What if ALL Big East Schools Played Big East Football?

There are eight teams that play football in the Big East. But what if some of the non-Big East football teams played football in the Big East? That even includes the non-football schools in the Big East. Some teams are teams you may not know had football. Here are the current Big East football schools (as of 3/22/2010):

* West Virginia
* Pittsburgh
* South Florida
* Rutgers
* Syracuse
* Connecticut
* Cincinnati
* Louisville

And here are the current schools that are in the Big East, but not for football:

* Notre Dame
* Villanova
* Georgetown
* DePaul (non-football)
* Marquette (non-football)
* Providence (non-football)
* St. Johns (of Jamaica, NY; non-football)
* Seton Hall (non-football)

So what if the above schools played football in the Big East, and what would happen if current non-football schools played in the Big East for football? Let's do this!

--- What If: Non-Big East Football Schools in Big East? ---

This section concerns teams that sponsor football, but doesn't play their football in the Big East.

Notre Dame.
Ahh, Notre Dame. America's most famous Catholic university. They are football independents in the FBS division and are a BCS team. There's likely a good reason why Notre Dame isn't in any conference in football... because they're Notre Dame, motherf... (watch your mouth!)! Unless Notre Dame football thinks they are too good to fit into any conference, the Fighting Irish probably would be a weird fit for the Big East. The rivalries they have with Michigan, Michigan State, Boston College, and USCal would have to remain intact, and a conference schedule would kill having some of these rivalries.

Villanova.
Temple was once the Big East market for Philadelphia, but in Temple's campaign, they floundered terribly. Villanova would truly be a great candidate for the Philly market. It would be interesting if Villanova had to go against Temple for playing games at Lincoln Finanical Field. At least the Wildcats know how to put up a fight in almost any sport.

Georgetown.
The Hoyas are not a good football team in FCS. They play in the Patriot League for football. Their stadium would have to be built up to BCS school standards to seat more people. That's if they were to play in Washington, D.C. If not an in-city stadium, they would probably play at where the NFL's Washington Redskins play for Hoyas' football.

--- What If: Big East Non-Football Schools Sponsored Football and Played in Big East? ---

Now is a look at where the Big East non-football schools would play at or how they would do if they had football and played in the Big East.

DePaul.
This religious school in Chicago would be the only other Chicago-area Division 1 football school along with Northwestern University. The Blue Demons of DePaul would probably play their football at some campus stadium, or probably play at Soldier Field (Chicago Bears' stadium).

Marquette.
Marquette University has football on the club level. The Milwaukee-based Jesuit school would make Marquette the only other Division 1 football school in the state of Wisconsin (the University of Wisconsin-Madison is, of course, the other). Even if to get more NCAA football in the state of Wisconsin (including getting Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin-Green Bay to start football), why not? They'd probably have the Milwaukee football market all to themselves. That is... unless that NFL team up north rules football in the Badger State. I just hope Marquette's football team has better-looking uniforms than what Marquette has now (their simplistic blue and gold colors before going to their current uniforms were beautiful).

Providence.
Providence College is the only other school in Rhode Island's capital city besides Brown University. Providence rocks black and white beautifully in all of their sports. One of my personal favorite color combinations for sports teams is black and silver. A Friars' football team would look pretty cool with black jerseys and white pants. There would be one more cool reason to have a football team for Providence- the Big East offices are in Providence, Rhode Island. Unless Providence isn't a favorable-enough market, then this would be cool to see. Then again, this school has had a number of financial problems. Some Providence sports teams were sacked in their history.

Seton Hall.
Even though the state of New Jersey has one football team, in fact... the birthplace of college football- Rutgers, Seton Hall would make it two New Jersey schools. The South Orange, NJ-based religious school would be only a few 10 or 15 miles from New York City. The Pirates would probably play in some on-campus facility or maybe play where the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets play their football at.

St. John's University (in Queens, NY).
The Red Storm are the kings of Queens. Many people best know St. John's as one of the most successful basketball schools in history. St. John's is good at the other football (soccer to many of us). It used to be that St. John's used to have a football team when they played football in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). When their program was sacked, football was gone. New York City is a special case for football. It would be weird to have a proper football team in the New York City without having to play their games in New Jersey or something. I think they still have their on-campus football stadium. They would probably have to build it up to BCS school standards if they want football in the Big Apple.

--- Other Considerations ---

Sorting All Schools.
A sixteen-team football conference would be hellishly crazy. Maybe the biggest thing to look at would be two divisions of Big East football. Each conference represents Big East regulars and the non-original Big East football teams. If the Big East wants ALL of these schools to play for Big East football rights, they may (and this is going to offer a head-turner) a four-team playoff for the highest-ranked teams from each divisions. So as an example, imagine if West Virginia and South Florida comprised the best B.E. regulars, while Marquette and Notre Dame comprised the best of the other division. What would happen is that WVU and South Florida would play for the right to to play in a Championship Game for the Big East championship. And of course, BCS Bowl berths would be on the line. Or of course, you'd have a deal where you have tie-breakers and stuff. That's the classic method for football teams.

The only other consideration? Split the Big East into two different conferences. That's what's on the table for the Big East. I've been hearing and reading all along about a rumored Big East split to where there's a conference for the private schools.





I may consider doing other blog entries on if current non-football schools had proper football teams (whether scholarship or non-scholarship). For now, those are my ideas on if ALL Big East teams had football programs and played in the Big East. What do YOU make of all of this? Feel free to comment away!