So long Conference USA, and hello Big East!

SMU and four other universities will be joining the Big East Conference in 2013, according to an announcement yesterday.

SMU and its current Conference USA members Houston and Central Florida will be moving all of their sports to the Big East in 2013. Current Mountain West members Boise State and San Diego State will be joining be the Big East for football only that same year and moving all of their other sports to the WAC.

This move puts SMU and the other four schools in an "automatic qualifying" conference for football, which means they will have a better shot at getting into BCS bowl games, including the national championship. The teams' television exposure is expected to increase as well.

After the move occurs, the Big East may want to consider a name change because its member schools will span the country from coast to coast.