Big East Expansion is Much Needed, Quite Possible

Currently, three non-BCS schools are in the Top 10 in the country in the AP poll.

Also currently, the Big East, a BCS automatic qualifier, has Zero in the Top 10. Zero in the Top 25 as a matter of fact.

So what is the Big East to do to fix their problem? If they hope to keep up with the growth of the Pac-10, Big Ten, and likely eventual challenge from the Mountain West, they’ll need to add some teams. But who’s on their wish list?

The Big East has a few options as to where to go to add depth as well as quality to their struggling conference. They have been in the news most recently when it was found out that they were in discussions with TCU (a good 1,000+ miles away from UConn), to add the Mountain West and current 5th overall team in the country to join the Big East.

TCU would make the 3rd Mountain West to leave the conference in the past year. However, with the addition of Boise State in 2011, and Nevada and Fresno State in 2012, the conference is posied to be a BCS conference threat for the future. So the odds that they would put themselves through having to deal with a rigorous road schedule and culture transformation to get to a BCS game (which they do now anyways) are likely pretty low.

So where can the Big East turn? How about stay much closer to the northeast part of the country.

The CAA has been called the “little SEC” by many FCS followers and features teams like Villanova (who beat Temple last year when that same Temple team went on to a 9-4 record), James Madison (the Virginia Tech season spoiling team), and Delaware, which may be one of the top three teams in the FCS this season.

According to reports and sources, Villanova is already in the process of stadium upgrade and scholarship allocation to get to the FBS level, and with their recent track record, it’s obvious that the Big East would welcome them, especially since they’re already a basketball member.

James Madison and Delaware will be a few years before they start making plans, but them and other FCS schools like Appalachian State and Old Dominion have the fan base and potential to be a legitimate FBS program.

Also, adding a former member like Temple, who has now emerged as the MAC’s best team and most talented team, would make a lot of sense and the rivalries from when they were a part of the conference would still be intact.

So by adding Villanova and Temple within the next few years, the team can get back to ten teams, with the potential of other FBS teams getting more interested, such as East Carolina.

The Big East needs to make some sort of plan for the future to give the conference some respect in the football aspect of the NCAA, and by adding proven teams, you can add more depth and quality teams who have the chance to make legitimate bowl games as soon as they make the jump to the conference, which is crucial to the long term stance and BCS eligibility of the conference.