When conference realignment could not get any more crazy there is something that tops it all. Last week it was the Mountain West and Conference USA merging, but now there is a report from Boston.com that says that a 32-team football-only league could be formed with the Mountain West, Conference USA, Big East and a few MAC and WAC schools.
The idea behind this plan is so that the Big East can retain access to the BCS and also give access to these non-BCS schools to give them a chance to earn a BCS bid without having to undefeated. However, there is no plan on scheduling or if there is going to be a four-team playoff to earn the one BCS bid.
Here is the divisional format proposed:
West | Mountain | Central | Big East |
Boise State | Air Force | Marshall | Louisville |
Hawaii | Colorado State | Memphis | UConn |
UNLV | Wyoming | Southern Miss | Rutgers |
Nevada | New Mexico | Tulane | Cincinnati |
Fresno State | UTEP | UAB | South Florida |
San Diego State | SMU | Rice | Central Florida |
Utah State | Tulsa | Temple | East Carolina |
San Jose State | Houston | Louisiana Tech | Navy |
One notable team missing is West Virginia and by going by what happened yesterday with Missouri officially looking for a new league. It seems that the Big East realizes that West Virginia is not long for the Big East and most likely heading to form a 10-team Big 12. That is where this latest merger is being discussed, because the Big East realizes that their BCS berth is slipping away right through their fingers.
However, Pete Thamel of the New York Times reports that the Big East wants to move to 12 teams and hasn't even seen this proposed 32-team league idea yet.