Big East officials are “not considering” joining a super-conference that would stretch from coast to coast and incorporate as many as 28 or 32 schools, a highly placed league source told SNY.tv.
The Big East has targeted Navy, Air Force and Boise State for football-only, and Houston, SMU and Central Florida for all sports.
The source said there is “no timetable” on when the new programs might join. When the first one does, the league’s new $10 million exit fee will kick in, meaning if a West Virginia or Louisville were to leave for the Big 12, they would have to pay that amount.
The Boston Globe reported that the Big East was considering joining with the new Mountain West/Conference USA conglomerate to form a four-division football league aimed at keeping the Big East’s automatic BCS bid and giving the new league such a bid.
In a 32-team league, the West Division would consist of Boise State, Hawaii, UNLV, Nevada, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and San Jose State. The Mountain Division would consist of Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, New Mexico, UTEP, SMU, Tulsa and Houston. The Central Division would consist of Marshall, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, UAB, Rice, Temple and Louisiana Tech. And the Big East Division would consist of UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida, East Carolina and Navy.
West Virginia was not included in the proposal, reportedly because they are more likely to leave for the Big 12 should Missouri jump to the SEC.
Under a 28-team plan, Houston would not move to the Central, and San Jose State, Temple, Louisiana Tech and Navy would be eliminated.
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