DALLAS -- TCU has accepted a bid to the Big East Conference, which will take effect July 1, 2012, according to sources familiar with the deal. The school has set a news conference for 1 p.m. CT on campus to make "a major announcement involving the TCU athletics program."
A source confirmed the move to ESPN.com's Joe Schad Monday as well.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto and associate commissioner in charge of communications John Paquette flew to Dallas on Sunday in advance of the announcement, according to a New York Daily News story earlier Monday.
The school's release said athletic director Chris Del Conte would be present at the news conference along with school chancellor Victor Boschini.
The conference change allows TCU to play in an automatic BCS-qualifying league beginning in the 2012-13 school year. TCU currently plays in the Mountain West Conference, which does not have an automatic bid to the BCS and is going through some changes of its own. BYU and Utah are leaving the conference just as Boise State enters.
TCU would become the Big East's ninth football team. The conference has extended an invitation to Villanova to become its 10th football member.
TCU is 12-0 and ranked No. 3 in the BCS. The Frogs are at the very least headed to the Rose Bowl. But if Auburn or Oregon slip up this weekend, TCU is poised to play for a national title.
The Frogs might not have been headed to a BCS game without Boise State's loss Friday night in overtime at Nevada. Had the Broncos remained undefeated, there was a distinct possibility that the Broncos could have passed TCU in the BCS standings and been the only non-automatic qualifier school to get into one of the top-level bowls.
The conference change is for all sports, meaning TCU enters a strong basketball league and should get exposure in more eastern sports markets. The league as a whole will now have 17 teams.
The Big East will be the fourth conference for TCU since the Southwest Conference broke apart after the 1995 season and the Frogs weren't among the Texas schools that became part of the Big 12.
TCU was in the WAC from 1996-2000 before going to Conference USA for four seasons and then joining the Mountain West in 2005.
The Big East has an 18-game regular-season basketball schedule that calls for three repeat games under television contracts with ESPN and CBS through 2012-13. The contract is based on a 16-team membership. CBS and ESPN each get a choice of one of those repeat games.
A source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that in a 17-team league, each program would play every other team (16 games) and then play two repeat games (instead of three like now). That means a lower-level repeat game for a favorite like Pittsburgh would go away. CBS and ESPN requested Pitt and Villanova play twice and each received a game. The Big East then kept the rivalry of Pitt-West Virginia for another repeat game. Pitt's third repeat game is against South Florida. Under a 17-team, 18-game schedule, this game would go away.
A source confirmed the move to ESPN.com's Joe Schad Monday as well.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto and associate commissioner in charge of communications John Paquette flew to Dallas on Sunday in advance of the announcement, according to a New York Daily News story earlier Monday.
The school's release said athletic director Chris Del Conte would be present at the news conference along with school chancellor Victor Boschini.
The conference change allows TCU to play in an automatic BCS-qualifying league beginning in the 2012-13 school year. TCU currently plays in the Mountain West Conference, which does not have an automatic bid to the BCS and is going through some changes of its own. BYU and Utah are leaving the conference just as Boise State enters.
TCU would become the Big East's ninth football team. The conference has extended an invitation to Villanova to become its 10th football member.
TCU is 12-0 and ranked No. 3 in the BCS. The Frogs are at the very least headed to the Rose Bowl. But if Auburn or Oregon slip up this weekend, TCU is poised to play for a national title.
The Frogs might not have been headed to a BCS game without Boise State's loss Friday night in overtime at Nevada. Had the Broncos remained undefeated, there was a distinct possibility that the Broncos could have passed TCU in the BCS standings and been the only non-automatic qualifier school to get into one of the top-level bowls.
The conference change is for all sports, meaning TCU enters a strong basketball league and should get exposure in more eastern sports markets. The league as a whole will now have 17 teams.
The Big East will be the fourth conference for TCU since the Southwest Conference broke apart after the 1995 season and the Frogs weren't among the Texas schools that became part of the Big 12.
TCU was in the WAC from 1996-2000 before going to Conference USA for four seasons and then joining the Mountain West in 2005.
The Big East has an 18-game regular-season basketball schedule that calls for three repeat games under television contracts with ESPN and CBS through 2012-13. The contract is based on a 16-team membership. CBS and ESPN each get a choice of one of those repeat games.
A source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that in a 17-team league, each program would play every other team (16 games) and then play two repeat games (instead of three like now). That means a lower-level repeat game for a favorite like Pittsburgh would go away. CBS and ESPN requested Pitt and Villanova play twice and each received a game. The Big East then kept the rivalry of Pitt-West Virginia for another repeat game. Pitt's third repeat game is against South Florida. Under a 17-team, 18-game schedule, this game would go away.
