At Big East media day in 2010 there was a mild buzz in Rhode Island about the Big East making an announcement that they would be adding Memphis to their conference. The Big Ten had already announced they would be adding Nebraska and the Pac 10 was on a path to become the Pac 12, and speculation was that the Big East was looking to join the expansion party as well. Memphis was a trendy name for a conference that is known most for their college basketball.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto never pulled back the curtain that morning media day officially got underway. Better late than never it would seem.
On Wednesday the Big East will officially add the University of Memphis to their conference as a full-league member in all sports, with the Tigers expected to join the conference in 2013. A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon (1 p.m.) on the Memphis' campus to make the news official, and the Big East will hold a conference call with the media to address the announcement with members of the media.
The Big East has also lined up Central Florida, Houston and Southern Methodist as full league members starting in 2013, meaning the conference will grab four Conference USA members. Boise State, San Diego State and Navy are also set to join in football, with the two Mountain West Conference schools scheduled to join in 2013 and Navy preparing to move in 2015. When all of the additions are completed, and the impending departures of West Virginia (Big 12), Pittsburgh and Syracuse (ACC) take effect the Big East will have 12 members in football barring any further changes.
Getting to 12 football members was the overall goal of the conference, which will now be able to set up a conference championship game sanctioned by the NCAA. For Memphis the mission will be to improve their standing on the college football field. Memphis has had just one winning season since 2006, amassing an overall record of 4-31 over the last three seasons. The program has been ranked 115th, 119th, and 107th in SRS each of the past three seasons. In a stretch where college football has driven the realignment process from coast to coast in a myriad of different directions, the Big East's addition of Memphis seems to be driven by basketball more than anything else.
But the football side of things could benefit from joining the Big East. The automatic qualifying status may become a thing of the past (not just for the Big East but for all conferences) but for now it is still in place, which means Memphis will be in a conference that will have a guaranteed spot in the big bowl games, which leads to big payouts. Every school joining the Big East will reap the same benefits, but perhaps no school will be as happy as Memphis to receive the potential increased bowl money. For years Memphis has been accused of not spending enough money to properly fund a division one football program. Could this be the start of a new era of Tigers football, or will there continue to be trouble in River City?
Again, this is a solid move for basketball. The Big East will be adding a traditionally strong college basketball program, and one that was in the national championship game just a few years back.
Memphis currently only has one non-conference game scheduled in 2013, against Arkansas State on September 21 at home. This should allow plenty of flexibility for Memphis to make the move in to the Big East in 2013. As mentioned earlier, Navy will not join the Big East until 2015. Navy's football program has schedules in place through the 2015 season, but is expected to be able to make necessary changes for the 2015 season and honor commitments through the 2014 season.
CBSSports.com was the first media outlet to report on the Big East's decision to invite Memphis.
Kevin McGuire is a national college football writer for Examiner.com and the host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast. He can be reached at cfbexaminer@gmail.com.
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