Well it’s off to the rumor mill once again as there is talk Southern Methodist and Central Florida are targets to be added to the Big East. TCU apparently has given blessings to the Big East to go after SMU as a traveling partner. Of course, if that happens, the question is which teams would be in line to fill the open slots in Conference-USA?  

Low lying rumors are North Texas would be one candidate for two reasons.

One, CUSA would no longer have a representative in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market and North Texas would be the best fit to fit the bill.

Two, CUSA home office is in Irving, Texas with no CUSA team nearby. So, would they move closer to CUSA schools or pick up one close by?

In addition, there are talks going on between CUSA and the Mountain West Conference to form the first super conference, right now a total of 24 teams. The Dallas market would be a desired situation to have and North Texas would give them that if SMU left.

While some say a super conference of 24 teams would not work because it was tried before with 16 teams in the WAC. However, there are two major differences between a merger of CUSA and the MWC which did not exist before.

One, the eastern media market something the WAC did not have and something the PAC-12 school complain about. While their games are still in progress on the west coast, on the east coast they are starting the printing presses to deliver newspapers. They are also wrapping up television and radio broadcasts. Some feel this is a primary reason Boise State has not got the recognition it deserves.  

Two, travel expenses were a killer for the old WAC schools, especially the non-revenue producing sports. The CUSA-MWC merger would be football only cutting down on the expenses. There are several scenarios on how to make it work and for a later discussion.

All these CUSA/MWC schools want one thing, a piece of the Dallas/Ft. Worth market and North Texas would give them that if SMU left for the Big East.