Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (2/11)

Big East
Established 1979 (Realignment 2004-05)
8 Teams
8 States
Largest Distance Between Schools: 1116 Miles (UConn and South Florida)

Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia

To put it bluntly, the Big East, in general, could use some work. The Big East is too big for basketball (16 teams) and too small for football. We'll continue with the football here. Not only is the Big East the smallest BCS conference, but it's also the weakest. The loss of Miami, VT, and BC to the ACC really hurt the Big East's reputation and level of competition, a blow the conference is still trying to recover from. West Virginia is a perennial powerhouse, and Pitt, Cinncy, Louisville are usually solid though never elite. The recent success of Rutgers has helped to create a buzz for the Big East, and South Florida has begun the process of creating a fierce rivalry with WVU, but the conference as a whole struggles to generate excitement. While South Florida is a good team, it would be better suited for a conference with some nearby teams in it. Louisville, over 700 miles away, is the closest Big East team to South Florida. Being in a conference with no close schools, is not conducive to the fans and is not beneficial to the success of the team. Not only is it tougher to win the farther you travel, but teams in the South play a completely different style of football than teams in the North. While it may be an advantage for South Florida to host teams used to playing in the cold, it is a bigger disadvantage to have to travel north to play in games with freezing temperatures and snow when you are not accustomed to it. South Florida would be better suited playing in Conference USA where it would be one of the top teams and play away games much closer to home.

After addressing the issue of geography, the Big East should look towards expanding. One obvious and easy option would be to add both Army and Navy. Army and Navy are both independents, meaning adding them to the Big East would not disrupt another conference. Also, Army (New York) and Navy (Maryland) fit perfectly in with the geography of the conference (much improved after nixing South Florida). In addition, the two schools could keep their end of the season rivalry, the only difference being that the game would now be a conference game, further raising the stakes. More evidence for adding these two military schools can be drawn from the fact that Air Force operates flawlessly in the Mountain West; it's able to compete for the conference championship while still playing Army or Navy every few years.

After these first two moves, the Big East would consist of 9 teams, meaning one more move should be made to get to an even number of teams. A few possibilities exist for the tenth team including Notre Dame (another independent and member of the Big East for basketball), Penn State (would strengthen the in-state rivalry with Pitt), Marshall (which could renew its rivalry with West Virginia), and Temple (former member of the Big East from '91 to '04). All four of these schools make sense geographically, meaning the best option is the one that helps the most parties involved. We'll touch on Notre Dame when we get to the Big Ten (hint, hint) and Penn State works fine in the Big Ten conference as well. Marshall could make sense, but it can keep its rivalry with West Virginia out of conference anyway. While unorthodox, moving Temple to the Big East makes the most sense. Temple was kicked out of the Big East in 2004 when they failed to garner enough fan support, but they have had no recent success as an independent or as a member of the MAC. Moving back to the Big East would energize fans and attract recruits, which they should be able to do as Pennsylvania is a state with one of the best high school football programs. Adding Temple would not only help the Big East, but would help the MAC through addition by subtraction (the MAC would then have 12 teams rather than 13, see MAC for details). With 10 teams in the conference, each Big East team would still be able to play each other annually by adopting the Pac-10 type schedule, in which each team plays 9 conference games, and 3 out of conference games. -J.S.

Solution: Dismiss South Florida to C-USA, Add Army and Navy, Add Temple from the MAC