good possibility for BE 9th team

[Cow Pie]

They would not help the BE or its image since its UNC at Charlotte, we need State teams without the "at" in the verbiage.

[Bullpride08]

villanova was made the same offer by the BE football conference that uconn was - step up to D1A and we will give you BE football membership - they declined, are not interested in bancrupting their small private university trying to compete on the D1A level.

If a school with the athletic history of Villanova, and a huge media market, and guaranteed BCS membership, is unwilling to make the move to I-A, then it's safe to say that Western Kentucky will be the last new program in Division I-A.

I don't agree with that because Villanova does not equal WKU.  Nova is a small private metro school.  There athletic history has mainly been in hoops, and as a huge media market it has yet to prove they have even the mildest interest in college football.  Also, private institutions mean all budgetary issues come from their pockets, no state assistance.  To grow a football program into a 1-A power Nova would need maybe $100M minimum of capital to get going (assuming a new stadium is needed or expansion of the current one).  That's a tall order for anyone.

I think there are other schools capable of making the 1-A jump, Georgia Southern, James Madison, and Delaware come to mind.

[gibbsak]

BE Expansion would be nice, but I think what really helped the "USF Model" for building up our football program so quickly was we were able to pick up a lot of good in-state recruits that the older schools in the state didn't have room for.  FAU would be another example of this.  They haven't quite got our stats but they did beat our record in being the fastest school to have a FB team go from scratch to bowl.... or was it scratch to NCAA Div 1-A?

[Jihme]

we need to steal three teams from another conference(s), not bring another school up from a non-BCS league.

let's steal clemson, vandy and GT

i know it'll never happen, but it's nice to think about

[Paisa el Toro]

I like Troy as a candidate for expansion.

[windbane]

I like having 5 non-conference games.

[gibbsak]

I like having 5 non-conference games.

+1 as long as 4 of them are ranked and we win.

[gibbsak]

If the BE is going to expand in FB, they need to add 4 teams.  This will make it 12 in FB and allow for a championship game.

[Sunil]

If the BE is going to expand in FB, they need to add 4 teams.  This will make it 12 in FB and allow for a championship game.

There just aren't 4 viable candidates out there that won't turn us into "CUSA senior varsity edition".... I'd be shocked if that many teams were added anytime soon. Expansion by 1 team is more likely...but only if that school brings something to the table to increase conference revenue. Otherwise the current member schools are just not going to "split up the pie".... My impression is the Big East will not initiate the next big conference "shakeup"...we'll be the ones reacting to what is happening elsewhere.

[Cow Pie]

There just aren't 4 viable candidates out there that won't turn us into "CUSA senior varsity edition".... I'd be shocked if that many teams were added anytime soon. Expansion by 1 team is more likely...but only if that school brings something to the table to increase conference revenue. Otherwise the current member schools are just not going to "split up the pie".... My impression is the Big East will not initiate the next big conference "shakeup"...we'll be the ones reacting to what is happening elsewhere.

What about stealing Tulane from CUSA... they are not the best team to steal but don't they bring a bowl game - the New Orleans Bowl or what ever its called now, and they bring the Superdome and the New Orleans tv market, which would make it the largest tv market in the Big East according to nelson raitings into the mix...?

???

If not Tulane then what about Delaware... not sure what they would bring to the BE except that they are a state team and bring the entire Delaware tv market into the BE...

If we are going to expand into a North / South division then we just need 1 more Northern team, and 3 Southern teams... but agree with y'all that there are just not enough good teams to bring into the BE.