Aaaaaand Big East Football has now gone to plaid.
According to the Star-Ledger, the Syracuse Orange and Rutgers Scarlet Knights could play each other twice during the 2012 football season as a contingency plan to fill the void left by West Virginia bolting to the Big 12.
This is according to two people "familiar with the contingency plans being discussed."
At first glance it sounds kinda nutty. I'm sure someone is researching whether or not two teams have played one another twice in the regular season during the "modern era" but it can't be often.
But when you think about it, it's just crazy enough to work. Think about it. Syracuse is already having a tough time filling the fifth and final non-con spot on the schedule. We've already scheduled a FCS team (Stony Brook) so avoiding scheduling two of them is critical. If WVU leaves, the chances we can find two FBS opponents, while competing with every other Big East school to do so, seems impossible.
Playing one team twice in a home-and-home solves the problem. Plus, it's Rutgers, whom we hate and would love the opportunity to beat twice.
It could be the quick fix for all Big East teams to pair up like this and solve the potential issue. Of course, we have to wait and find out if West Virginia is in fact leaving (They are). Once they do, let's see how the dominoes fall.
For the record, I checked and Syracuse has played a team more than once in a regular season before, but not since 1897 (Buffalo).