Newly minted Big East commissioner Mike Aresco, a former CBS executive, would like to get the Big East thinking about its position as the first in line of the "have-not" conferences for the potential 2014 playoff system. Navy, set to join the Big East in 2015 as a football only member of the soon to be former AQ conference, would be the 13th football team in the Big East conference. Aresco seems to be in a hurry to get Navy on board and will talk to the Midshipmen about an earlier entry into the conference.

There are rumors of a "7th bowl" to be added to the list of elite bowls, which would have a potential payout around $20 million. What is of interest to the Mountain West conference, other than its possible participation in the additional bowl game, is the notion that the Big East needs a 14th member to accompany Navy. The rumors have been persistent about Army, Air Force and BYU. By pushing the date forward,

Aresco is also fueling the fire of an addition coming sooner than later. There are rumors that either one team or all three will be added, depending on which teams are available and what will deliver the best TV contract. The defection of ND may have hastened this addition, due to the timing of the TV contract negotiations. Then again, this might have happened either way. Unfortunately, we have no tea leaves to read to see how this will work out for the Mountain West.