Obviously TCU would be the Big East's first choice as an addition to shore up their anemic football petigree for a BCS automatic bid. But there seems to be a serious fly in the ointment. TCU's AD says they won't consider anything but an all sports invitation. Good for him, as I'm glad to see an AD who won't sell a program's soul for a quick fix.

But the problem with this for the Big East is that they would have to get all of the schools to approve an all sports bid. The basketball only schools aren't going to want any more basketball schools to an already bloated 16 team league, much less one that will drag down the conference as bad as, or probably worse than, DePaul, Providence, or USF.

Another twist is Villanova. Obviously the basketball schools would be fine with them as an addition to football because they don't have any impact on the basketball numbers. But Villanova, even if it decides to make the huge financial committment that would be necessary to upgrade to the next level in football, doesn't add any value to Big East football as a conference.

So what happens if Villanova doesn't step up and TCU doesn't get an all sports bid? You've got Temple, ECU, and UCF out there all willing to take a football only invitation. So where does this go- who knows? But this is going to be really interesting to watch.

TCU has leverage. The Big East really needs them to shore up football.

The equation I gave for UCF applies here as well though.

If you think the Big East eventually splits, you want to be at the table. If you think the Big East can't keep its AQ status why would you join in any capacity. If you think they will keep AQ, then join and worry about the rest later.

Of course I happen to think the Big East's pressing need for a ranked team is so strong that it should be worth it to the Big East to take TCU all-sports.

(11-10-2010 08:13 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  TCU has leverage. The Big East really needs them to shore up football.

The equation I gave for UCF applies here as well though.

If you think the Big East eventually splits, you want to be at the table. If you think the Big East can't keep its AQ status why would you join in any capacity. If you think they will keep AQ, then join and worry about the rest later.

Of course I happen to think the Big East's pressing need for a ranked team is so strong that it should be worth it to the Big East to take TCU all-sports.

You are probably right, and as I said before, it is also a move that will probably push the divorce along.

Just for an idea of how TCU basketball compares to the Big East (using Sagarin Rankings):

2009-2010
TCU Rank: 185
-- 14 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2008-2009
TCU Rank:129
-- 13 of 16 Big East schools in top 102

2007-2008
TCU Rank:181
-- 12 of 16 Big East schools in top 107

2006-2007
TCU Rank:171
-- 11 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2005-2006
TCU Rank:252
-- 15 of 16 Big East schools in top 111

Average last 2 years: 157
Average last 3 years: 165
Average last 5 years: 183.6
Average last 10 years: 151
Over 5 years the Big East averages 13 of 16 teams in about the top 110 or so

(11-10-2010 09:48 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Just for an idea of how TCU basketball compares to the Big East (using Sagarin Rankings):

2009-2010
TCU Rank: 185
-- 14 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2008-2009
TCU Rank:129
-- 13 of 16 Big East schools in top 102

2007-2008
TCU Rank:181
-- 12 of 16 Big East schools in top 107

2006-2007
TCU Rank:171
-- 11 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2005-2006
TCU Rank:252
-- 15 of 16 Big East schools in top 111

Average last 2 years: 157
Average last 3 years: 165
Average last 5 years: 183.6
Average last 10 years: 151
Over 5 years the Big East averages 13 of 16 teams in about the top 110 or so

Looks like they would have been a top half SBC team most of those years...

(11-10-2010 09:50 AM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(11-10-2010 09:48 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Just for an idea of how TCU basketball compares to the Big East (using Sagarin Rankings):

2009-2010
TCU Rank: 185
-- 14 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2008-2009
TCU Rank:129
-- 13 of 16 Big East schools in top 102

2007-2008
TCU Rank:181
-- 12 of 16 Big East schools in top 107

2006-2007
TCU Rank:171
-- 11 of 16 Big East schools in top 100

2005-2006
TCU Rank:252
-- 15 of 16 Big East schools in top 111

Average last 2 years: 157
Average last 3 years: 165
Average last 5 years: 183.6
Average last 10 years: 151
Over the last 5 years the Big East averages 13 of 16 teams in about the top 110 or so

Looks like they would have been a top half SBC team most of those years...

I actually had the SB average rank listed for each of those years but figured someone would misinterpret why I put it there as they did my other thread... but here they are:

2009-2010
TCU Rank: 185
-- 14 of 16 Big East schools in top 100
-- SB average 220

2008-2009
TCU Rank:129
-- 13 of 16 Big East schools in top 102
-- SB average 206

2007-2008
TCU Rank:181
-- 12 of 16 Big East schools in top 107
-- SB average 184

2006-2007
TCU Rank:171
-- 11 of 16 Big East schools in top 100
-- SB average 207

2005-2006
TCU Rank:252
-- 15 of 16 Big East schools in top 111
-- SB average 184

Average last 2 years: 157
Average last 3 years: 165
Average last 5 years: 183.6
Average last 10 years: 151
Average 00/01-04/05: 118.4
Over the last 5 years the Big East averages 13 of 16 teams in about the top 110 or so
Sun Belt average over 5 years: 200.2

(11-10-2010 08:13 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  TCU has leverage. The Big East really needs them to shore up football.

The equation I gave for UCF applies here as well though.

If you think the Big East eventually splits, you want to be at the table. If you think the Big East can't keep its AQ status why would you join in any capacity. If you think they will keep AQ, then join and worry about the rest later.

Of course I happen to think the Big East's pressing need for a ranked team is so strong that it should be worth it to the Big East to take TCU all-sports.

They don't have the stones to do it, but they should go to Notre Dame and tell then they either add football to the Big East or take all their other sports out to make room for TCU as a full member. Trading trips for the non-revenue sports from South Bend to Fort Worth isn't as dramatic as just adding Fort Worth to the schedule they already have.