ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — The Big East athletic conference is expected to end months of speculation and officially invite the University of Central Florida to join on Wednesday.
It would bring the school national recognition and could mean millions of dollars pouring into the school.
Students are very excited about the news and expect higher profile games to draw much bigger crowds.
"We're all really excited about it," said Mollie Helfant, a student at UCF. "We hope it happens because it's only going to be better for UCF."
The Big East confirmed it plans to announce Wednesday afternoon that the conference is expanding.
UCF has been in talks with the conference for months.
"UCF's been engaged every step of the way and we've been excited to work with The Big East," said Grant Heston, assistant vice president of UCF's news and information.
For UCF it means leaving behind Conference USA, a conference that does not have an automatic bid to lucrative BCS bowl games in football.
UCF reportedly gets about $1 million a year in conference television money.
Big East schools get nearly $4 million, and that number is expected to increase next year after the conference renegotiates its TV contract.
And then there are the tickets to bigger games against better teams.
"What's really exciting is the level of the games," said UCF student Jonathan Lorenz. "More exciting teams to play."
The announcement is expected in a conference call at around 5 p.m.
Four other teams are expected to join UCF in the move to the Big East.
Two Texas schools, Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of Houston, will join the conference in all sports.
Boise State and San Diego State will be added for football only.
WFTV
