Expansion crunch time: UCF is the best fit for Big East

UCF coaches and players won't admit it. The athletics department won't admit it.

But I will.

Being a member of Conference USA is embarrassing for our entire athletic department.

It's time to move on.

UCF has been an attractive target to the Big East since 2003, when the Big East announced plans for expansion after getting raided by the ACC. The conference ultimately decided against adding the Knights and opted instead for USF and four other C-USA teams.

Now that the Big East has decided to expand again, making their expansion plans public by announcing that they will add two football teams to the conference, the Knights are an even more attractive candidate. The Big East has already announced that they will add TCU as a member in all sports, and has a spot for one more team.

Could this finally be the year?

UCF's 2010 athletic season, which was highlighted by the football and basketball teams earning their first national Top 25 rankings, a C-USA football championship, football's first bowl win ever, and a 14-0 start for the men's basketball team. The accomplishments have made 2010 the most successful year in UCF athletics history.  

UCF has come a long way since 2003, when the football team finished 3-9 while playing in the Citrus Bowl as a member of the MAC conference.

The Big East conference held a nine-hour legislative meeting on Tuesday in San Antonio at the 2011 NCAA Convention.  I'm not exactly sure on what else you can have a legislative meeting for nine hours other than the topic of conference expansion.

The million-dollar question, or the $40 million question — the average amount of athletic revenue brought in by Big East schools in 2009/2010, is: Has UCF done enough to prove that they belong in the Big East?

When USF entered the conference in 2005, the Bulls didn't have an on-campus football stadium (they still don't), didn't have any conference championships, didn't have any bowl wins, and didn't have a competitive basketball team.  Besides potential, the only thing that the geographically challenged school had going for it was the 14th-largest media market in the nation and a giant student body.

On the other hand, when TCU was extended an invite this year, the Horned Frogs had a much more accomplished athletic program.  Throughout the course of its lengthy history, which dates back to 1896, TCU football has won 2 national championships, 16 conference championships and 12 bowl victories. Add in being in the fifth-largest media market in America, a decent enough basketball team and a historic on-campus stadium that is going to receive $105 million in upgrades, and you have a very deserving candidate.

Will UCF finally be seen as good enough to join a BCS conference?

The Knights' main competition in Big East expansion is Villanova, who has a standing invite to join the conference. ‘Nova is already a member of the Big East in all sports besides football, and having the Wildcats join for football would be an easy transition for the Big East. The transition for Villanova, however, is easier said than done.

Villanova would have to shell out millions of dollars to construct a legitimate football stadium. Villanova Stadium has a capacity of 12,500, but averages about 7,000 fans per game.  The university is a tiny Catholic school in a media market that doesn't care about college football. Only 8.1 percent of homes in New York, which is less than 2 hours away from ‘Nova, tuned into the BCS National Championship Game on Monday night, according to Nielsen overnight ratings. Scary, right?

If it accepts their football invitation, Villanova would become another Temple to the Big East. When Temple was a member of the Big East from 1991 through 2004, they had a 14-80 conference record. They were booted from the conference after 13 years because of consistent losing seasons, lack of potential and lack of support from fans and the university. Both Temple and Villanova are both basketball-first schools in Philadelphia, and neither would work as Big East football programs.

UCF is licking their chops for an all-sports offer from the Big East, and would say yes to it in a heartbeat.  They have everything that they didn't have in back in 2003: An on-campus football stadium and brand-new arena, ranked football and basketball programs, two football conference championships, a bowl victory and fans.

The only dilemma for the Big East in adding UCF is adding another basketball team to an already monstrous conference, which currently sits at 17 teams with TCU. Why not make it an even 18? If a conference is already at 17 teams, is adding one more going to hurt?

An invite to the Big East for UCF makes sense.

Now it's time to wait and see if the Big East made any sense out of their nine-hour legislative meeting.