The Big East is taking Manhattan — at least for a day — and the conference's new teams were able to see their names in lights in New York City.
The Big East used the Times Square marquee from sponsor American Eagle Outfitters to announce new members — Boise State, SMU, Houston, Central Florida and San Diego State. Each team had its own welcome and then the conference had a group welcome marquee as well. Each image is shown for about 30 seconds and is displayed eight times per hour.
It was definitely a bold statement by the Big East. It's probably similar to the one Boise State got at the Colorado Springs American Eagle when it joined the Mountain West.
Unfortunately, the fancy welcome was only displayed Tuesday, but it was a fine gesture to usher in a new ear of that conference. Just hope the current members didn't feel too left out.
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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham