https://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5862368
DALLAS -- TCU has accepted a bid to the Big East Conference, which will take effect July 1, 2012, according to sources familiar with the deal. The school has set a news conference for 1 p.m. on campus to make "a major announcement involving the TCU athletics program."
A source confirmed the move to ESPN.com's Joe Schad Monday as well.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto and associate commissioner in charge of communications John Paquette flew to Dallas on Sunday in advance of the announcement, according to a New York Daily News story earlier Monday.
The conference change allows TCU to play in an automatic BCS-qualifying league beginning in the 2012-13 school year. TCU currently plays in the Mountain West Conference, which does not have an automatic bid to the BCS and is going through some changes of its own. BYU and Utah are leaving the conference just as Boise State enters.
TCU would become the Big East's ninth football team. The conference has extended an invitation to Villanova to become its 10th football member.
TCU is 12-0 and ranked No. 3 in the BCS. The Frogs are at the very least headed to the Rose Bowl. But if Auburn or Oregon slip up this weekend, TCU is poised to play for a national title.
The conference change is for all sports, meaning TCU enters a strong basketball league and should get exposure in more eastern sports markets. The league as a whole will now have 17 teams.