In some alternate dimension, this weekend’s matchup between UConn Football and Boise State is a Big East Conference game. The Broncos agreed to join the conference in 2011 as a football-only member along with fellow Mountain West school San Diego State. But the horrors of conference realignment from 2010-13 ultimately prevented that from ever happening.
There’s no true beginning to a conference realignment story, but 2010 is as good of a place to start as any. The Big East wanted to expand from eight to ten football members and TCU joined as the first team, with a handful of other schools contending for the second spot.