While TCU may have been a quick fix for the football conference, do you really think any of the basketball programs wanted to make that road trip in the winter?

It also affected the scheduling in basketball. With 16 teams in the conference, teams only played three other teams twice in a season. With 17-teams, they would only play two games against the same opponent twice. Do you think a team like Pitt or Syracuse wanted to sacrifice a game against a team like UConn to take a trip into Texas?

If you think Pitt and Syracuse going to the ACC is about football, then you are kidding yourself. Its about their basketball programs. Losing to a Duke or North Carolina does more for your RPI than beating a South Florida, Rutgers, or TCU.

The Big East putting basketball on the back burner forced these schools to look elsewhere.

Thats why adding Boise State really doesnt do much for the Big East in football. The travel alone really doesnt make sense and even with the Broncos in the mix, the Big East is still the sixth best of the BCS Conferences..

How do you save Big East football? Unfortunately, the answer is that you dont.

The first thing the Big East should do is downsize. You already have a South Florida who really doesnt belong there. Next is basketball only DePaul. They have no business in the Big East either.

Be what you are. The Big East can still excel as an East Coast basketball conference.

Tags: Take A Trip