"Hot dang!" That was how TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte opened the school's press conference announcing its agreement to join the Big East Conference starting in 2012. It was a very Texas thing to say, and symbolic of the shifting nature of both the Big East and collegiate athletics.Culturally, TCU is an odd fit for the still very eastern Big East. Sure, South Florida is a member, but adding TCU makes for just two warm-weather schools out of a 17-school collaboration. The obvious reason for TCU's inclusion, hardly avoided at the press conference, was TCU's presence in the No. 5 Dallas/Ft. Worth television market. "In years past it (conference association) used to be for geography. Now it is for TV markets," admitted Del Conte.
Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins put a slightly different spin on the topic, saying that where conferences tended to be shaped by geography, they now "transcend geographical boundaries" and historical contingencies, whatever that means. Regardless, the big picture he tried to paint was of a unique athletic and academic partnership that can stand tall in the increasingly condensed world of intercollegiate athletics. Added Big East commissioner John Marinatto, "We are the largest family in intercollegiate athletics."
This summer's near-colossal roulette game of conference shakeups arguably threatened the Big East's legitimacy as a football conference. If the Pac-10 had been able to scoop up Texas and move to a 16-school alignment, the Big Ten might have followed, potentially snagging Rutgers and Notre Dame from the Big East with the SEC likely following course with its own expansion grabs.
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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/11/29/tcu-brings-texas-sized-concerns-to-reshaped-big-east/
Javier Mascherano Javier Zanetti Jeff Overton Jim Furyk Joe Cole
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