(This article first appeared on WVUPressBox.com on December 15th, 2009. With all the recent talk of conference shake-ups, we’re digging it out of the archives for a revisit.)
If you’re an avid reader of the site, then you’ve probably already seen the news story stating that the Big Ten Conference is looking to expand to twelve teams. Never mind what that sentence implies about the math skills of the universities in the Big Ten…
This isn’t really news, of course. Everyone knows that the Big Ten has been considering a new team for a while now; it’s just that now the idea seems to be gaining momentum.
As is often the case, a few Big East teams are being mentioned. I won’t type the entire article, since you can read it for yourself.
But the question to ponder is this – what happens if the Big Ten lures a team away from our beloved Big East?
Already sitting towards the bottom of the pile in terms of respect and reputation (even though stats and bowl performance show that we’re in the upper half of the BCS conference pile), the Big East can’t really afford to take any more hits. Especially since the BCS automatic-bid situation will be revisited in the near future.
So, what happens if Rutgers or Syracuse or Pitt make the jump to the Big Ten? Who will the Big East pick to replace them? What does this mean for the automatic BCS bid? Would the Big East simply dissolve as a football conference?
Fear not, my friends. I have a solution. However, it would take some radical thinking and, let’s be honest, “thinking” doesn’t seem to be the forte of the Big East leadership.
Let’s assume a worst case scenario. Rutgers or Syracuse switch to the Big Ten, Notre Dame can’t be cajoled into joining the Big East conference for football and all signs point to the conference losing its automatic BCS bid.
Why not scrap the conference altogether (for football only, of course)? Seriously…
Why not create a new football conference?
Kevin’s comment about picking up TCU or Boise St. got me thinking. Why is there such a need for the teams within a conference to be adjacent to each other? If you’re already packing everything up, heading to the airport and taking off, is it really that much more expensive or inconvenient to fly four hours instead of two?
My proposal: The Mountain Conference, with an Eastern (Appalachian Mountain) division and a Western (Rocky Mountain) division. Here’s how it would work…
The Eastern Division would simply be the now defunct football Big East, minus the departing school. So, there’d be seven teams. The Western Division would simply be the Mountain West conference, minus two of their bottom dwellers (Colorado State and New Mexico?).
Each team plays every team in their division, plus one or two from the opposite division. At the end of the season, there’s a conference championship held at a neutral site in the middle of the country.
The teams from the Big East get to keep their BCS bid. The teams from the Mountain West gain an automatic BCS bid. The goobers that run the BCS are happy because there’s less crying about mid-major teams not getting a fair shot at a BCS game.
Some people might say that the fanbase can’t travel a thousand miles for a regular season game. So? Have you seen how many fans from the opposing teams show up in Morgantown for games? Not very many. And, who’s to say that there isn’t a loyal WVU contingent residing in Forth Worth or Colorado Springs or Provo… just dying to watch a WVU game in person?
The TV and radio contracts stay intact, just as they were when the two conferences were separate. All that would be required would be adding a few things for the inter-divisional games and working something out for the championship game.
For basketball and all other sports, the teams simply revert back to their original conferences. (Let’s face it, the Big East leadership only thinks about basketball anyways.)
Am I missing anything here? Sure, we wouldn’t gain any real powerhouses (although let’s not forget that TCU is playing in a BCS game and BYU went 10-2), but if it means we hang onto our BCS bid, is it worth it?
What’s that? USF isn’t in the Appalachians? Yeah, well, the Big Ten doesn’t have ten teams in it, either.
(Note: I don’t actually expect this to happen… I know it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, but it’s fun to discuss, at least.)
Got a better idea? Something other than “hope for the best”? Prove it.
John is the founder of WVUPressBox.com and is primarily responsible for the technical (behind the scenes) aspects of running the website. He also contributes to the original content and news links on those rare occasions when he actually beats the other guys to it. 
You make some interesting points. Anything can work if schools are united. I agree that what you state will probably not happen, but, it doesn’t hurt to hope someone will gain some common sense. The biggest thing to me and what I have harped on is, we should have added a ninth team already. If we had done this, we would not have to scramble in case someone stole one of our members because we would still be at the eight team count that is a minimum requirement for being in a BCS conference. No offense to Rutgers, but, I for one would not lose sleep over a Rutgers being replaced by a East Carolina. I think our conference strength would not take a hit whatsoever.
I like it, it will never happen but I like it. My only question would be the revenue sharing, how would this affect the money the conference earns? There would be alot more mouths to feed, but then again alot more teams in alot more bowls…
Wouldn’t it be a whole lot less complicated if the NCAA allowed conferences with only 10 teams instead of 12 to have a championship game? Maybe the BE commish should lobby for that. That way the Big Ten (11) doesn’t have to add another team, the Pac-10 can have a championship game without having to expand, and the BE could potentially expand from within or take on two new teams to have a championship game. The outside teams would probably have to come from CUSA, but they would still be left with 10 teams as well. Under this scenario, all six BCS qualifiers would be on the same page with championship games. Sure adding another team to the Big Ten might increase TV revenues, but would that increase be enough for an existing team to be willing to give up another piece of the money pie to a newcomer? Isn’t 1/11th bigger than 1/12th? Just some thoughts.
i am intrigued with the idea and the realization that you only make one long travel date a year with the other coast (one home/one away) which should do much to keep both coasts interested.
the biggest drawback – developing a championship game at mid point means it’s in no man’s land – location, location location means everything to the game and as the ACC has found out – teams won’t travel well twice (to the championship game) and the BCS bowl)
i would suggest sharing your idea with some Mountain West bloggers to get west coast feedback
the name Mountain? well besides us and Pitt, who is even in hilly territory?
Well, technically, the appalachians run up the entire eastern side of the country. But, hey, the Mountain West has teams from Texas and California, and the aforementioned Big Ten having eleven (soon twelve) teams. So, it’s not like the conference name has any meaning anyways
If the ACC can raid the Big East, why can’t the Big East raid the ACC. I think we should take Maryland and Virginia away from them and let Boston College back in. They are nothing more than mediocre in the ACC since they left us and I’m all for giving them another chance. Maryland and Virginia are border states and I think the rivalries both on the field and in recruiting would be great. I also think it is time to tell Norte Dame to put up or shut up. They should either join in all sports or get out. They do nothing for us in the other sports but we do a lot for them. If they don’t want to come in, then bring in East Carolina. Then we get rid of a few non football playing schools for the bsketball side of things and you have a 12 team football conference. As far as raiding the Mountain West, I do think geography matters. Just ask Boston College. They have steadily gone downhill since leaving the Big East and will continue to do so.
I agree with the ACC raid. I actually think Miami may have some interest, they have fallen the fastest since leaving. Not sure how the dollars would work out which in the end is the biggest thing for all these schools. But Miami being the obnoxious bunch they are I’m sure think they would come to the Big East and start dominating once again, filling up seats again, etc. I also like the idea of Maryland, but like everyone would absolutely love to have VT come back. Anyway I think there are tons of possibilities and we should start now and not wait on the Big Ten. We should make whoever they come after have to think really hard about leaving.
A possible problem could arise in the fact that the bottom two teams who get booted from the MWC in football may not be happy about leaving their basketball teams in the MWC. I’m not saying they would have other options at that point but you would end up with a splintered MWC side with basketball and non football teams just like the BIG EAST has struggled with all these years. And if they left you weould end up with a 7 team basketball conference in the MWC.
time to send this to taglibue? if Pac 10 wants to go 16 across three time zones, then why not merge the BE and MW (course what are we gonna do with those pesky basketball only schools?)