SMU playing in the 'Big East West'

SMU, all set to join the new Big East in 2013, is going to find a lot of familiar faces in their new conference. As the old saying goes, "everywhere you go, there you are".

The Mustangs will be playing in the Big East West, a name which hopefully is still in beta-testing. Their division partners? Boise State, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and Temple.

Asides from the Broncos, who have become a national power in football, that's pretty much the same slate of teams SMU could have expected to see if there hadn't been any conference re-alignment at all.

Most of the familiar names that remain in the conference will be in the Big East East -- Central Florida, South Florida, UConn, Cincinnati, Louisville and Rutgers.

In 2015, Navy will join the conference, which continues to look for a 14th school to balance out the two divisions for the time being.

As a result, the new conference shouldn't dramatically affect the Mustangs football program, although Larry Brown's basketball program will still get a few big-name visitors at Moody Coliseum every year from the other division.

All in all, it's not nearly as plush a neighborhood as the one their local rivals -- Baylor and TCU -- find themselves in, but it's still a small step towards bringing SMU athletics back to where it once was.