According to SportingNews.com:
TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte says he has little interest in placing his football program in one conference and the school’s other varsity sports in another.
“We’re an athletic department,” he said in a telephone interview with Sporting News. “Whatever endeavor we do, you’re united as one. That’s who we are. That’s how we always compete. We compete as one unit.”
“My sole job is to provide the wind beneath the wings for our teams to compete for championships, whatever that may be,” he said. “I will always look at the things we need.”
“It’s a lot of rumors,” he said. “It reminds me of high school. Who are you asking to go to the prom? Nothing has been done yet.”
“From my perspective, there are a lot of teams in AQ conference that never, never have a shot at a BCS bowl game. We have a chance.”
As predicted by SB Nation New York, it’s going to take a lot of bending by both parties — the Big East Conference and TCU — for this marriage to work.
If TCU continues at its current pace and possibly enters the BCS title game without the Big East, the Horned Frogs have leverage and basically can wait for a better offer from another BCS conference.
However, if four teams — TCU, Boise State, Auburn and Oregon — all end the season undefeated but the Tigers and Ducks are the ones playing for a national title. The leverage swings toward the Big East.
The problem is nobody knows for sure if TCU is the Big East’s No. 1 target. It’s assumed they’re because they have a quality football program, which doesn’t play in a conference with an automatic BCS invitation — something the Big East has.
That’s why TCU and Del Conte are answering these questions. So far, they’re saying the right things. The Horned Frogs are addressing questions in a professional manner, shying away from the “he said, she said” rumors, soaking up all the media coverage they can and winning football games — by a lot of points.