According a report by AOL Fanhouse, Texas Christian University has accepted an offer to join the Big East Conference in all sports beginning in 2012. According to Fanhouse, TCU will announce the decision in a 2 p.m. ET press conference. The Horned Frogs have been playing in the Mountain West.
The move is a huge boost to the Big East in football, where the conference has struggled all season to get teams into the Top 25 polls and may wind up with a team going to a BCS bowl game that is not even in the top 25. The Horned Frogs (12-0) are currently ranked No. 3 in the BCS and are guaranteed a BCS bowl game.
The Big East currently has eight members in its football conference and has previously expressed a desire to expand to 10 teams. SB Nation New York had pegged TCU as a probably target when those plans were announced several weeks ago. The league is awaiting an answer from Villanova as to whether or not it will accept an offer to be the 10th football team in the Big East. Villanova is currently a member of the conference in all sports except football, but would have to move up from the FCS to join the Big East. If Villanova says no, it would appear that Central Florida would be the next target for the Big East.
In basketball, TCU's addition will make 17 teams in the conference. Whereas in football the Horned Frogs would likely be the powerhouse team in the conference, in basketball the Horned Frogs will have to upgrade their program to be competitive.