Memphis to the Big East????

According to Fox 13 news in Memphis...............The University of Memphis is in serious talks with the Big East. Memphis AD (RC Johnson) has been working with Big East Commish Mike Tranghese over the last few weeks about the Tigers moving to the Big East in ALL sports. The move would take place in the Fall of 2009 if approved. Memphis AD (RC Johnson) is currently in Destin, Florida at the C-USA conference meetings, but will have more info for the media when he returns. This info is on myfoxmemphis.com

As a huge Memphis fan, I hope this happens very soon. However, we all know the Tigers have been kicked in the gut before!!!! Last week, Mike Tranghese said he had NO reason to talk about adding anyone at this time. It has been reported here in Memphis that FedEx was helping push this move to the Big East.

Memphis fans wanted a new 42,000 seat on campus football stadium and the University voted it down. They said the city of Memphis would upgrade the 65,000 seat Liberty Bowl for the Tigers. IF the Tigers are moving to the Big East, the bigger stadium would be needed. Maybe the University of Memphis has known this plan for a few months and this is why it was voted down even though there was enough support for the new stadium????

I don't want to count chickens before they hatch...........however it would be HUGE if the the Tigers left C-USA for the BCS money. I hope this gets done soon!!!! Go TIGERS!!!!

This morning on the same Fox news channel said they were reporting that this story actually broke on Tuesday, but they wanted to double check with ALL of their sources. Fox13 also went on to say that this move would happen very quickly!!! My question is......what is quickly??? To a fan, that means next week. However, we all know that to the media that could mean as soon as 3-4 years!!!!

Since we play Louisville in football this year and we played UCONN, Cincy and Georgetown (all were Tiger victories) this past season in basketball, I think the Tigers are ready for the move to the Big East. Memphis will play Syracuse, Georgetown and Cincy this year in basketball. The Tigers will continue to win 25 or more games in basketball EVERY year. The football team will need a few years to get BCS talent in here. We all know the Tigers will get better talent when they jump to the Big East. The BCS $$$$ will help the Tigers with improvements and in recruiting!!!

I've been predicting this for the last couple years.  We always knew the Big East realignment was temporary. 

Here's one possible scenario for what happens next...

The 7 non BCS schools are going to be dumped in favor of the likes of some coalition of current non-BCS schools, most likely Memphis, Central Florida, East Carolina, and Marshall (though Army and Navy could be in the mix), giving them 12 teams and a Conference championship (and leaving C-USA basically depleted.)

I think they'd offer ND the opportunity to join, but the Irish would decline, only to eventually accede that they would have to join a conference so their women's tennis team would have someone to play.  Thus, they'd sign a deal with the Big Ten allowing football to become a full member once their TV deal ran out, and the rest of their sports to join immediately.

Finally, the remaining Big East schools--all relatively small, urban, Catholic institutions--would be left to figure out their future.  I think their best move would be to try and grab the 7 Catholic schools with similar profiles from the Atlantic 10, and form a new 14 school league.   Where that'd leave Villanova and Georgetown football, I dunno.  (Possibly as football-only members of the Patriot league?  Obviously this whole shakeup would look different if those two were able to get their football programs up to a BCS level.)

So, here's one plausible realignment (names of the conferences are just for convenience):

"Mid-East Conference":

Syracuse                     Louisville
UConn                         West Virginia
Rutgers                       Cincinnati
South Florida              Memphis
Pitt                                East Carolina
Central Florida           Marshall

"East Coast Conference":

Georgetown                Marquette
Villanova                      DePaul
Providence                  Xavier
St. John's                     Dayton
Seton Hall                   St. Louis
St. Joe's                       Duquesne
Fordham                     La Salle