Since Virginia Tech and Miami left to join the ACC, the Big East's automatic BCS bid has been a joke. They grabbed two quality teams from Conference USA, Cincinnati and Louisville, but even when the Bearcats or Mountaineers or Bulls make national championship noises, they flare out in the end. Last year Cincy looked outmatched against Florida. West Virginia's drubbing at the hands of NC State tonight proved that even the Big East's best defense can not win against a foe from a real BCS conference.
In every year since the big boys left, the Mountain West has had a better national championship contender than the Big East. Now, however, the MW has fractured. TCU is joining the Big East, and BYU has gone independent; Utah left for the Pac-10. They picked up Boise State and will add Nevada and Fresno State next year.
The WAC has added two lower-division schools, Texas-San Antonio and Texas State, but would have been wiser to merge with the Sun Belt conference, form two divisions and play a championship game. Instead of TX-SA and TXSt moving up, the FBS should have jettisoned Eastern Michigan and Western Kentucky.
Even with TCU, the Big East lacks enough teams to split into divisions, and they should consider reinstating Temple or inviting Central Florida so they can hold a championship game. Starting next year, the Pac-10 and Big Ten will have championship games, and that should be a minimum requirement for holding an automatic BCS bid.
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