Navy joins Big East for football

AS EXPECTED, longtime independent Navy has announced it will accept an invitation to join the Big East for football only beginning in 2015.

One of six BCS conferences, the Big East currently has eight teams for football. But it will be losing longtime members Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC following the 2012-13 school year. West Virginia is also moving, to the Big 12, and is attempting to do so this year. The Big East has a 27-month notification period that would keep West Virginia in through 2013-14. A Rhode Island judge has ordered the parties to enter into nonbinding mediation to resolve their competing lawsuits.

Last month the conference added Boise State and San Diego State for football and SMU, Houston and Central Florida for all sports. Those schools are coming aboard in 2013.

Boise was obviously the key for BCS automatic-bid purposes. The Big East wants to get to an even dozen so it can split into divisions and hold a championship game.

Sources have indicated that Air Force is still being targeted as that 12th team, although no new expansion talks have been held since early November. The main focus appears to be firming up the Western division, which of course is important to Boise. Brigham Young had been approached, but talks supposedly broke down because the school was asking for too much in financial concessions.

Temple, Memphis and even Villanova, which currently plays at the FCS level, have been discussed as other potential candidates. And the situation could always change again, if Louisville and/or Cincinnati choose to also depart should the Big 12 go from 10 back to 12. Louisville was prepared to exit in December, before the Big 12 went with West Virginia instead.