Big East In serious trouble of being carved up (link)

[The Great 8]

USF in the AAU!!!! Only in your dreams.

Neither is Notre Dame. What's your point?  :

We're working toward getting in the AAU and it may come to fruition in the next decade or so. When/if we are a member we'll likely be the youngest member as well.

It's not a slight to say we're not included. But thanks.

[Bull-by-Marriage]

I've been reading the articles posted here, and on ACC boards. IMO, we are screwed. IF this realignment happens, I don't think that we will be absorbed by the ACC. What I've read is ACC passibly adding, WVU , ECU, UL and Cincy or other mixes very few of which that add USF USF. The ACC brass in N.C. does not want another Florida school. I think that we will end up in a watered down BE which most likely would lose it's status as an AQ conference. I really hope that Mr. Woolard is working behind the scenes, very fine line to walk. with Bill Stewart's comments, it seems as though there are talks going on elsewhere.

I don't think ECU will be part of the equation. There are already 4 teams from NC in the ACC, they don't want a 5th.

I can't remember where I read it, and just like every other post about how it will all breakdown is pure speculation. There is actually a push from the North Carolina schools to add ECU. For years I've been of the opionion that if possible the ACC, would consist of NC schools only.

[BullsFanInTX]

More info.  BE WILL be raided.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten

Big Ten expansion talk has quieted down just a bit during the last six weeks or so, but things are about to pick up.

Real fast.

As first reported by the Chicago Tribune, top Big Ten officials will meet beginning Saturday in Washington to discuss expansion. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany confirmed in a text message to ESPN.com that he's in D.C., and the Tribune reports that Northwestern University president Morton Schapiro and University of Illinois interim chancellor Robert Easter also will attend. I'm still trying to confirm whether other Big Ten leaders are there, particularly Michigan State president Lou Anna K. Simon, the chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors.

The gathering coincides with a three-day meeting of the Association of American Universities, beginning today in Washington. All 11 Big Ten schools are AAU members, and the top expansion candidates, with the notable exception of Notre Dame, also are part of the AAU.

AAU members include Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas. Connecticut and Boston College are not part of the AAU.

It's also very significant that the BCS annual meetings take place later this week in Phoenix. Remember that in its Dec. 15 statement about expansion, the Big Ten said it will notify the commissioners of affected conferences -- or Notre Dame top administrators -- before engaging in any formal discussions with institutions.

If I were Big East commissioner John Marinatto or Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, I'd worry about a tap on my shoulder during the BCS meetings. From what I've been told from coaches and officials around the Big Ten, Delany wants to get something done, and the commish usually gets what he wants.

Two other dates to remember:

The Big Ten holds its meetings of coaches (football, men's basketball, women's basketball) and athletic directors in Chicago from May 17-19

The Big Ten holds its meetings of presidents and chancellors in Chicago in early June

Translation: the Big Ten could finalize an expansion plan, and quite possibly rock the college sports landscape, in the next two months. So much for the 12- to 18-month plan outlined in the league's initial statement.

As the Tribune points out, "The fiscal years of universities end on the last day of June, 'so if you go past July 1, you have to wait an extra year,' one source said." So if the Big Ten wants to be a 12-team, 14-team or 16-team league for the 2011-12 academic year, it needs to act quickly.

I've had the chance to visit seven Big Ten schools for spring football practice, and the buzz among coaches and officials is that the Big Ten will expand, and there's a strong likelihood the league will add more than one team. Almost everyone I spoke with thinks the league will go to 14 or 16.

I'm still skeptical about a 16-team super conference, which sounds great in principle but hard to successfully execute. I still believe that if the Big Ten can add Notre Dame as a 12th member, there's absolutely no need to do anything else.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, by the way, had this to say on Saturday: "Our highest priority is maintaining football independence."

Swarbrick can say what he wants, but he still has to at least listen if the Big Ten comes calling. Major changes could be coming to college sports, and Notre Dame can't be left on the sideline, clinging to a football independence that seems to mean less and less with each passing year.

I still think the Big Ten has to make a push for Notre Dame before moving on to schools like Pitt, Rutgers, Missouri and Nebraska. If the Irish ultimately say no, the likelihood of a three-team or five-team expansion goes way up.

The next few weeks should be very, very interesting, so stay tuned.

[smazza]

Win/Lose for us Big Ten AND Big East fans.. LOL.

Excited to see the Big10 grow to 14-16 teams. Not as happy to see teams being pulled from the Big East, because it'll mean the BE will get stuck pulling teams out of sub-par conferences.. CUSA, MAC, etc. UGH.

I'd rather see Big10 pull some teams from Big12. Big12 is kind of a joke anyway. Grab Mizzou, Nebraska, Pittsburgh.. I'd be happy with that. Pitt feels awkward in the BE anyway to me. Convince ND to pull in to the Big10.. and add one more to make it 16.

Mizzou and Nebraska already said they're on board.

that is the end of the big east

and big east will lose bcs bid

[bulldozier1]

This will be sad if we get left in the BE/c-usa part II.

[bulldozier1]

It will hurt recruiting.

[smazza]

nd arrogance sickens me

i hope they are left out of the cold permanently

but spineless commisioners will crawl on the knees naked to get nd in the league

[tampabull]

It will hurt recruiting.

I think it will be reality if big ten takes more than one BE school.  I don't think the acc will expand if the big 10 only has 14 members, so the only shot we would have is the big 12 if they lose some teams.  its a long shot, but who knows, big 12 might want a piece of the florida market. 

[smazza]

I've been reading the articles posted here, and on ACC boards. IMO, we are screwed. IF this realignment happens, I don't think that we will be absorbed by the ACC. What I've read is ACC passibly adding, WVU , ECU, UL and Cincy or other mixes very few of which that add USF USF. The ACC brass in N.C. does not want another Florida school. I think that we will end up in a watered down BE which most likely would lose it's status as an AQ conference. I really hope that Mr. Woolard is working behind the scenes, very fine line to walk. with Bill Stewart's comments, it seems as though there are talks going on elsewhere.

someone will take usf with their size and tv market and location and if not

usf should dominate big east year after year

[813knight]

Anyway, I think the 1st team the Big 10 is looking at is Rutgers because of that New York market. That one just screams out.

The New York media market is so overvalued by everyone. College Football is more popular than ever without the NYC market. The ACC added Boston College thinking it would get the Boston market and it backfired, Baseball will always be #1 in Boston and New York. If Rutgers joins the Big 10, no one in the City will care outside of Rutgers alumni. New York will always be a Yankees, Mets, and Giants city. The only college football programs that get attention are Notre Dame and Penn State. All the transplants in Manhattan will all just follow their respective schools. And good luck to the Big 10 in convincing NYC cable companies to add the Big 10 network to basic cable that would raise rates and surely would get objection from YES(Yankees regoinal network) and SNY(Mets). Big 10 would be better off getting Nebraska, Missouri, and Pitt to lock down all of the midwest