College football's new playoff system has left the Big East potentially a mess. As we told you on Wednesday here at SB Nation Dallas, the Big East champion is no longer guaranteed a spot in one of the six major bowls, and thus, could be left out of the postseason in college football.
Obviously, this must be somewhat alarming for schools in the Big East, even if the conference is basketball heavy.
The Big 12 has already poached one Big East school in West Virginia, and one would-be Big East school in TCU. Interim commissioner Chuck Neinas and the 10 athletic directors in the conference have already stated that they're satisfied with 10 schools in the conference, but, if expansion made sense, the conference would look to expand back to 12 schools.
It turns out, unsurprisingly, that the Big 12 still covets Notre Dame, who is a Big East member for basketball and baseball. It's unlikely that the Fighting Irish would give up football independence, so having Notre Dame as a full-member of the Big 12 seems like something of a pipe dream.
There are only two institutions that make sense for the Big 12, if they're looking to grab a school from the Big East: Louisville, and the incoming Boise State. Louisville would make sense geographically, and Boise State would make a lot more geographic sense in the Big 12 rather than the Big East.
The Cardinals would bring a decent football program to the conference, and would bring an excellent basketball program. Boise State's main attraction, obviously, would be football, and there could be some sort of cutesy rivalry with fellow former Cinderella TCU.
Beyond those two schools, it doesn't seem like there's much for the Big 12 to poach from in the Big East. We'll see if realignment talks spark up over the summer, now that the playoff system is known.