Big East Expansion: What Could Have Been

So the Big East finally expanded. The conference found a way to survive, but the sad thing is that if it had acted sooner, there could have been a pretty good football league.

Just think about it ...

The Big East made noise when they added TCU earlier this year. The conference was no threat to the SEC, but an addition of the Horned Frogs, an occasional top ten team, was a big deal.

But we all know how things turned out from there. The conference didn't do anything else to strengthen its position and after getting invites from the ACC, Pitt and Syracuse bolted.

But just imagine how good the conference could have been.

The Big East, often ridiculed, has sent some pretty good teams to the BCS. The 2007 Mountaineers could very well have won a national championship, until 13-9 happened. Cincinnati sent a one- and two-loss team to consecutive BCS bowls and in 2005 and 2006, Louisville had a combined three regular season losses.

Pitt is Pitt - often decent, but never great.

But the Big East could have possibly kept those teams and then added Boise State and Houston.

A football conference of Boise State, TCU, Houston, Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Syracuse, Louisville, UConn, and South Florida would have been a big step up. And just imagine if they could have somehow landed BYU, which had been discussed.

Again, that wouldn't have been a conference to derail the SEC, but it would have certainly been the equivalent of the ACC and even rival the Pac-12.

The Big East dropped the ball and spoiled what could have been an entertaining conference.