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From TCU Media Relations: TCU’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved an invitation to join the Big East Conference in all sports beginning with the 2012-13 academic year.

TCU will become an official member of the Big East July 1, 2012.

Current Big East members in football are Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse and West Virginia. For sports other than football, the Big East also includes DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova.

By joining the Big East Conference, TCU can continue its goal to build an excellent athletics program. The University has continued to develop its athletics program through the opening of new facilities and programs, including:

*Renovations to the west side and north end zone of Amon G. Carter Stadium
*The Jane and John Justin Field House for women's soccer
*The Dutch Meyer Athletic Complex and Abe Martin Academic Enhancement Center
*The Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility
*The Ed and Rae Schollmaier Basketball Complex
*The addition of a women¹s equestrian program

The Big East also provides TCU's athletics program television exposure through ESPN, CBS Sports and SportsNet New York (SNY). The Big East Conference has the longest standing continuous relationship of any league with CBS Sports.

In adding TCU and the nation¹s fifth-largest television market, the Big East Conference further strengthens its footprint on the national television scene. Big East markets already contained almost one-fourth of all television households in the United States. Big East institutions currently reside in nine of the nation's top-35 media markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

Joining the Big East will enhance our student-athlete experience and continue raising TCU's visibility on a national level, said TCU chancellor

Victor J. Boschini, Jr. We have many championship winning teams within our athletics program and student-athletes across the board will now enjoy greater recognition. This move also provides an opportunity for TCU to recruit more students in different areas across the country, which will further diversify our student body.

The Board of Trustees, along with TCU's administration, thoroughly examined the invitation and came to the conclusion that joining the Big East is the right move to make at this time, said Luther King, chair of TCU's Board of Trustees. This University has a lot of momentum and joining the Big East will accelerate that momentum.

Headquartered in Providence, R.I., the Big East Conference was formed in 1979. The league has won 28 national championships in six sports with 128 student-athletes capturing individual national titles.

The Big East sponsors all of the sports TCU currently fields in the Mountain West Conference.

We take tremendous pride in having a nationally-prominent athletics program and joining the Big East Conference will allow us to further grow our brand and increase our visibility and exposure, TCU director of intercollegiate athletics Chris Del Conte said. We are most appreciative of our time in the Mountain West Conference. The league helped elevate us across the board. We treasure the relationships we formed and the outstanding leadership provided by Commissioner Craig Thompson.

Having BCS automatic-qualifying status was a priority for our football program and a great reward for the success we¹ve had the last decade under Gary Patterson. Keeping all our sports together was also critical. We are very excited to accomplish both these goals and look forward to our new home in the Big East Conference.