After news broke that Syracuse and Pitt were leaving the Big East for the greener pastures of the ACC, it seemed like the Big East might need to make some big moves to remain relevant and especially maintain its BCS status. After all, the addition of TCU made it seem like there was nothing to worry about. Then TCU announced that it was not even going to bother with the Big East and join the Big 12 instead and Big East commissioner John Marinatto was seen feverishly Googling “seppuku.”

The departure of Pitt and Syracuse leaves the league with just 6 teams, so the Big East is now finally recognizing an urgency to add 6 schools and become a 12-team conference. Hold on to your zany foam hats, because they are doozies – UCF, ECU, Temple, Navy, Air Force, and maybe Boise State. And that’s assuming that none of the Big East’s other schools leave.

The issue lingering over the league’s future involves Missouri. If Missouri leaves the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, that would put Big East football in peril. The Big 12 would probably grab West Virginia or Louisville, or both, to replace Missouri. The Big 12 could also take one or both if Missouri stays. Big East officials say they will not wait for Missouri to decide, but no definitive timetable is in place.

(Via The New York Times)

With all of the other big news and rumors that have been circling the Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big 10 and PAC-However-Many-Schools-They-Have-Now, the Big East has been easy to ignore. But here’s a quick recap – nobody wants to join the Big East except for schools the other schools don’t want. For instance, USF has been trying hard to keep UCF out. Does anyone care about that? No. Hell, UCF is my alma mater and I don’t even care about it.

Ultimately, the Big East is going to lose West Virginia and probably Rutgers. If Louisville can get its act together and start winning again, it will probably leave as well. Best case scenario – and probably only case scenario – the Big East ransacks Conference USA and locates photos of NCAA President Mark Emmert in bed with a transgender donkey. That’s about the only thing that will save it.

UPDATE: My buddy Brandon Helwig at UCFSports.com Tweeted earlier that a rumored scenario is an East Division with UCF, USF, UConn, Rutgers, Temple and Navy, while a West Division would be WVU, Cincinnati, SMU, Louisville, Houston and Air Force.

Here’s another highlight from this weekend you may have missed if you don’t watch SportsCenter, as I don’t.  I’m not proud of that or anything, I’ve just gotten so used to absorbing sports through the Internet that a highlights show on TV takes way too long to get to whatever information I want to know.  What do you mean, after the commercial? I can’t wait that long!

Anyway.  Houston’s Aubrey Coleman casually walked on Chase Budinger’s face after Budinger took a charge near midcourt.  Coleman earned a flagrant foul and was ejected, while Arizona rallied from a 12-point deficit before winning in overtime.  The lesson being, don’t walk on anyone’s face.  Not for free, anyway.  You can make good money doing that.  You just have to find the right Craigslist ads.

[The Dagger]

The Oregon Duck mascot won't be on the sideline today in Ann Arbor, he was suspended for this: 

While you were watching this tremendous video, I was reading the article detailing the Duck's suspension:

“At least three, but maybe more” students serve as the Duck mascot, [UO sports information director Dave] Williford said.

NO! Er, I mean that's disillusioning.  No, of course I didn't think the Duck was real . . . OK, I did.  So, if it is just a costume, why not just suspend the aspiring thespians who play the Duck?  Also, I don't see how Oregon beats the Wolverines without their mascot, unless they can play better than a Division I-AA without him. -KD 

{Larry Brown Sports}