A Philadelphia Team Is In The Big East West

Sorry, it was physically not possible to make that headline any less confusing while remaining factually accurate. The Big East, in the midst of major realignment, is going to look a lot different next year. Commissioner Mike Aresco announced today that the 12-team conference will be split into two divisions, with a championship game. Early plans for "Red" and "Blue" divisions were scrapped, perhaps after noticing that people still aren't done laughing at the Big Ten's "Leaders" and "Legends." Instead it's East and West, even if those are just suggestions.

Temple, the third-easternmost team in the conference, will play in the West, flying regularly to San Diego, Boise, and Texas (and vice versa). Louisville, which in a pure geographic split would be in the West, remains in the East division—possibly a reward (or bribe) for not fleeing the conference. Here's the full alignment:

Quibbling about geography now is pointless; that horse is long gone. In a previous post on realignment, we noted that the geographic center of the Big East is migrating 486 miles, from West Virginia's panhandle to an hour's drive from the Mississippi River.

Don't get too used to these new divisions. The Big East is adding Navy and a 14th team in 2015, and is likely to scrap these divisions altogether. Tradition!