Just when you thought the Big East expansion couldn’t get any more bizarre, out comes this piece from Boston.com indicating that the BE is also considering a back-up plan that would have the BE football members (whomever is left) jumping on board with the C-USA-MWC merger. Holy Toledo…wait, Toledo wouldn’t be one the 28-32 members. Make that Holy Boise!
Not that the Boston.com has been all that accurate on the topic of the Big East – of course the BE can’t even tell you what they are doing – so for this post, let’s go with this story as having some basis. IF this is true, what it tells me is that the league is pretty sure that West Virginia is leaving and that BSU ain’t coming. This plan is to ensure members have AQ status, so if you follow the bouncing ball, it is somewhat of an admission that if Boise State doesn’t become a member, AQ status is gone.
So, with this admission, the C-USA-MWC merger is looking more and more like a brilliant stroke (way to go Coach Holland!). If BSU stays put, the merger has a real chance to swipe the AQ status (that is, if the BCS doesn’t adjust its formula to preclude it) from the BE. So, I say, if WVU is leaving to the Big 12, then frankly, there is no school left in the Big East that I would want to help out, so I say, let the BE die on the vine by telling them “Thanks, but no thanks.” They are not welcome in the merged C-USA-MWC in my mind.
I think there is wisdom to this blogger’s solution to the Big East dilemma, which is to give up and have the football schools beg C-USA to take them in and beg the BCS to grant AQ status. Makes sense, but for me, the Big East doesn’t deserve a C-USA life ring.
We have suffered this long, what is two more seasons…think how gratifying it would be to get the AQ status because the BCS has to give it to us. Seeing the Big East die would just be the icing on the cake.
A Port of the Pirate Nation 
Thank you and I like Peloquin’s CUSA expansion thoughts on first blush – kind of “back to the future” for CUSA (how ironic), plus it instantly improves the conference’s basketball postion, less travel for all sports, etc…. Have nice weekend (especially if we sink the midshipmen later today)!
That is dead on talking about back to the future. In fact, I was reading an article from 2010 (wish I could find it) where a writer was basically saying to the Big East to be proactive and merge up with CUSA for football and watch what happens when ECU, UCF, USM and others get access to AQ money and exposure. A little Nostradamusesque…
Go Pirates!
That would be too good to be true. Wish I could be the C-USA commissioner the day they called. “Hello. This is the commissioner….you would like what?…. Am I on candid camera?… tell you what, why don’t all of you hold your breath until you are allowed in? Blue looks good on you.”
Lol…would love to be a fly on the wall there. It appears that the CUSA/MWC merger approached the BE on this one, but did so as an olive leave before gut punching the wayward BE (at least that is how I read it). If you look at Dennis Dodd’s piece where he is expanding on the Boston.com story, it sure reads like the CUSA/MWC merger folks called the BE and said, “hey, we are going to give you a chance to hop aboard this train because if you don’t you don’t have enough goods to keep your AQ status.”
God…the BE is such a mess. I hope that BSU stays put.
Man, it just keeps getting crazier and crazier.
Right? Now the BE is saying that the huge conference plan is not good for them…like they know what is good for anyone…they have done more damage to themselves than anyone else has. Of course, the super conference could also be seen as playing right into BCS hands as it further defines the in-teams and the left-outs.
It appears that things are going to get very interesting down the stretch here and into 2013.