Another domino to drop

There is still work to do for the Big East and just replacing Champs with a Gator/ Big 12 hybrid is a good start, but far from finished.

The key now is lining up the No. 3 and No. 4 in the lineup. ESPN's Big East blogger Brian Bennet reported last week that the Champs and Sun are close to signing with Big East. Now, with the Champs official, the Sun can't be far behind.

Here is where Commish John Marinatto is going to make his money. The target is a class of the Sun Bowl for the Big East No. 3. This is where the Big East can use Notre Dame also. If the agreement is similar to Champs, then the Sun gets Big East No. 3 or Notre Dame once in the cycle.

Marinatto told a group of us reporters in Newport that protecting the Big East No. 2 is paramount to the new tie-ins. The conference is not going to have its No.2 team slide down to Meineke Car Care Bowl against an ACC No. 6 if Notre Dame takes a spot. Adding the Sun to the mix as No. 3 would mean at worse, the Big East is going to have a team in the Sun or Champs every year of the cycle. That is important.

No. 4 would be Charlotte, and I don't see why either the Big East or Charlotte would want to change the affiliation. It's a perfect East Coast game and a good bowl. I don't think the Big 10 or SEC could give the bowl a good enough team to make them want to switch.

I know there are other reports that the Sun is in talks for the Big 12, but the chance to get Notre Dame once in the next four years, and likely the Big East No. 2 in another year may be too enticing for the Sun to pass up. I would expect a Sun Big East agreement soon.

If that's the case you can count the Big East coaches as ecstatic. I would be curious what the bottom tier bowls are going to look like. I like the Toronto Bowl after UConn's experience last year. I don't think I am alone in that. Perhaps Big East-Big 10 in Toronto. That would be a terrific game.