Putting into motion a process which may take as long as three years to implement from beginning to end, the Big East announced on Tuesday that it will be considering expanding the football conference to up to 10 teams. Currently, the Big East hosts eight teams.
“Today, our Board of Directors affirmed a set of key strategic initiatives, including expansion, designed to enhance our membership stability and maximize our value,” said John Marinatto, commissioner of the Big East.
The Big East released a statement indicating the organization’s intentions regarding future membership:
“The Big East presidents agreed that the interests of each of the conference’s 16 member institutions would be served by increasing the number of Bowl Subdivision football-playing members to 10. They unanimously approved the process to evaluate the terms and conditions for potential expansion candidates.”
Big East sources have suggested that Villanova is ready to move from its current position in the FCS Colonia Athletic Association to the Big East as the organization’s ninth and newest team. Villanova is currently the defending FCS national champion.
The 10th team would be selected from a number of different schools currently being considered. The school selected would also have an impact on the way in which the school joins the Big East. Ideally, the Big East would like to recruit Notre Dame, which is a member of the conference in most of its other sports besides football.
Another option would be to invite a school to join the Big East in football only. TCU is a candidate for this, but it seems unlikely the school would be willing to move its nationally-ranked football program from the Mountain West conference.
Alternatively, the Big East may invite Central Florida to leave Conference USA in football, leaving its other sports in its current conference.
One reason for the proposed expansion is the fear that one or more of the current Big East teams will leave the conference for another one, similar to what happened in 2004-2005 when the Big East lost Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference. By ensuring a membership of nine or 10 teams, the Big East would still meet the requirement of eight teams if it lost one to a conference move.
