TCU Joins BCS Automatic Qualifier Big East But Not Defined by BCS?

You may still be getting used to the idea of a school from Fort Worth, Texas being part of a Big East of anything as am I. That’s right, Texas Christian University will now join the likes of UConn (from Connecticut), Pitt (from Pennsylvania), Providence (from Rhode Island), and Syracuse (from New York) in the same conference. Nevermind the idea of geographical differences between TCU and everyone else, what I don’t understand is the comments from athletic director Chris Del Conte.

At one point during his speech made on Monday, Del Conte said “Having BCS automatic-qualifying status was a priority for our football program and a great reward for the success we’ve had the last decade.” At another point Del Conte mentioned that “The BCS does not define TCU. TCU defines the BCS as evidenced by our football program but the academic institutions that we’re going to be associated with.”

Got it? So this move was done so that TCU could be more appropriately aligned with academic institutions on its level. You know, those notable bastions of academia like Louisville and West Virginia. So if TCU is moving its school and all its sports teams to the Big East, all so the football team becomes a part of an automatic qualifier conference, then how is the school not defined by the BCS? Someone ‘splain that to me, because we see right through you, Del Conte.