http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/colle...UhWEeCUtGv7dNPBig East looking for 12 teams in football
By LENN ROBBINS
Last Updated: 8:43 AM, September 6, 2011
Posted: 2:11 AM, September 6, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It's all about Nov. 1, 2012.
That's the date the Big East Conference becomes a TV free agent. The league's goal is to be able to present such a solid, far-reaching and valuable product that it lands a deal in the neighborhood of the $4 billion package recently signed by the Pac-12.
So when you hear Big East and wonder why schools such as Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State are being mentioned, think Midwest TV markets. Maps are just a piece of paper with lines.
With Texas A&M poised to join the SEC, the Big East is looking to add those three Big 12 schools and grow to 12 football schools and swell to 20 in basketball.
If that seems unwieldy, think outside the box.
The Big East has studied the creation of four five-team divisions in basketball and two divisions -- East and West -- in football, The Post has learned.
In basketball it could mean each school having home-and-home games with the other four schools in its division and then playing crossover games from schools in other divisions. Some schools wouldn't play each other in a given year.
Football would split along geographical lines with Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Cincinnati, Louisville and TCU in the West Division, and UConn, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, South Florida and West Virginia in the East.
Division winners would meet in a true conference championship game, with a BCS bowl game on the line.
The basketball splits likely would create some division but unless the non-FBS football schools (Georgetown, St. John's, et al) are willing to risk the very real possibility of the FBS football-playing schools breaking away, they'll agree to expansion and the new formats.
The non-football schools are very willing to accommodate the football schools for the sake of the league, several sources told The Post. A big check from TV revenue would assuage any hurt feelings.
These changes, of course, hinge on the Big 12 falling apart, which seems likely. With Texas A&M headed to the SEC, the Big 12 is down to nine schools with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech likely leaving for the Pac-12.
When one considers the Pac-12 would then grow to 16 teams in football and basketball, the 12-and-20 makeup of the Big East doesn't seem so radical.
John Swofford, commissioner of the ACC, all but shot down a report out of Austin that his league was interested in taking Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn and Texas.
He also alluded to the reason why the Big 12 is in trouble is because of the Longhorn Network and the uneven distribution of TV monies.
Swofford was asked if he would bring in any entity that created uneven distribution.
"I don't think that you ever say never about anything these days but that has been a very strong principle in our league since the middle '80s," he said. "I think that it's one that has a lot to do with the stability of conferences."
The two main potential stumbling blocks focus on Missouri. Missouri dearly covets an invite from the Big Ten, which recently invited Nebraska and showed little interest in the Tigers. That could change, though the Big Ten has only added two schools -- Penn State and Nebraska -- in the last 30 years.
The second scenario has Missouri going to the SEC as that school's 14th member. But Missouri does not see a good cultural fit with the SEC and might prefer the Big East. But by coming to the Big East with Kansas and K-State, Missouri maintains its relationship with two rivals.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com
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