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Big East presidents and athletic directors are charged with a huge challenge today, as they search for a new commissioner.

If I were in charge, these would be my prerequisite qualifications, in no particular order:

• Must be a strong leader.
• Must have a clear vision for the conference.
• Must be dynamic, charming and personable, somebody with excellent skills of persuasion.
• Must put football first.
• Must have ties to television and marketing.
• Must have previous relationships with major college football players.

If it were entirely up to me, I would also look for somebody outside the league office. That is not a slight against associate commissioner Nick Carparelli, who truly seems to get what the Big East needs. I just think the Big East could use a fresh perspective, somebody with no ties to anybody in the league, who can see what the Big East needs objectively and go from there.

Every commissioner the Big East has ever had has had ties to the league. But just look at what Larry Scott has done in his time at the Pac-12, just for an example. Scott and John Marinatto began their jobs on the same day, both in need of making their leagues and their teams household names.

Marinatto was just promoted up after serving alongside Mike Tranghese. Scott came from the women's tennis association, free of any ties to the Pac-12, and has transformed the league, using the business, television and marketing skills that served him well in previous stops. I don't have to spell out how the leagues have diverged since July 1, 2009.

Much in the way athletic directors are now businessmen and not football coaches, commissioners have to be well-versed in negotiating TV and marketing deals while keeping their leagues relevant.

The other aspect, of course, is going to be convincing folks like Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and SEC commissioner Mike Slive that the Big East should get the same slice of the BCS revenue pie as the other major conferences. That is not a guarantee once the new BCS cycle begins in 2014, with an expected four-team playoff. You can bet whoever is the new commissioner is going to have to do a lot of cajoling for that to happen.

He is also going to have to make sure he has a unified league moving forward, one that has everybody holding hands together, rather than looking for the next best opportunity. It is an unenviable task, one that is going to require a special skill-set that Marinatto simply didn't possess.

For those interested in how the process is going to work, Cincinnati president Gregory H. Williams is head of the search committee, which will be comprised of league presidents and athletic directors. A search firm will likely be used to help gather a pool of candidates.

Ultimately, the school presidents choose the commissioner. Under league bylaws, only current members have a vote. Temple, which begins play in football in 2012, would have a vote in this case. Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, UCF, Houston, Memphis and Navy will be involved in discussions, but cannot vote. Neither can Pitt, Syracuse or West Virginia, all departing members.

1. Commissioner John Marinatto paid for his inability to keep the two constituencies of the Big East Conference on one path Monday when he submitted his resignation. Whether anyone could have kept the conference’s original basketball-oriented members and its football-playing newbies happy is a fair question. It’s no knock on Marinatto, a back-of-the-house guy, that he failed. The conference presidents made a poor decision when they promoted him, as Dana O’Neil wrote Monday, and it may be too late to fix.

2. Alabama and LSU, the teams that played for the BCS Championship -- can we say playoff finalists yet? -- had a combined 10 freshmen enroll in January in time to participate in spring ball. At Oregon, which is on the quarter system, coach Chip Kelly chose not to begin spring ball until April, when spring quarter began. Three Duck signees who didn’t finish high school in December completed their studies in time to enroll for spring quarter. It’s a wonder more coaches don’t advocate for the quarter system.

3. Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown wrote an open letter, published by the Lincoln Journal-Star over the weekend, saying he would never punish a gay athlete in his charge. As proof, he cited the Huskers who have played for him without repercussion even as they had heterosexual sex outside of marriage. That, too, is a sin, Brown wrote. If you’re scoring at home, Brown is using fornication to defend his ability to coach. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Cincinnati president Gregory H. Williams is in charge of the search committee for the next Big East commissioner. So what is the league looking for in its next leader?

I had a chance to briefly catch up with Williams in a phone conversation this afternoon.

"We want someone that can take the Big East to the next level," he said. "We're excited about where we are right now. We feel the conference is stronger than it's ever been. We have some great new teams we are bringing in, there's a huge opportunity for us to build, so we're looking for someone who can facilitate that and make that happen."

Along those lines, what are the biggest priorities for Big East moving forward?

"There are a lot of priorities; TV negotiations are one of them," he said. "What happens in regards to the BCS is another issue, and we are making a transition for some teams to come in and we're working through that. That's going to be an issue as well. There's a whole range of issues the person has to be conversive with and provide the type of leadership we need."

When I tried to ask Williams more probing questions, he declined to answer. I specifically asked why the presidents asked Marinatto to resign. Williams referred me to the statement from the Big East. "John decided to leave the Big East and we wish him well," Williams said. "He did a fantastic job, but now all of us are moving on in different directions."

When I asked about the different interests among the football and basketball schools, Williams said, "I don't think there's any dissension between the football and basketball schools. In my involvement at the meetings, everyone works together, everyone tries to figure out what's in the best interest of the Big East. The basketball schools have been very supportive of the issues that have been faced."

Then I asked whether Marinatto deserved the blame for what happened to the league in the past year. Williams said I was getting off topic, and referred me again to the Big East statement.

As for a timetable for hiring a new commissioner, Williams said the sooner the better. It is critical to have somebody in place before the start of television negotiations in September.

"It's more important we get the right person than we do it quickly," he said. "The critical factor is making sure we have the right person."

Williams has been president of Cincinnati since 2009 and is a member of the Big East executive committee.

It is worth nothing that, on the November 2008 day that the Big East presidents and chancellors named John Marinatto as their new commissioner, it was a unanimous decision.

This was not a coup or hostile takeover. He was chosen for the job, awarded like loyal foot soldiers often are. Or at least were back in the day when there were such things as loyal foot soldiers.

And that was the Big East's crucial mistake.

The presidents made a rear-view window hire when the league desperately needed someone who could look into a crystal ball.

Now a once proud conference is in shambles because of it.

Click here for the rest of Dana O'Neil's column.

There cannot possibly be a tougher job in college football than Big East commissioner.

That is not meant as a defense of the outgoing John Marinatto, who is as responsible for what has happened to the league as the dueling interests of football and basketball members. It is meant to add context for anybody who does not completely understand the divide that threatens the Big East.

No other commissioner of an automatic qualifying conference has to deal with basketball-only members, still believing their interests should come first. No other commissioner on the FBS level has had to deal with football members perplexed as to why the folks on the other side do not quite understand the reality of the situation.

Was it shortsighted presidents who got the Big East into this mess? Or was it a fundamental lack of leadership and vision from the man in charge to get everybody to buy in? The schism between basketball and football members has always been there, but what has become increasingly evident is that Marinatto was powerless to stop the growing gap.

Whoever emerges as the next leader of this conference must pound his fists on the table, twist some arms and get everybody to believe in one singular vision -- to get everybody to truly understand that in college athletics today, football must be the No. 1 priority. That does not mean throwing basketball tradition into the wastebasket. It means football must come first. If not, there may not be a future for the Big East Conference.

That may sound dire, but there is no way the Big East can be functional with the two sides growing further apart.

In the recent past, there have been several points of contention among the two factions. One of them has been new additions to the league. Shortly after TCU was added in late 2010, the Big East was interested in having Villanova move up to the FBS level. That blew up in the league's face after football schools essentially vetoed the idea. Playing in a soccer stadium was not their idea of building the brand. Basketball schools wanted nothing to do with adding higher-profile football schools at the time, either.

The dillydallying on expansion may have ended up costing the Big East, as the league sat with nine schools for quite a long time, rather than striking quickly and boldly. Revenue distribution may have been a huge killer, as well. As Andy Katz has reported, Marinatto wanted to accept a new television deal a year ago but was shot down by a 12-4 vote, with Georgetown leading the charge not to accept.

One of the biggest stumbling points has been how the television money would be divided among the basketball and football schools. Last year, at the spring meetings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., one proposal suggested a 75/25 split -- 75 percent of the money going to football schools, and 25 percent going to basketball schools. One athletic director at a basketball school raised his hand and wondered why the numbers were not flipped, since hoops is the reason the Big East exists in the first place.

You can imagine how well that went over in the room.

Without a television contract in hand, the Big East continued on without much foresight. Conference shifts around the country caused instability. The ACC, fearing superconferences were on the way, acted boldly and quickly, taking Pitt and Syracuse away from the Big East. The shocking move, reportedly done behind Marinatto's back, destabilized the conference. TCU and West Virginia were the next to go. Every remaining football school -- Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and USF -- made phone calls to other conferences to see if they, too, could get a life raft out.

None were forthcoming. So the Big East was left to get the best of the rest, eight new schools that keep the conference viable, at least for now. (Three of the eight new members -- San Diego State, Boise State and Navy -- are football-only members.) Credit Marinatto for at least keeping the league together. But the end result has left the Big East in a precarious situation.

Changes to the BCS do not appear to be in the best interests of the Big East, with no guarantee of being treating equally to the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC in revenue distribution. Automatic qualifying designations are gone, as well, so there is no guarantee for getting into a BCS game anymore.

That has also raised significant questions about whether Boise State and San Diego State will follow through with their commitment to join the Big East. In the case of Boise State, the school had placed its other sports in the WAC. But now it appears that league is on the brink of collapse. Boise State cannot play football in one league and house its other sports in the Mountain West, its current home. Finding an amenable solution must be reached, or else who knows?

There are the looming television negotiations, as well. The Big East will be a larger conference when it begins in September, spanning the country from coast to coast. But does bigger translate into the $1 billion-plus the league hopes to get in TV money? Will the resulting negotiations be impacted by the Big East's loss of AQ status? And again, how do the football and basketball schools resolve their disparity in revenue distribution?

These are all huge questions that the incoming commissioner must have answers to right away. The Big East cannot continue to be driven down by its own internal squabbles. The league needs a leader who can bring everybody together.

For survival.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto has resigned, a source confirmed, leaving the league without a leader at a critical juncture.

CBSSports.com was the first to report the resignation.

Marinatto has come under major fire in the past year because the league was raided once again, leaving it without three of its flagship schools in Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse. While Marinatto was able to keep the league viable with eight new additions, there are major questions about the league's place in college football moving forward.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto said the league will hit the pause button on expansion now that Temple has been added for 2012.

But league expansion is not over. With the Owls in, the Big East will grow to 13 schools by 2015. So yes, the Big East wants to add one more team to get to 14. And ideally, that team would come from out west to help balance out that division with far-flung teams Boise State and San Diego State.

"It's our intention to obviously have equal divisions of seven moving forward, and over the course of the time between now and our television negotiations, as we better position ourselves to attract a quality 14th partner in football, we'll be looking to move forward in that direction," Marinatto said. "We want to get to even divisions, and I think we're looking specifically for a western partner to help us with that."

The Big East is set to begin negotiating a new TV deal Sept. 1. So it appears one more football-only school from the west will be added before September. BYU and Air Force are the most logical candidates, and perhaps the Big East tries to make a run at them a second time. Both turned away Big East overtures when the league was in negotiations with Boise State. At the time, the Broncos preferred adding one of those two schools.

Now that Navy is set to join in 2015, perhaps Air Force reconsiders. There is some uncertainty about the Falcons' future conference affiliation, since the Mountain West and Conference USA are going to form a new league.

As for other possibilities, nearly every school that has been added is in a major television market (San Diego, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Baltimore). So it would stand to reason the Big East would want another school in a big market that also has had football success. That does not leave a lot of options among the remaining non-AQ teams.

A few other notes from Marinatto's press conference on Wednesday:

• He said once again that the Big East would be open to allowing Pitt and Syracuse to leave one year early to join the ACC for the 2013 season. "We haven't actually had those conversations yet, but our membership is certainly willing to do that at this point given where we've landed," he said.
• Marinatto also said the league would focus on re-branding efforts now that it has undergone a radical makeover. "Re-branding the conference and taking a stand in regard to a little bit of pounding our chest as to where it is we've landed is going to take place, and we're going to get professional assistance with that, too, by hiring a firm that will assist us in doing all that in the in the upcoming months," he said.
• He also mentioned the possibility of a Big East championship game in 2013.

Was the love fest between Villanova and Temple on Wednesday afternoon happening in some parallel universe where lollipops fall from the sky and the sun always shines?

The two schools worked really, really hard to present a unified front when the Owls were introduced as the newest Big East member in New York City. They are cross-town rivals, separated by mere miles, but they sounded like they had have always held hands while singing kumbaya.

You understand why commissioner John Marinatto kicked off the news conference by making it a point to mention it was Villanova University father Peter Donohue who brought the motion to extend full membership to Temple, with football joining in 2012 and the rest of its sports in 2013.

Because adding Temple back into the mix could severely jeopardize any future decision for Villanova to move up to FBS. Remember, it was the Big East that approached Villanova last year about moving up a level and joining the league for football. After Villanova appeared ready to make a decision, the Big East backed off and said it needed more time to evaluate its expansion options.

Now here comes Temple.

So where does that leave Villanova? Well the door has not exactly been closed on a future invitation for football. Perhaps the most interesting development to come out of the news Wednesday was that the Big East would provide financial assistance to the school as it continues to study whether to move up to the FBS level.

If Villanova is admitted within the next three years, its entry fee would be waived.

"In terms of future conference expansion and where we are, as I said earlier, we're taking a pause right now," commissioner John Marinatto said. "We're going to continue to explore with Villanova regarding their FBS potential moving forward and we'll see where we ultimately end up. But for the meantime, as I said earlier, we've made a financial commitment, we've also devoted a lot of resources, and we're here to support all our member schools in terms of everything they want to do, and in this case the FBS possibility of Villanova moving forward."

More than that, Marinatto said the league was going to hire a consultant to determine how Temple and Villanova can retain their own individual basketball identity. Basketball poses the bigger threat right now. Temple has never been a Big East member in hoops, while Villanova is one of the founding programs in the Big East. How do two Big East schools so close to each other coexist?

"For the next 12 months, what we're going to do is explore how we best move forward in order to ensure that we accomplish that because it's in the best interest of the conference obviously for the two schools to coexist in a very, very positive way, and one of the things we want to do is ensure that's the case by doing this," Marinatto said.

For his part, Donohue said the Big East needed to bring Temple into the fold in all sports, to help the conference and the city of Philadelphia.

"It's critical that the conference and both universities succeed in Philadelphia, even as my loyalty and obligation is to Villanova, we recognized early on that we could not achieve  that we could achieve this winwinwin, which ultimately we did," he said. "We just needed time to work through all the issues together, and so to the Big East I want to say that we look forward to a very bright future."

Where has the Big East gone wrong in its quest to be a viable football conference?

Ask 100 people, and get a 100 answers. But one man in particular shared his thoughts on the topic with New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, thoughts that simply cannot be ignored.

Former commissioner Mike Tranghese believes the point of no return happened before the Big East was a viable football conference, back in 1989. At the time, Tranghese was working under Dave Gavitt, and the two men believed it was imperative to bring Penn State into the league. Membership voted no. St. John's, Villanova and Georgetown led the dissenters.

From the Times story:

At the end of the meeting, Gavitt asked Tranghese what he thought about the decision. “I said, ‘We will all rue the day about this decision,’ ” Tranghese said. “I understood how big football was. I didn’t understand how big it was going to become.

“At that point, the Big East had so much success in the ’80s, everybody sort of forgot about it. But I felt looking back on the history of the Big East, that was probably the biggest mistake we made.”

When Tranghese became commissioner in 1990, the league had no choice but to really go after football. At the time, conference presidents commissioned a study to look at the benefits of staying together or going their separate ways. Even Tranghese had misgivings about programs with different interests remaining as one league.

“I thought at that point, our league should have given very serious consideration to separating,” Tranghese told The Times. “From where I was sitting, the difficulty of keeping everything together — some people playing football, some people not playing football — was a challenge.”

So here we are today, 20 years later, and the same questions continue to vex the Big East:

• How can a commissioner truly lead when he does not have the full backing of his membership?
• How does this league function when there are such obvious factions between basketball and football?

The first question is one I have addressed several times on this blog in regard to current commissioner John Marinatto. To me, Tranghese's comments speak to the obtuseness of some presidents in the league, and their failure to think about the future, and the shifting landscape of college athletics. The same story line persisted then as it does today.

Tranghese seemed to understand the future ramifications of adding Penn State, and so did Gavitt -- a man who was a driving force in leading Big East basketball to the top. Neither one wanted to destroy basketball for the sake of football. There should be a way for them to coexist, but that clearly has not happened.

Now, Tranghese was in charge when the Big East was raided the first time in 2003. His role in what happened when Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech left is not addressed in the article. But when Tranghese retired, he knew more expansion was coming and, he said, "I just refused to sit there and go through it again."

There are those who might think that Tranghese is passing the buck. What exactly did he do to foster a cohesive Big East, or to prevent defections? He may have understood football had become a driving force, but even he was powerless to unify everybody. He clearly understood that if he knew the Big East would eventually get raided again.

But overall, I think Tranghese underscored once again why the Big East continues to be so dysfunctional. There is no uniform voice, and no uniform vision.

There are still basketball interests, and football interests that never seem to be one in the same.

The Big East and West Virginia announced a settlement Tuesday that ends ongoing litigation between the parties in both Rhode Island and West Virginia. Citing an anonymous source, the Charleston Daily Mail has reported that West Virginia will pay the Big East a $20 million buyout as part of the settlement, with $10 million covered by the university and another $10 million coming from the Big 12, half of which WVU will have to repay.

How did the parties finally reach an agreement?

An attorney for WVU, Thomas Holt, a partner at K&L Gates, says the Big East out-argued itself.

“WVU was entitled to sovereign immunity in its own courts. What happened in the Rhode Island case was the Big East argued to the judge that they didn’t think they could get fair shake in the courts in West Virginia. Basically, they didn’t think they could get injunction there.”

Holt believes the Big East realized the Rhode Island court wasn’t going to issue an injunction the West Virginia courts might not enforce. “It was fundamentally illogical. Once the reality of that became apparent things moved forward.”

Big East attorney Ben Block, a partner at Covington & Burling, declined to comment specifically on the details of the negotiations, but clearly didn’t agree with Holt’s version of events. “I don’t think I share Tom Holt’s views on the merits of the case."

“We had a very strong case, but at the end of the day parties reach resolution when each one decides that the negotiated resolution on the table is more attractive than the uncertainty, cost and continuing distraction of ongoing litigation,” said Block.

So, what exactly does the settlement mean to the ongoing business of the Big East?

"The bylaws are the foundation of how the conference governs itself," Big East commissioner John Marinatto said Tuesday. "To have the court in West Virginia acknowledge their validity of enforceability obviously reinforces the premise that the conference is viable moving forward, and in a position to do so."

Marinatto’s comment is a bit misleading, however. The West Virginia court only recognized the validity of the bylaws as part of the consent decree it issued as a result of the parties’ settlement. This is not a binding legal decision declaring every provision of the Big East bylaws as valid and enforceable against remaining members.

“In theory it looks good, and I’m sure they would use it for precedential value to show, ‘Look, one other court has already said this,’ but a court in New York or Pennsylvania might see it differently,” said Christian Dennie, a sports law attorney at Barlow Garsek & Simon.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse are subject to the same 27-month waiting period West Virginia just fought and settled over before they can join the ACC. However, Marinatto said in a telephone conference today, “[G]iven the strength and speed of our expansion efforts, I think our board might be open to a discussion about 2013."

Kristi Dosh covers sports business for ESPN.com and can be reached at kristi@kristidosh.com. Follow Dosh on Twitter: @SportsBizMiss.

While it appears all but guaranteed that Pitt and Syracuse will remain in the Big East for the upcoming season, the door is open for the two schools to leave for the ACC in 2013.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto told the Associated Press he "would not be open to a conversation" with either school about departing in 2012. "But given the strength and speed of our expansion efforts, I think our board might be open to a discussion about 2013."

When Pitt and Syracuse announced they would leave for the ACC back in September, they said they would wait the required 27 months and leave for the 2014 season. But with West Virginia departing early, and new additions set to replenish the Big East for the 2013 season, there is reason to believe in the softened stance Marinatto is taking.

As for the major scheduling concerns for 2012, Marinatto didn't rule out the possibility of an incoming member joining a year early. UCF has reportedly said it is not leaving early, and Boise State president Bob Kustra said last week it was "too late" to join for 2012.

"There are challenges on the table right now," he said. "We've considered all of that. We're looking at various scenarios in order to address that. We have plans in place to deal with each possibility."

When West Virginia defiantly announced in October that it would leave for the Big 12 as soon as possible, did anybody really think the Big East would be able to stop it?

We are talking about the Big East, after all, a league that never seems to win. A league that seems to get taken advantage of at almost every turn. There is a reason the Big East has the reputation of being a league that gets kicked around. West Virginia just did it again.

The Big East should have had the advantage in this fight, what with the conference bylaws that specifically state any departing school must wait 27 months before leaving. Allowing TCU out of the league without a wait had something to do with West Virginia pushing forward. But there are clear rules that every member of the Big East agreed to follow, rules that did not apply to TCU as an incoming member.

Pitt and Syracuse had no problem agreeing to abide by the rules when they announced they were leaving for the ACC back in September. West Virginia had problems, because it was inconvenient. And the way the school went on the offensive from the outset essentially sealed the eventual settlement that was announced Tuesday.

West Virginia filed its lawsuit first, claiming the Big East had failed in its responsibilities to remain a viable conference. It wasn't too long before the Mountaineers accepted Big 12 membership when athletic director Oliver Luck made this comment during a television interview Oct. 1:

“Let’s be honest, the reason TCU wants to be in this league so badly is that they think it’s an easier path to the national championship than it is going through Norman, Okla., or Austin, Texas, or Stillwater, Okla., and playing some of their regional schools out there. So we’ve got some quality schools that are very interested in getting involved, including both Air Force and Navy. It’s no secret there. I think both of those institutions are academically excellent, very important nationally and also, I think we all can agree, they play some pretty good football.

“In fact, I would trade Air Force or Navy for Syracuse every day of the week in terms of the quality of the football program. No disrespect, but that’s just an observation I think most would agree with who understand football.”

TCU officially left the Big East on Oct. 10 for the Big 12. West Virginia bolted Oct. 28. You cannot mean to tell me the departure of TCU was the tipping point for West Virginia. TCU had never played a down of football in the Big East.

The argument was a convenient one to make in court. But it also was the first one to be filed, clearly giving West Virginia the upper hand. Its arguments, whether they were thin or not, hit first. The Big East filed its own suit in Rhode Island shortly thereafter, arguing about its specific bylaws that should be followed.

Bylaws, shmy-laws, right? The Big 12 then went on the offensive in the form of interim commissioner Chuck Neinas, who said, "The Big East gets on planes and flies all over the country inviting other schools. But they raise hell when West Virginia wants to come to the Big 12?"

Luck made it clear in several more interviews that he didn't care what the Big East did and his school was outta here. Then West Virginia went ahead and canceled its nonconference game against Florida State to make way for nine Big 12 games.

The Big East's response -- nada. The league remained mum on the subject, as West Virginia and the Big 12 talked freely. Commissioner John Marinatto declined to answer questions because of the litigation. Athletic directors refused to comment publicly, for fear of speaking out of turn. Privately, some are upset about the way the entire situation has been handled, firmly believing West Virginia had taken advantage of the Big East once again.

It is obvious that West Virginia did not want to be in the Big East a second longer. But this was not about the Big East holding onto West Virginia because of some vendetta against the school. It was about holding a team to bylaws it drafted and agreed to, in large part to fill out its schedule and not have gaping holes everywhere.

Yes, there was a domino effect when Missouri did to the Big 12 what West Virginia just did to the Big East. But in the conference pecking order, you kinda figured the Big 12 would win this fight.

The Big East has always fashioned itself as a basketball conference that just happens to play football.

That mindset has nearly destroyed the league, not once but twice. In this latest round of expansion mania, the split between the basketball faction and the football faction has become so dysfunctional, it took a near crippling blow to get everybody on the same page — and only because it was a matter of survival.

So you look at the addition of Memphis for the 2013 season and know this has nothing to do with football. Never mind that football brings in the cash, that football is the dominant sport in America, that nearly every conference does what is best for football first. Rising from its deathbed has not woken the Big East from its hoops dreamworld.

The Big East wants to protect its status as the No. 1 basketball conference in America. This is an obvious hat-tip to the hoops schools, to Rick Pitino, to all those unhappy over losing Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia in favor of UCF, SMU and Houston. Basketball pride clearly comes first, and if you are the Big East, perhaps you realize and understand your place in the football world.

Was adding a good football program at the expense of basketball really going to change the perception of the league? Or its bid to retain automatic qualifier status? Probably not, so basketball won this round as a thank you to presidents who agreed to expand the league as far west as San Diego in the name of football.

"We understand how important this was to Rick. But that wasn't the driving force in us moving forward with the decision to explore and then invite the University of Memphis to the Big East conference," commissioner John Marinatto said Wednesday on a conference call. "The Big East conference, its genesis really is in men's basketball. That's where it established itself some 32 years ago. I think the moves that we've made overall strengthen the conference.

"But for different reasons, I think we're always going to be very, very strong in men's basketball. With the addition of Memphis, I think we solidify our position of being the best conference in the country for men's basketball, and for that matter women's basketball."

There are definite pros to adding Memphis. Big TV market. Good corporate sponsorship. Good facilities. A school in the Central Time Zone to help out the recent additions of San Diego State, Boise State, SMU and Houston. A final piece to get the Big East a championship game.

But the football program is not one of them. Memphis has been among the worst teams in America for the last three years, winning a combined five games from 2009-11. Only three were against opponents from FBS conferences. You have to go back to 2003 to find a nine-win season -- the only one over the course of the last 10 years.

In its recently completed 2-10 season, Memphis ranked No. 116 in the country in total offense and No. 117 in total defense and was outscored by an average of nearly 20 points a game. Coach Larry Porter was fired, and TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente was hired to try to reinvigorate a program that has been trolling the bottom of Conference USA. Even in its most recent "successful" season, Memphis got to 6-6 in 2008 and made a bowl game. But the Tigers got blown out 41-14 by USF.

It does not take a football expert to know this sport must be improved, and that was a part of the discussion Marinatto had with athletic director R.C. Johnson when he went to take a campus visit to Memphis.

"We're a diverse conference in a lot of ways," Marinatto said. "A very common element that rings through to all of our schools is our respective commitment to excellence in a variety of ways. Football, as you know, is the driving force not only with regard to realignment in moving forward but the value of our television contract, which will keep our membership together as we understand it and believe it for the long-term.

"So football is very important. We feel confident not only with regard to the moves that the university has made in the past in upgrading its facilities but, as I mentioned earlier, with the personnel and administrative moves they've made in order to solidify their situation going forward."

The Big East will get its big-money TV contract regardless of how good Memphis football is or will be in the future. That makes this move easier to take. But it still leaves questions about how the Big East is perceived on a national level -- and how it perceives itself.

It's official: Navy will join the Big East in football only beginning with the 2015 season.

The academy and the conference have agreed to a three-year phase-in period, where a scheduling partnership will be created leading up to a full schedule of eight games in 2015. During that period, Navy will continue its current television partnership with CBS and postseason bowls. However, Navy will be included in all future television, marketing, promotion, and bowl negotiations by the Big East effective immediately.

Here are two statements. Stay tuned for more following a conference call later this afternoon.

“After careful consideration, we believe this affiliation to be in the best interests of the Naval Academy, our athletic programs and the Brigade of Midshipmen," said Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Michael Miller, USN. "While our independent status has served Navy football well to date, Big East conference affiliation will help ensure our future scholar-athletes and athletic programs remain competitive at the highest levels for the foreseeable future.”

“When people look back, they will mark this as a truly historic day for the Big East Conference,” said Commissioner John Marinatto. “America’s first national football conference is adding a program with true national appeal. Navy’s decision to make the Big East its first football conference home after over 100 years of independence demonstrates the value of our new expansion model and the long-term viability of our football product. The Big East is truly proud to be associated with one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country and one of the most storied programs in college football.”

The addition of Navy would bring the Big East up to 11 football-playing members, with the hopes of adding one more. Navy has been a football independent since it began playing the sport in 1879. Of the three service academies, Army would be the only one remaining as an independent.

One other important note: Navy will continue to play Army, Air Force and Notre Dame as part of its schedule.

Navy appears ready to join the Big East.

Joe Schad of ESPN reports that Navy is expected to announce soon that it will join the league for football in 2015, citing a source. Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk has said in the past that scheduling and television matters have held up the process.

When Navy does join, the Midshipmen would become the 11th member of the reconfigured Big East. Commissioner John Marinatto has said he wants to expand the league to 12 teams, and add a conference championship game.