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TCU expected to join Big East … and DOWN goes the MWC! What it means
Texas Christian has called a press conference for later this morning to reportedly announce that it will join the Big East — in all sports.
This is a blow to the WAC, which had hoped to provide a landing spot for TCU’s teams if it had joined the Big East in a football-only capacity.
And it’s a huge, but not-unexpected blow to the Mountain West Conference, which now has lost its three marquee programs (Utah, BYU and TCU) and probably will get crushed in upcoming media rights negotiations.
Starting in the summer of 2012, the Mountain West will basically be the new WAC.
Fresno State, Nevada, Hawaii (presumably) and Boise State (in 2011) will join existing members UNLV, San Diego State, Air Force, Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado State.
That’s much, much worse than being the current MWC … but much, much better than being the revamped WAC.
The new MWC will have almost no chance at an BCS automatic bid, with TCU’s arrival enabling the Big East to tighten its grip on the ultra-valuable commodity.
(That’s the reason the Big East invited TCU in the first place: Strengthen its football profile while weakening the MWC. The Big East sure isn’t inviting TCU for its basketball program.)
So if you’re scoring at home: Yes, both the Mountain West and the WAC are much worse off than they were before all the realignment.
The Pac-10’s decision to invite Utah, sparking BYU’s exit from the Mountain West and all the succeeding dominoes … here comes the roar from BYU fans, proclaiming that Utah’s exit had nothing to do with BYU going independent … had the ultimate effect of maiming two conferences.
(The big dog’s gotta eat.)
In the wake of the latest news, here’s what I’m wondering:
*** Will TCU’s move have any impact on Hawaii’s decision to join the MWC (presumably for football only)?
You’d think this would make Hawaii more valuable to the MWC, but I also wonder if the school would see the diminished chance of the MWC attaining AQ status as a reason to stay in, and dominate, the WAC.
*** What impact, if any, will TCU’s departure have on further Mountain West expansion plans?
The conference will have 10 members (six old, four new) starting in 2012; that’s two short of the requirement to stage a football championship game.
(If the TV negotiations go as badly as expected, the league will need the revenue from a football title game.)
Past conversations with sources lead me to believe the MWC may take a run at the big-market Texas teams in Conference USA’s West division: Houston and SMU.
This could provide an opportunity for the WAC to pursue the remaining teams in the C-USA West, namely UTEP, Rice, Tulane and possibly Tulsa.
That opportunity could be enhanced if, as many expect, the Big East also invites Central Florida, from C-USA’s East division.
That would leave C-USA with five teams in the East and four in the West and potentially cause some serious shuffling in that league.
It sure seems like we haven’t seen the last of the realignment.
