It looks the last item of consideration for Big East Conference membership is geography.
According to widespread reports, Houston, Boise State, Central Florida, San Diego State and SMU will join the championship chase for the 2013 season. Boise and San Diego will be football-only members. It will make the Big East the least accurately named league in the nation and the most geographically diverse.
But that doesn’t matter, because the additions will save the league’s Bowl Championship Series status. It will also make it a lot more difficult for Louisville to win the whole thing and go to a BCS bowl, though it’s not nearly as intimidating as the prospect of competing with Texas, Oklahoma and their ilk in the Big 12. West Virginia famously was chosen by the Big 12 ahead of Louisville for Big 12 membership.
And Cardinal fans can look forward to trips to places like Dallas and San Diego and Orlando, which sounds like a much better deal for recruiting than saying the team will be going to Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia.
The new members don’t pack the prestige of the teams they’re replacing in basketball, but it’s still a positive move for the league.
If all this takes place, AD Tom Jurich comes out smelling like a rose, as the Big East remains a BCS league with more attractive opposition.
