A Loud Off-Season

If Syracuse and Boston College join Miami, then the other football playing Big East schools need to add quality teams in a hurry if they wish to remain a viable conference. Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech would no doubt turn a quick eye toward Conference USA, where Cincinnati and Louisville are both quality teams that would like to be in a better conference. In all likelihood, Memphis and South Florida would also come along, expanding the conference's television base. Connecticut would have a difficult decision, but would most likely remain, as would Rutgers. Temple may end-up a football independent, as its football team was about to be expelled from the Big East anyway.

There is talk that such a conference might try to convince Marshall to join as well.

So what happens, then, to the non-football schools of the Big East? They may remain with the football playing schools and the new additions. However, there is also a distinct possibility that the football playing schools would not see any reason to have such a huge conference for basketball. Consequently, the basketball only schools- Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, Seton Hall, Notre Dame (their football team is fiercely independent and will not join a conference), and St, John's- may need to find new conference mates to form a new conference. Given that Conference USA will already have lost Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis, basketball-only schools still left in the conference will have a definite incentive to find a stronger conference.

Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, Seton Hall, Notre Dame, St, John's, Marquette, and DePaul would certainly be a strong new conference. Rumor, however, is that these schools might want to also try to lure fellow Catholic basketball-only school Xavier from the Atlantic Ten. Dayton would also want to move if Xavier, DePaul, and Marquette are all in the same conference- potentially lucrative conference rivalries.

The Atlantic Ten would thus need to replace two teams, and the remnants of Conference USA would need new homes. Charlotte is a likely candidate for the Atlantic Ten, and the other replacement would probably be from a smaller conference. Sienna has been mentioned.

All of this leaves Saint Louis, Houston, TCU, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Miss, Tulane, and East Carolina out in the cold. What happens to these teams?

Simultaneously with the entire Miami affair, the Mountain West conference has been attempting to

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