There is change on the horizon for the Big East, according to one of it's most recognizable coaches.
UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun told CBSSports.com Wednesday that he believes the conference will split within the next four to five years.
There has long been a divide between the Big East's football-playing members (Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, and West Virginia) and those that compete in the Big East in all sports but football (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Villanova). Calhoun believes that the conference will soon be divided along these lines.
"My own personal opinion — and I won't probably see this — in the next couple of years, four or five years down the road, I think you'll see a separation [of the football and non-football membership]," Calhoun said. "I think it's inevitable."
The Big East is already the NCAA's largest conference with 16 members, and that number will continue to grow with the addition of TCU in 2012. The conference has also spoken about the possibility of adding a tenth football-playing school in the near future.
"If you go to 18 [members], oh boy," Calhoun said. "We're talking about going to 17 [now and that] creates enough different issues."
