Here's one of the wackier college conference realignment rumors out there: apparently, the Big East was very close to adding Navy before Syracuse and Pittsburgh bolted for the ACC. This is according to Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports, who dropped this bombshell earlier Tuesday.
Before the sudden news broke last weekend that Pittsburgh and Syracuse were leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East was in the final stages of acquiring Navy as a football-only member.
No official invitation was extended by the league, but both parties had extensive discussions about Navy joining the league in football only and it very well could have happened in the next couple of weeks, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com.
McMurphy reports that the Big East was also targeting Air Force and was confident both would join the conference. However, with Pittsburgh and Syracuse now leaving, it's unclear what happens to the conference as a whole, much less Navy's status with it. Navy in the Big East sure would be interesting, though.