By Adding Tulane And East Carolina, The Big East's Takeover Of Conference USA Is Almost Complete

Oh, look: The Big East is adding teams again, because why not? West Virginia already bolted, Pitt and Syracuse will be gone next year, and Rutgers the year after that (if not sooner). What better solution, then, than to add Tulane for all sports and East Carolina for football?

For those keeping score, that makes 11 former C-USA schools now in the Big East, counting non-football members Marquette and DePaul. That planned merger of C-USA and the Mountain West has kind of hit a snag, no? At this point, what's stopping the BE from finishing the job by absorbing Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulsa, UAB, and UTEP, too? Because that lucrative television contract surely ought to be materializing any day now.

[ Sports Illustrated]