The billions of dollars college football generates has taken over college athletics and brought the Big East to its knees in 2012. A decade of football programs jumping ship to the Big 10 and ACC ultimately left the Big East with a nonsensical, disjointed, and ultimately embarrassing combination of schools left over from the gridiron scrapheap.
Let’s not forget just how bleak things looked in 2012. The Big East, trying to keep its head above water in the face of a tidal wave, added six schools in a two-year span, capped off by the acquisitions of (drumroll) East Carolina and Tulane, with Navy as a football-only participant.