CHICAGO -- Big East Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco announced Tuesday that the conference will be broken into two divisions, East and West, of six teams, for the 2013 football season, with the winners of each division playing in the Big East championship game.
Boise State, which joins the Big East for football in 2013, will play in the West Division. The other teams in the Broncos' division include Houston, Memphis, San Diego State, Southern Methodist and Temple.
This new alignment gives the conference and its fans the best of both worlds - national exposure that is a result of the Big East being in six of the top 10 U.S. media markets - with a schedule that focuses on spirited regional rivalries, said Aresco.
The East Division will consist of college football teams from Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Central Florida, Rutgers and South Florida.
The Big East championship game will be played between the two division champions, and be held at the home field of one of the participating teams, not a neutral site.
This unique combination of nationwide scope and regional flavor reflects our commitment to innovation in response to the changing landscape in college football, said Aresco, while honoring a tradition of success on the field and in the classroom.
