Rumors emerged a few weeks ago that the Navy Midshipmen would abandon their independent status as a football team and join the Big East Conference this Winter, and now we have confirmation according to Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports.
The Midshipmen are preparing to join the Big East as a football-only member, but likely won't do so in 2013, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk told CBSSports.com. Gladchuk said ultimately Navy's Superintendent, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, will make the decision on whether Navy joins the Big East. However, Gladchuk admitted "everyone in Navy's chain of command is comfortable [with the Big East] and the direction it's going."
The only issues is that Navy will not be able to join the Big East as quickly as some might want them to.
How quickly Navy joins the Big East will depend mainly on how long it takes the Midshipmen to restructure their future schedules, bowl and television contracts. Navy has games scheduled through 2018, bowl contracts through 2017 and television contracts with CBS College Sports and CBS Sports (Army-Navy game) through 2018, Gladchuk said.
That means it could be almost five years until we see the Midshipmen in Conference, that is unless they are able to break some of the bowl contracts they already have in place. But the bottom line is the Midshipmen are moving to the Big East for football.