by Michael Fox

Created on: November 05, 2011

The money from college football is forcing a large variety of schools to move to different athletic conferences. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC are all getting larger, the SEC is looking to grab someone and the Big XII just wants to stay at twelve teams. However, the Big East has been hit hard in recent time. This basketball-heavy conference is succumbing to the rise of college football as the big money-mover in college athletics.

However, there are a few schools that can fill in the voids left by West Virgina, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. These options come from many places:

East Carolina - This school in Greenville, NC has had a good college football program that has been relatively competitive in Conference USA for a while. The school has had a very strong interest in trying to get into a BCS conference as well.

Navy - One good option to consider for expansion would be to consider one of the armed forces schools. Hiring Navy into the Big East might sound like a real challenge but it could help to improve the image of the Big East. The fact that Navy has a reasonable football program and is even directly linked to a bowl game in the Military Bowl helps too.

Army - It only makes sense to bring Army in if Navy is going to come along.

Villanova - Villanova is already a non-football member of the Big East. However, it is still a football-only member of the Atlantic 10. The Wildcats football team has been I-AA football powerhouse for years. Whether or not the Wildcats would be interested in taking the next step into I-A territory is another story. It sounds sensible but at the same time Villanova might have to spend millions to get its program up to I-A standards.

Marshall - The Thundering Herd play in West Virginia and can easily fill up the void left by WVU.

Central Florida - UCF is located in a good sized market in Orlando. It only makes sense to bring them in to add to the audience. The fact that they are rivals of sorts with South Florida might help too.

Florida International - This Miami-based school has a fast-rising football program. However, it is also stuck in a Sun Belt conference that no one seems to take seriously.

Notre Dame - It's the ultimate pipe dream even though Notre Dame is a non-football member of the Big East. You can still dream, right?

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