Relax, Temple and Novaheads: Big East Not out of the Woods Just Yet

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So the Big East had some meeting and is expected to invite some schools and Temple isn't on the list and the world is falling down. Something like that. I don't know, I was too busy beating my head against the wall to process the story.

Per usual in this realignment fiasco, there are rarely major pieces of news as much as there are stories parading like major pieces of news. Indeed, though Temple may not be included in the first round of invites (see also: Titanic, Hindenburg, other tragedies), Tuesday was actually a great day for further speculation that the Owls-to-the-Big-East is looking more and more like an inescapable reality, assuming the conference sincerely wishes to make good on its 12/20 mission statement.

Here's what we're looking at in the plainest of terms...

Of the six reported invitees, Houston, SMU and UCF are excepted to accept and to do so in short order. Boise State, Navy and Air Force, on the other hand, have been considered reaches for the conference for months. It's been reported on multiple occasions that the service academies are likely to balk at the offer and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Boise State to join a conference on the other side of the country without the guarantee of an AQ-bid, which the conference cannot offer at this time. That is not to say those three schools will not join, it's simply that they remain something of a reach.

In the event all six schools actually accept, the Big East would still only possess 11 members for football, now that West Virginia is on its way out the door. This is where Temple remains a very real candidate for inclusion as the "seventh school." The Owls, Memphis Tigers and BYU Cougars are rumored to be the three front-runners for the 12th and final football-playing spot. The plus for Temple is that they have a better combination of football and basketball than Memphis, though the plus for Memphis and BYU is that neither is from Philadelphia and neither is named "Temple."

Though, it should be noted, having to pick between those three remains something of a false choice at this time. That decision really only comes into play assuming all six schools accept the Big East's Tuesday offer.

If not, it'll be right back to the drawing board and we'll be right back where we started.

Conference realignment—the gift that keeps on giving. And now, here's Cheap Trick to explain the Big East's general outlook on life:

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