Another new playmate for UH.
Navy has accepted an invitation to play football in the Big East, starting in 2015.
“Stability in the Big East was a very important aspect in our discussions with the commissioner,” Vice Admiral Michael Miller, superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, said during a teleconference. “What we see is a very bright future for the conference.”
Navy has been playing football as an independent since 1879, but academy officials said they believe that model will be too difficult to maintain as other powerful conferences grow. Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said scheduling games late in the season, landing desirable television deals and securing bowl bids will become a problem in the near future.
“Opportunities to exist as independents into the future are clearly in jeopardy,” he said.
[…]
The Big East, hit by the departures of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC, and TCU and West Virginia to the Big 12, will add Boise State and San Diego State for football and SMU, Central Florida and Houston for all sports, starting in 2013.
[Big East Commissioner John] Marinatto would like to get the conference to 12 football-playing schools, which would allow it to play a conference championship game.
When West Virginia departs and the new members begin play, the conference will have 11 members with football programs.
It’s going to be an eventful couple of years in the Big East as schools come and go, perhaps sooner or later than expected. Former Big East member Temple seems like a likely fit for the 12th member they’re seeking, though you never know. As Big East blogger Andrea Adelson says, there are no guarantees.
A shining example of geographic illiteracy in conference names!