TCU going to Big East Conference

[TheOldProgrammer]

In case you hadn't heard:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-tcu-bigeast

:smoke

[cnjbond]

I was just about to post the same thing...so much for bringing them to Big XII.

[cnjbond]

I just looked up the members of the Big East and the closest team is Louisville. I know there are Horned Frogs alumni all over the country but seriously, do they think people will travel that far to see them play? They must have been offered a "SWEET" monetary deal to join.

[Rick]

Maybe they were lured into a conference with bunch of teams they can beat.

They messed up. Given their location, their fans could easily travel to most of the games. They will have to fly everywhere. Dumb move if you ask me.

[CenTexDave]

The Big East is one of the six major conferences that form the BCS. I'm sure that TCU figured this would be a lucrative deal, and it could possibly be. Win the Big East and they are guaranteed a spot in a BCS Bowl Game - Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta. They payouts are huge - last time I checked each team in one of those bowl games received $13M.
That's the good news. That bad news is the Big East is the weakest of the BCS conferences. While TCU is currently playing great, moving to this conference just plain doesn't make sense to me except for the monetary reasons I stated above. They would be far away from Fort Worth every other game.
The Mountain West saw Utah jump ship so they could be stomped every Saturday in the PAC-10. Boise State is moving to the MWC next year.
I would have pushed for the Big 12, but then they might not go undefeated all the time.

[cnjbond]

Oh they'll DEFINITELY beat up the rest of the conference in football, not so sure about the other athletic programs except basketball in which they won't have much of a chance. A Texas school in the Big East, that's just unAmerican!

[CenTexDave]

Really. I wonder why the Big 12 didn't reach out to them when it was obvious Nebraska and Colorado were leaving. And grab Boise State or SMU or Houston while at it and become the Big 12 again.

[cnjbond]

I thought about that too but who would they move out of the Big XII south? All the teams are either in Texas or Oklahoma. I guess they could've moved the Okie teams to the North but then they would've had to guarantee that UT & OU would still be able to play every year.

[CenTexDave]

The schedule could be arranged so that UT and OU would play each other.
The Big Ten will divide into two divisions next year with the addition of Nebraska. They have already aligned the divisions and put Ohio State in one and Michigan in the other. They have guaranteed that those two will play each other the last regular game of the year, as they have for decades. They weren't about to break that rivalry up.

[cnjbond]

I didn't think about this til now but I wonder if another reason TCU is leaving the MWC is to avoid regularly playing Boise State who's joining the conference next year?

[TheOldProgrammer]

I kind of doubt that this is the case... Thought I read that they were invited to join... Here's another thought; maybe TCU didn't want to play on the blue turf... :smoke

[cnjbond]

LOL, I'd hate to play on the Smurf turf too! True, they were invited but I think the BCS system & the chance of playing Boise every year helped in their decision to accept. If they stayed in the MWC, they would face the same year end scenario (plus playing a conference team that could actually beat them) of going undefeated with no chance to dance in the big one. Now they'll carry the big stick in a conference that has AQ status and if they go undefeated, chances are they'll play for a championship.

[CenTexDave]

We'll see just how good they are. Looks like they will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. A great opportunity for them in the Granddaddy of Them All.
I hope TCU wins. They have three players from Cove who all contribute - the Brock brothers and WR Josh Boyce.
Personally, though, I think Wisconsin will beat'em up pretty good.