Big East Basketball: Expansion candidates for an 11-school conference
By Brian Foley
It’s December and quality games are few and far between – it must be time for some Big East Basketball expansion rumors again!
As has become an annual tradition, Big East expansion talks are ramping up again.
With the American Athletic Conference structuring a new television deal and the Big East re-upping its deal with Madison Square Garden through 2028, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman was asked about potentially expanding the conference earlier this week:
“We do talk about it internally. I think every conference commissioner worth their salt has to be thinking about it in terms of long-term, where your league is and [evaluating] the future. But at this point, our schools are very satisfied with the current 10 programs and 10-school setup.”
So if something falls into the conference’s lap /coughcoughUConncough/ then the Big East may make a move, but nothing is imminent in the meantime.
If the Big East were to expand, though, it would likely shift to an 11-school conference, which would allow the league to create a 20-game conference schedule and maintain its round-robin format, something that has become vital to the Big East since it reformed around the ‘Catholic Seven.’ The Big Ten moved to a 20-game conference schedule this season, with the ACC slated to do the same in 2019-20. The Big East may feel inclined to make a similar move if a 20-game slate proves beneficial to tournament resumes come March.
Here are several potential expansion candidates, beginning with the program that both makes complete sense and no sense at all.