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SMU playing in the 'Big East West'

The new look Big East is going to look a lot like the old Conference USA.

Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE

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.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.