For those wondering when the Big East would send out invitations to save the conference in football, your wait might soon be over. According to Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com and Lenn Robbins of the New York Post, the Big East could send a full conference invitation to UCF and football-only invatations to Boise State, Navy, and Air Force as soon as next week.
According to McMurphy, Big East officials spoke to representatives from Boise State yesterday and they are meeting with UCF today in Cincinnati to discuss a possible move. All of this depends on a vote to increase the conference buyout fee to 10 million dollars, which would double the current buyout that the Big East has at the moment. Navy has spoken on record that this was needed before the Midshipmen would consider a move.
If all four teams accept the invitation, the trio of Temple, Houston, and SMU will be competing for the last two spots needed for a championship game. Villanova would have an issue with a school in Philadelphia getting a football invitation to the conference before the Wildcats, so it would be likely for Houston and SMU to be the last two schools, most likely invited as full members. The Cougars and Mustangs would make more sense at this point as they would help bridge the gap between Air Force and Boise State with the rest of the conference, and would be used as travel partners for the Olympic sports.
We will keep you guys posted if there are any updates.