When Marquette was invited to join the Big East Conference starting in fall 2004, it was the cherry on top of a rebuilding and rebranding effort by the university and the athletic department to bring Marquette out of the stagnant period of the ’90s.

By joining the Big East, Marquette would become part of the best basketball conference, helping the most important sport here, and ensure the growth of the program. It has had that desired effect and then some. Since joining the Big East, the Golden Eagles have put four players in the NBA — Travis Diener, Steve Novak, Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward —  reached the NCAA Tournament five consecutive years, and reaped in over $1.25 million per year simply for being in the conference.

The invitation went beyond helping out the athletic department, though. Like it or not, successful sports teams boost the notoriety of a university and bring donors out of hiding. It has placed Marquette on national TV on a regular basis and made Marquette a household name.

Unfortunately, there is a very real chance our bubble is about to burst. A tectonic plate shifted in the Division I conferences this summer. The Big Ten added Nebraska, and the Pac 10 added Utah and Colorado. While the seismic movement wasn’t felt right away, beware of the aftershock. TW2

The dust settled, but most analysts agree it’s only temporary. The Big East knows this and has begun discussions about possible expansion. According to ESPN, the Big East presidents agreed in a meeting on Nov. 3 that it would be in their best interests to increase Big East football membership from eight to 10.

That could possibly mean kicking schools out of the conference to make sure the already bloated 16-team Big East doesn’t become unmanageable. One of the schools rumored to be on the chopping block is Marquette. With its relative lack of history in the conference, small media market, and most importantly, lack of a football team, it is very expendable.

We at the Tribune realize the negative impact that would have on Marquette athletics and the university, and strongly encourage Marquette to be proactive about the situation at hand.

First off, it must do everything in its power to try and remain in the Big East. It must present the case that our athletic programs are raising the prestige of the conference with teams like the women’s soccer and volleyball teams competing for Big East Championships year after year.

Marquette must be adamant about having the conference honor its contract. Leagues have very little precedent of expunging members who are competing up to par and meeting all of the requirements like the university has. The school must have teams of lawyers on call, prepared to fight eviction on legal grounds.

But, Marquette must also be prepared to lose that fight. Were the requirements to change and football to become compulsory, we would encourage the university to truly estimate what that would cost, and not the very broad $125 million Athletic Director Steve Cottingham has floated this year. Maintaining Marquette’s storied basketball tradition would be worth the price of football.

If all else fails, Marquette must have plans A, B, C and D in place, whether it be creating a conference with other Catholic, basketball-only universities or moving back to the mediocre Conference USA.

Our teams need homes. Let’s do everything we can to make sure those homes are in the Big East.