According to Pete Thame from the New York Times, Texas Christian University (TCU) has elected to move to the Big 12 instead of the Big East. After losing two schools recently — Nebraska and Colorado — the Big 12 seems to be making an effort to expand their ranks and solidify their conference.
This news comes as a disappointment to fans of teams in the Big East, and it’s yet another blow to the Big East’s hopes of continued existence. TCU had committed to moving into the Big East, and the Big East was expecting them to hold true to that commitment in the wake of Pittsburgh and Syracuse moving to the ACC. Apparently TCU was scared off of the Big East as well, though, and is willing to pay the $5m exit fee in order to move to another conference.
Without TCU, the Big East is now in a pickle. They will be losing two schools in a matter of years, and they have no ready replacements. Army? Navy? University of Buffalo? Temple? All lackluster options, but they may be the best the Big East can do. They only have six football teams remaining in their conference, so they have a number of holes to fill...and fast.