Wednesday, September 21, 2011

East Carolina applies for membership in Big East

East Carolina announced today that is has applied for membership in the Big East Conference and no one seems to be pushing harder than Pirates head football coach Ruffin McNeal.

At his press conference this week, McNeal said: “If Conference USA was to dissolve and somebody picked East Carolina, they would be getting a blessing because we have the total package,” McNeill said. “You want fan support? We have it. You want facilities? We have them. You want market value? We reach all of eastern North Carolina, over to Raleigh and Charlotte and up into Virginia, areas people don’t always think about. We go everywhere.”

Meanwhile Reports continue to abound that Connecticut has not committed to staying in the Big East Conference as officials from that league reported Tuesday night.

UConn officials say they are looking at other options. Officials from West Virginia and Rutgers echoed similar thoughts on Monday, but seem less adamant that Connecticut about leaving the Big East.

Big East sources continue to repeat that the league is committed to recruiting new members with Navy and Air Force at the top of that list. Navy is an independent and Air Force is a member of the Mountain West Conference.

Navy has played in eight straight bowl games and Air Force has been in four straight. If they join the Big East they might insist Army comes along and it seems certain the league would be open to that. Navy has enjoyed its status as an independent and it is questionable whether it would want to join the Big East.

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