A week after conference realignment hit the Big East again, the conference responded by adding Tulane for all sports and East Carolina as a football-only member in 2014.

The league faced uncertainty after losing Rutgers to the Big Ten on Nov. 20, as rumors swirled about other possible departures. But on Tuesday afternoon, Big East commissioner Mike Aresco touted his conference as one of “opportunity and potential” while welcoming Tulane as its newest member on a conference call.

“We have a strategy for expansion, we have a strategy for our conference,” Aresco said on the conference call. “We are building — we are already well on our way to building a national football conference that will compete at the highest level.”

About two hours later, the Big East announced the Pirates would join the league for football along with the Green Wave. The Conference USA members will give the Big East 13 football members in 2014.

Tulane has been in three bowl games in the last 25 years, and none since 1987, while its men’s basketball program hasn’t made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1995. East Carolina has qualified for five bowl games since 2006, going 1-4 in those contests.

The Big East has lost five schools since Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced last September that they were leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The league then added eight schools to try to solidify its future, but conference realignment picked up again last week with Rutgers and Maryland moving to the Big Ten.

Those moves caused another shift for the Big East, as current members Louisville and Connecticut are considered the frontrunners to replace the Terrapins in the ACC. Future members Boise State and San Diego State have also reportedly been in talks with the Mountain West Conference about rejoining that league with the new developments, which include the Big East’s loss of its automatic Bowl Championship Series bowl bid.

On Tuesday, Aresco said Boise State and San Diego State remain committed to the Big East. The commissioner also said the league is aiming to build a 14-team conference while also considering a 16-team model for football.

Aresco stressed that the Big East will be a quality and competitive football conference. In 2014, the league will be made up of nine former Conference USA schools, including current Big East members Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati.

It’s a league Aresco believes will resonate as it tries to attract interest and negotiate television deals in the future.

“What we’re selling is quality,” Aresco said. “If we have a good football conference, people will watch.”

Published on November 27, 2012 at 3:02 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu