Could the Eastern 8 have become a power football conference?
The Eastern Athletic Association (nicknamed the Eastern 8, originally the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, and later the Atlantic 10) started out as a non-football circuit in the late '70s with Duquesne, George Washington, Massachusetts, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Villanova, and West Virginia. Would it have been plausible to add I-A football around that time? Half the teams were already I-A independents, and they could have added BC and Syracuse as FB-only affiliates. Presumably, when the Big East formed shortly afterward, Villanova would still have left, and perhaps Temple is tapped as a replacement. Pittsburgh is less inclined to leave for the BE due to the FB commitment in the EAA. Penn State doesn't even apply for the BE, as their needs are met with the EAA. Tack on another FB affiliate (VT, Miami, FSU...), and you've got 8 football schools and 8 basketball schools.
Within 10-15 years, maybe you get something like this on the east coast:
EAA (10 FB, 12 BB)
Full: Florida State, Miami-FL, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
NFB: Duquesne, George Washington, Massachusetts, Notre Dame
FBO: Boston College, Syracuse
Big East (0 FB, 8 BB)
NFB: Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Syracuse, Villanova
ACC (8 FB, 8 BB)
Full: Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest
Eventually, perhaps it's the ACC that gets eaten rather than doing the eating.
What do you think?
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