What the hell is Big East Commissioner John Marinatto waiting for?He's new to the job, but just five years after Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami bolted for the ACC, the Big East is sitting idly by as the Big Ten and Pac-10 announce each is looking to expand in the next year.
Marinatto should immediately announce the conference is forming a fact-finding group that will look at expanding the Big East to 12 teams. He should also assure everyone that the group will do everything it can to retain all current members, since the Big East may be raided once again by the Big Ten.
Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are all considered potential expansion partners with the Big Ten, especially if Big Ten commissioner James Delaney and his fact-finding group decide expanding to 14 teams is a better idea.
So Marinatto needs to be proactive and start thinking of the long-term sustainability of the Big East football schools. This could prove beneficial as he hopes to keep any Big East schools from listening to the Big Ten's overtures.
Remaining idle now will just increase the bashing by those who see the Big East as nothing more than a basketball conference.
There are a number of excellent options for the Big East ... elevating Villanova and Georgetown and adding Memphis, East Carolina, Central Florida or Navy is just one of them. But instead of just looking at the Big East we will soon present a proposal of going to eight Power Conferences.
Hopefully it will be more forward thinking than anything the Big East has to offer us.
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