NEW YORK — The Big East’s long-awaited additions are set, with more rebuilding to come.
The conference is preparing to announce the additions of Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members and Houston, Central Florida and SMU for all sports as soon as today. The schools will join in 2013.
The Big East has been trying to rebuild as a 12-school football conference since Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced they would be moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference and West Virginia announced it was leaving for the Big 12. TCU also reneged on a commitment to join the Big East and instead accepted an invitation to the Big 12.
The Big East has also been pursuing Navy and Air Force as football-only members, but the military academies are not ready to commit to the conference.
While the Big East is finally about to expand, it’s still very much a league in flux. Commissioner John Marinatto has pledged to hold Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia to the league bylaws and keep the schools in the Big East for two more football seasons. Syracuse, Pitt and the ACC have said they would like to move on as soon as possible, but are not challenging the Big East’s rules.
West Virginia is. The school has sued the Big East and wants to join the Big 12 in 2012. The Big 12 needs a replacement for Missouri, which is headed to the Southeastern Conference next year, to have the 10 members it needs to meet the conditions of its television contracts.
The Big East eventually wants to have two divisions, with Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU and Louisville in the west division. The east division would have South Florida, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Central Florida. The league is hoping Air Force can round out the west and Navy the east. But, for now, that’s still just a plan.
The Associated Press
