But the whole "football only" thing is really low rent.  Where are they supposed to go?  They left CUSA...they would have left MWC...you are left with conferences like the WCC.

I guess I would tell the BE to stick it unless they are a full member.  They are getting into a BCS bowl this year, and did so last year, without the need of being in the BE.