Off-field Issues Championship Week Part 1 – TCU to the Big East Winners and Losers

Earlier this week, TCU moved to the Big East in all sports, leaving the Mountain West behind. The winners and losers in this whole deal.

Winners

TCU – Obviously, TCU now has an auto-bid into the BCS. They win just with that before you get into the money angle with the team set to make a lot more money from the Big East's better tv contract than it was ever going to make in the sparsely populated Mountain West. Also, while still likely locked out of the national title game in seasons such as this one and last year, it was as recent as 2007 that West Virginia was one win away from a shot at the national title with a loss on its resume and South Florida was ranked number two in the BCS. At the very least, TCU now wins any tiebreakers with Boise St.

Other Big East football schools – The rest of the Big East can rest easier. With TCU in the fold, the auto-bid is a lot less likely to be taken away from the league.

The BCS – Score another for the BCS. By the time everything is done shifting, it looks like all the potential threats to BCS teams winning the national title every season except Boise St. will be in the BCS leagues. Since the ACC raid on the Big East, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Utah and now TCU have been promoted.

Losers

Mountain West – This is obvious. The Mountain West has now lost its three bell-weather football programs in a very short span. Now the league is a better WAC. I still wonder if this league would have attained BCS status if it had stayed in its 16-team incarnation or expanded to just 12 instead of 16 back in the mid-90s.

Big East basketball – TCU is a drain on basketball. They drag numbers down and with only a certain number of conference games, they take some of the repeat games off the schedule that tv loves so much.

Boise St. - The Broncos left the WAC with the understanding at the time that BYU and TCU would be in the league (Utah was already on the way to the Pac-10). Now none are there and while they are eventually bringing the top of the WAC with them to form a better a league than the one they are in now, it still won't be one worthy of an automatic BCS bid.