Skip to content
College Sports
Link copied to clipboard

West Virginia's exit will put Big East in further disarray

SO NOW West Virginia, as expected, looks as if it will leave the Big East to join the Big 12, which is looking to replace Missouri, which is leaving for the Southeastern Conference (pending resolution of legal concerns).

West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the Big 12, where it will replace Missouri. (Chris Jackson/AP file photo)
West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the Big 12, where it will replace Missouri. (Chris Jackson/AP file photo)Read more

SO NOW West Virginia, as expected, looks as if it will leave the Big East to join the Big 12, which is looking to replace Missouri, which is leaving for the Southeastern Conference (pending resolution of legal concerns).

In case you've lost track, that makes four defections in the last 2 months. Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Texas Christian decided to go to the Big 12 before it ever played in the Big East.

That leaves the conference with five football teams, three of which - Louisville, Connecticut and Rutgers - would prefer to play elsewhere as well. Not good.

At some point, you wonder whether what's left is even worth trying to salvage.

The Big East, which would have 13 basketball schools after W.Va.'s departure, would like to have 12 for football. A plan recently floated called for bringing in Boise State, Navy and Air Force for football only, and Houston, Central Florida and Southern Methodist for all sports. Yet the latest departure and the overall uncertainty about the future has led some to speculate whether Boise State, Air Force or Navy actually will want to be part of it. We'll probably know something soon enough.

And, if enough possibilities don't become realities, will Big East football simply cease to exist? Could the basketball schools go their own way? If the Big East needs only one more football team to make things work, does that open the door for Temple (which wants in for all sports), despite whatever Villanova might or might not think about adding another Philly school?

Could Villanova, which is in the Big East for most sports, but the Colonial Athletic Association in football, finally move up from FCS, as it was prepared to do in April before a vote got tabled by schools now leaving the Big East?

How about both schools?

At some point, only so many viable candidates are left to consider. This isn't your father's Big East anymore. Of the eight teams in the league in 2003, Temple's next-to-last season as a football-only member, only Rutgers will be left. At some point, the Big East's BCS status could be in jeopardy, particularly if Boise State stays away. That doesn't matter to some potential replacements, because it would still be better than what they have.

Anyway . . .

This could still play out into some kind of ending that makes sense. Until then, there remain more questions than answers.