Eastbound and Down

By Justin Worsley,

Texas Christian University has formally accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference as a full-time member effective July 1, 2012.

TCU will become the 17th member of the conference, however, only the ninth in the football division. This is the third conference TCU has been a member of in the last 10 years. The Horned Frogs were a member of Conference-USA between 2001-05 before bolting to the Mountain West Conference.

By joining the Big East, TCU is now a member of an automatic qualifying conference for a national title game. The Horned Frogs are currently 12-0 and began the season ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll, but may be on the outside looking in for the National Championship after Auburn and Oregon leap-frogged them during the season. In the latest poll, TCU received one first-place vote, behind Oregon's 36 votes and Auburn's 23.

The Big East has also extended an invitation to Villanova to become the conferences 10th football member. Villanova is a member in every sport except football, where they play in the Colonial Athletic Association, an FCS conference.