Good for TCU--But Four Conferences in 15 years???

The TCU Horned Frogs will join the Big East Conference in all sports starting in 2012.  In light of the success of the football team on the level they have been playing the move would take all the guessing out of being part of a BCS bowl.  The Big East has an automatic bid.  Of course, qualifying for that bid may be harder as a result of the tougher competition week to week in the league.  So whether the move results in the Horn Frogs winning a national championship someday is still a long shot.

The geography of the move is apparently not a problem.  Yet, TCU is not just joining in football.  All sports will be involved.  Some long trips for some teams.  But football is the real reason for the move.  With TCU the Big East will have nine football playing teams out of it's seventeen team membership.  Those two "odd numbers" make it apparent there will be another new member soon.  Speculation centers on the University of Houston to give TCU a regional "travel partner" since it has been reported the Cougars have their ears and eyes open although not making any public comments.

Ever since the Southwest Conference was closed down the schools that were not part of the merger with the Big 8 have been wandering...or thinking about it.  Houston has been stable in Conference USA for the last 15 years.  Rice has been in both the WAC and now C-USA.  SMU has been in both the WAC and C-USA, but TCU has not been able to be comfortable anywhere so far.  They started in the WAC then bolted to the Mountain West reportedly in part to end the "partnership" with Dallas' SMU.  TCU also considered the Mountain West a better option than the WAC which was losing schools.

Now TCU will test itself against many schools they have never played in any sport.  Back in the day before jet planes and more importantly big media revenue colleges had to play more regionally.  They had to have large crowds to pay the bills (TV has helped some alleviate that need as being crucial) and teams close enough so that bus travel would work.  Not anymore.  There will be no busses taking any TCU teams to battle in the Big East.  (That is NOT the case with many of the partners who still have relatively short distances.)

One thing we shouldn't worry about.  Why is the league called The Big East when it stretches all the way to Texas?  That name thing has not fit for years ever since the Big 10 started having more teams than that. 

There ARE still some usuable names  that would fit a conference like the expanded Big East.  Big American, Big Nation, Big Country to name a few.  Hopefully, it will not be remembered as Big Mistake by TCU fans in a few years if they cannot have the same success or better in football and costs outweigh advantages.