The Big Ten is coming! The Big Ten is coming!

OK, it's not quite time to go all Paul Revere. But the Big Ten's decision to study expanding to a 12th team should have the Big East a little nervous.

This isn't something that's going to happen overnight. The Big Ten plans to examine the issue for 12 to 18 months before making any decisions. But you're fooling yourself if you think that study is going to end up with any other conclusion other than expansion is a good idea. There's just too much money to be made from a Big Ten championship game and from another program's fan base watching the Big Ten network, and too many of the league's coaches and administrators want it to happen.

Colleague Adam Rittenberg and others seem to think Missouri might be the No. 1 target, assuming the Big Ten doesn't land the elusive white whale from South Bend. But the Big East has a handful of programs, especially Syracuse, Rutgers and Pittsburgh, that would be appealing. And we've seen this story play out as recently as 2005 when Boston College and Virginia Tech joined Miami in jumping ship to the ACC.

Big East officials admitted they were caught off guard a little by that raid. Well, this time the pirates have sent out a giant warning shot. The Big East needs to prepare as much as possible for another similar plundering.

What can the league do? Well, realistically, if schools want to bail, they're going to bail. The Big East needs to make sure its own league is as strong as it can possibly be, and perhaps now would be a good time to issue a preemptive strike by studying their own expansion options. More than anything, the Big East needs to make sure its bonds are strong and address any concerns that league members are having.

Here, now, is a look at the pros and cons that the three most likely potential Big East targets would bring to the Big Ten:

Syracuse

Pros: Strong football tradition, excellent academics, New York market, great basketball addition.

Cons: Weak football of late, doesn't fit geographically, no natural rivals.

Rutgers

Pros: Growing program, New York City market, strong academics, huge alumni base.

Cons: Mediocre on-field results, bad basketball.

Pittsburgh

Pros: Great tradition, strong academics, good basketball, makes sense geographically, natural rival for Penn State, big market.

Con: City-based school doesn't align with the many large state institutions of the Big Ten.