The Horned Frogs will participate in all sports -- but this move is obviously driven by football. At the time of the announcement, TCU was the third-ranked team in the all-important Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings. The highest-ranked current Big East member was twenty-fourth-ranked West Virginia. Thanks to the BCS' arcane formula, TCU's recent performance will count towards the Big East's overall score when automatic bids are next considered. The move also brings the number of football-playing members to nine -- one more than the BCS minimum. That could be crucial if the Big Ten starts flirting with Syracuse, Pittsburgh or Rutgers as part of their next round of expansion.
Horned Frogs and Hoops
In basketball, and in other sports, there isn't much benefit... aside, of course, from the whole "a stronger football conference decreases the possibility that the Big East will get picked apart in the next round of expansion" thing.The Horned Frogs aren't particularly competitive in basketball. They haven't reached the NCAA Tournament since 1998. The only TCU player in the NBA currently is Kurt Thomas -- who was drafted in 1995. They'll gain far more in terms of RPI points and national standing from competing against Connecticut and Syracuse and Georgetown than any Big East team will gain from the association.
And then there's geography. TCU is in Dallas, which is a pretty decent hike from Providence or Queens or Milwaukee or Philadelphia or... let's just say it's not close to any other school in the conference. That'll put a crimp in the ol' travel budget, particularly in "non-revenue" sports (NCAA shorthand for everything but football and men's basketball).
But those issues aside, the addition of TCU isn't expected to have much of an impact on basketball scheduling. Right now, Big East teams play an 18-game conference schedule. They play each league opponent once and play "repeat" games with three league opponents. For example -- during the 2010-11 season, St. John's plays Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Georgetown twice each, and plays every other Big East team once.
Adding a 17th member simply means one of those "repeat" games is eliminated.
More Additions?
Is the Big East done expanding? Unclear. Much will depend on Villanova and its football program. The Wildcats are a perennial power in the Football Championship Subdivision (Formerly known as Division I-AA), and are said to be mulling a move up to BCS-level play. If Villanova steps up, that gives the Big East ten football-playing members... a nice even number, which makes scheduling a lot simpler.If Villanova opts not to make the leap, the conference could look to add another football program. The University of Central Florida is the name mentioned most often.
Villanova is expected to announce a decision this Spring.
