The Big East Needs Its Automatic BCS Bid Revoked

The Big East used to be a great conference for football. It was. At one time, schools like Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia used to play here. Over the past decade, the Big East Conference has been deteriorating when it comes to talented football programs and the number of members in general. In the next few years, the conference will be unrecognizable.

In a current era of realignment, the Big East could not afford major moves. When Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) announced their departure several years ago, it was a blow to the conference. They added Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers and South Florida. Those four schools have been vocal in the conference, and filled the void.

Last year, Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced that they were leaving for the ACC. Ouch! Really? The Orange was a charter member of the conference, and they're leaving? The Mountaineers found a way to jump from the sinking ship earlier, and joined the Big XII Conference. Notre Dame announced earlier this season that they were taking their athletic programs to the ACC, while football continues to stay independent, but is still playing five teams from the conference each season. Let's not forget too that TCU snubbed them and went to the Big XII, even after saying they would join the conference.  

With the scramble to grab schools from Conference USA and schools out west, the Big East has slowly been killing itself. Rutgers and Louisville, who have been members for less than a decade, are moving to the Big Ten and ACC.

By the time everyone who is leaving is gone, the Big East is as competitive as the Conference USA. It will be a conference that cannot call itself the Big East and be taken seriously. It has gone as far west as California to bring in new schools.

San Diego State? Boise State? Talk about desperation. The conference knows that its BCS automatic bid is in danger of being revoked. The Louisville-Rutgers game on Thursday was an example of why it should be taken away starting in 2013.

The Cardinals and Scarlet Knights are both unranked, but Louisville, who won the unofficial Big East title game, will still play in a BCS bowl.

No. 17 Kent State and No. 21 Northern Illinois are playing in the Mid-American Conference championship game tonight. The winner has a chance to play in the Orange Bowl. A scenario that has a lot of people flipping out.

So nobody makes a big deal about the Big East champion getting that bid when they are playing at the same level as the two MAC teams playing tonight? Something is wrong here.

By 2014, the MAC will be a more competitive conference than the Big East. Give that bid to the MAC. MAC schools won four games against Big East schools this year, and the way things are going, they will win more in the future.

Many won't say it, but the MAC champion deserves the BCS bowl bid more than Louisville does this season. It would make everything easier on selection Sunday.