Let's be clear, this expansion business that the Big East is undertaking...all of it depends on TCU. Without the Horned Frogs, it's a worthless endeavor. That's a lot of weight to throw behind a non-BCS football program that may or may not remain good over the next decade, but it is what it is.
Villanova? More of a strategic move than anything that will help us on the field.
UCF? They're doing a grape job down there in Orlando but no one in the conference is going to turn down an offer from the Big Ten cause the Golden Knights are here.
Houston? Sure, whatever.
Memphis? No.
East Carolina? Whatevs.
TCU is the only program on the assumed list of possibly schools to join the conference that tugs at your short and curlies. So we best keep a close eye on what those froggies are thinking.
Well first of all, they're thinking that if the Big East wants them, then they're going to have to take every single sport. Honestly, anyone who thought the Horned Frogs might consider a football-only move was crazy. And my suspicion is that the Big East was kinda hoping they might...or at least a certain group of Catholic universities in the Big East were hoping that.
"We're an athletic department," Del Conte said in a telephone interview with Sporting News. "Whatever endeavor we do, you're united as one. That's who we are. That's how we always compete. We compete as one unit."
That means that the Frogs would also be bringing with them their subpar basketball team. Though we'd be getting their really good baseball team, so that's fun! Their lacrosse team remains a work in progress.
Brian Bennett spells out the issues with adding TCU from a non-football standpoint. Then again, he also believes the conference should do whatever it takes to get them.
All the proof you need could be found Saturday when TCU destroyed Utah 47-7. It was one of the most impressive beatdowns of the season by anybody. The Utes came into the game ranked No. 5 and had their home crowd in a frenzy thanks to the "GameDay" atmosphere. Yet they had no chance. And remember, this is the same Utah team that beat Pittsburgh in the opener this season, the same Pitt which is currently leading the Big East by a wide margin.
One more thing to keep in mind...TCU has great BCS stats. And considering the Big East is looking a little weak these days in the eyes of many, getting their numbers to factor in with everyone else's wouldn't hurt.
If TCU moved to the Big East, the Horned Frogs would take "all of their data to their new league," BCS spokesman Bill Hancock said.
However, the current four-year evaluation period for the BCS concludes in December 2011, so TCU's past BCS rankings – three consecutive top 11 BCS rankings, including this year – would not transfer to the Big East unless it joined the league before the 2012-13 school year.
In other expansion-y news...
- East Carolina is just kinda hanging out, biding its time to try and convince them East Carolina is an actual state.
- And hey, FAU is over here all like "Pick me! Pick me!"