Assuming there are no more snags in the process, the Big East will be adding Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members for the 2012 season. CBS' Brett McMurphy broke the story about expansion and also added that Air Force is stil weighing their options and if they decline an offer to join the Big East the league would then move on and see if Temple would be interested in joining.
Both Aztec and Bronco fans are excited about the move because it will net them an overall better football schedule --mainly because the bottom of the Big East is better than New Mexico and UNLV -- and some are happy to be off of the Mountain West's television deal. I can sympathise that with Aztec fans since one of the major cable carriers did not carry the Mtn., but really the television deal is a positive for the league because a lot of games may not have been able to be seen had the league gone with ESPN.
OBNUG makes a good point about the move:
I appreciate that the Broncos are making every effort to move the program forward and to keep growing into one of the best football schools around. The Big East will help, no matter what shape it's in when the Broncos get there. Sure, I worry about the Big East retaining its AQ bid and scoring a big TV contract. But in a college football world where you have to keep moving to survive, I'd rather see Boise State take a leap than stand still.
Change is vital to survival and the Mountain West is a bit slow when it comes to change, and not to hash up an old argument too much. However, had Craig Thompson and the rest of the schools added Boise State and TCU at the same time things might have been different.
Now here is a map of the new Big East, I would add one for the Mountain West but there is not one.
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