Since there are so many BigEast realignment theories and many C-USA ones, I thought it would be better to continue the idea all the way to it's conclusion.

Here's Mine:

BigEast splits into FB and non-FB conferences.

BigEast (10):
Retains: Providence, SetonHall, St.John's, Villanova, Georgetown
Add: Marquette, DePaul, St.Louis, Dayton, Xavier

A-10 (10):
Retains: UMass, RhodeIsland, St.Joseph's, Fordham, LaSalle, Duquesne, GeorgeWashington, Temple, Richmond
Adds: Charlotte
Drops: St.Bonaventure

EastCoastConference (10):
from BigEast: BostonCollege, UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, WestVirginia, Rutgers
from C-USA: Cincinnati, Louisville, ECU
from the MAC: Marshall

C-USA (9):
Retains: Memphis, USF, UAB, SoMiss, Tulane, Houston, TCU
from the MAC: UCF
from the WAC: LaTech

MAC (8-12):
Retains: NoILL, BallState, WestMich, CentMich, Toledo, BGSU, Ohio, Miami(OH)
Could lose to I-AA: EastMich, Akron, KentState, Buffalo

WAC absorbs SunBelt FB (12):
Retains from WAC: UTEP, Rice, SMU, Tulsa
Adds from SunBelt: Idaho, UtahState, NMSU, UNT, La-Laf, ArkState, TroyState, MTSU
Loses to I-AA: SJSU, La-Mon

MWC (12):
Retains: BYU, Utah, ColState, AirForce, Wyoming, NewMexico, SDSU, UNLV
Adds: Nevada, FresnoState, BoiseState, Hawaii

You have Tulsa in both the C-USA and WAC.

Although stripped of basketball powers, I like the regional shape of C-USA.

Last comment - If 8 Sunbelt teams join with 4 WAC teams, why would the new conference be called WAC instead of Sunbelt. The Sunbelt could invite the WAC leftovers after the defections. But perhaps it is best to just let the Sunbelt name die.

Thanks for the heads up on double entering Tulsa - I was debating where to put them and I guess I never eliminated either one ... but if you think about it they might be the best BB team in either (maybe along with Memphis in C-USA) and one of the worst FB schools in either too - so you see my dilemna. I'll change the original post.

As for why add 8 SunBelt schools to the WAC instead of adding 4 WAC schools to the SunBelt.....there are 6 reasons:

1. UArk-LittleRock
2. UNewOrleans
3. SoAlabama
4. FlaInt
5. WestKentucky
6. Denver

You'll never get 4 more all-sports schools into a conference that currently has 8 all-sports members, 6 non-FB members and 1 FB-only member. And kicking out 6 members is very, very messy.

It's simpler, cleaner and easier to re-build the WAC with all-sports members than to build another C-USA of partial members and full-members. Chances are that the remaining members of the WAC (UTEP, SMU, Rice, Tulsa) will invite the western schools (UtahState, Idaho, NMSU and UNT) and then may or may not continue to add the others.

MTSU could easily be added to the MAC as well - especially if the WAC doesn't take them all.

Three interesting BE board threads at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11773

and at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11735

and at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11751

A view from Pittsburgh, recognizing the significance of the WVU win:

The Pitt News
pittnews.com

Rooting for the Big East No Matter Who's Playing


SPORTS VIEW
By KEITH WEHMEYER
January 10, 2006

A strange thing happened during the Sugar Bowl.
From the kickoff to the final whistle, I was a Mountaineers fan. Pitt and the rest of the Big East Conference desperately needed a West Virginia victory.

The Mountaineers didn’t disappoint, defeating Georgia 38-35 on Jan. 2 in the second of four BCS bowl games.

Since prior to the 2004 season, when the Atlantic Coast Conference pillaged the Big East for the good Samaritans that are Miami and Virginia Tech, respect for the quality of Big East football has declined. The conference had lost the two teams that had a hand in the last five conference championships. A year later, Boston College defected as well.

When Pitt earned the Big East’s automatic BCS bid, questions regarding the conference’s merit grew louder. Pitt’s performance versus Utah in the Fiesta Bowl went a long way to answering the questions, and it wasn’t the answer the Big East was hoping for. Respect for the conference declined further.

This year’s bowl season didn’t start much better. Rutgers, in its first bowl appearance since 1978, fell to Arizona State in the Insight Bowl. South Florida was shut out by N.C. State in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. And Virginia Tech stomped injury-depleted Big East newcomer Louisville in the Gator Bowl.

The Big East wasn’t exactly proving its critics wrong.

Enter the Mountaineers — exit my couch.

West Virginia didn’t just win, they impressed. Because of Hurricane Katrina, the Sugar Bowl was moved to the Georgia Dome, giving the Bulldogs a virtual home game. However, led by freshmen at the quarterback and tailback positions, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 28-0 lead.

Georgia battled back to within three in the second half as pennies danced off my TV screen. But in the end, the Mountaineers held on. The Big East had a bowl win — a BCS bowl win. More importantly, they had respect.

A loss by the Mountaineers, and calls for the Big East to lose its automatic bid, would have grown louder. If their loss had been similar to Pitt’s 35-7 Fiesta Bowl debacle a year prior, the calls would have grown deafening.

Nationally, West Virginia has shown itself to be the standard for Big East football. In the 2002, 2003 and 2005 seasons, West Virginia went undefeated against current Big East schools. In 2004, the Mountaineers had what now looks like a rebuilding year. They went 4-3 in the conference, including a Thanksgiving loss at the hands of the Panthers at Heinz Field.

The Big East needs to show that its standard can compete with the national powers, and the Mountaineers’ Sugar Bowl victory did just that.

Playing in a conference perceived inferior would be damaging to Pitt. Top recruits want to play where they will have a chance to get noticed. If Big East football fell off the radar, it would be more difficult to land top players. Recruits from the north would favor geriatric-led Penn State and the rest of the Big Ten more than they already do.

Top players from the south would take second and third thoughts before traveling north to Pitt. Why would they go to the Big East? The ACC and SEC get plenty of national respect.

And Pitt needs recruits. West Virginia looks poised to be a power for years to come. Star quarterback Pat White and tailback Steve Slaton will be sophomores next year. Good for the Big East; bad for Pitt.

So, a salute to the West Virginia football team for carrying the flag for the Big East conference. Hopefully, the Panthers can return the favor soon.

Keith Wehmeyer is a staff writer for The Pitt News. E-mail him at keith.wehmeyer@gmail.com.

Interesting thread from BE board at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=12081

As I scrolled down, I did see a familar screen name and script. You don't suppose..........?

On the three no votes on non-qualifier ban, most seem to think they were WVU, USF, and L'ville.

Interesting threads from BE board at http://bigeastboards.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=3775

and at http://bigeastboards.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=3871

I think the 1-A football schools would be stupid not to split and invite UCF, Memphis, and one more and have a championship game in NYC.

Related BE board thread at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=12125

Link to 2003 UMass D-1a feasibility study report at http://www.umass.edu/umhome/athletics/football

I am having trouble logging in for some reason but here are two threads that discuss the topic more in depth with 'financial speculations' about a split....

Thread 1: First three pages are pretty good
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11735&highlight=&sid=4ce434b16397d069a8941511de237288

Thread 2:
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11773&highlight=&sid=4ce434b16397d069a8941511de237288

Discussion of future UMass to D-1a in FB section at http://umasshoops.com/board/index.htm

The Big East Conference football group are stuck. They have no where to go. They are hostage to a band of big city Catholic schools stretched from New England to deep into the midwest. To top it off, they are grouped with Notre Dame for basketball and a few other sports, but what Notre Dame could offer the football group best--- their football program, Notre Dame will have no part of it. The Big East football are hostage to Notre Dame greed too.
A West Virginia win is West Virginia's achievement, not DePaul's and Villanova's. It shows the Big East has some good football programs worthy of BCS but they are having to carry all this bagage. Solution---------
1. SPLIT
2. No partner with Notre Dame unless they join for football. They won't.
3. Add a few----Memphis, UCF, ECU or Toledo, etc.
4. Find new slate, clean and competent Commisioner and associates for new all-sport league without biased loyalties.
5. Treat western conferences as sports colleagues, not excuses for own vulnerabilities.
6. Stop crying over Miami and BC leaving, they are gone, rebuild good relations with the ACC, stop blaming Temple---the basketball schools led by Villanova got rid of them and you may have been able to have used a football market in Philadelphia later. Stop the images and practices of being the most petty conference. No wonder even Navy does not want a part of it.
7. Football breakaways commit to all-sports.

Additional BE board thread at http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/bigeast/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11751