For Big East, where is all this leading?

Which brings us to the Big East, which has 16 — soon to be 17, and perhaps 18 or more — teams in basketball, including national champion Connecticut.

In football, TCU will join the Big East as team No. 9 in the fall of 2012, and there are tentative plans for a 10th team. So far so good. But look beyond that. Look for a plan that makes sense and has some form.

As the Big East comes out of its spring meetings in Florida this week, the question of leadership remains.

Where is it? Who is it?

And what does it want to do?

According to several sources within the league, there has been an ongoing internal debate among Big East commissioner John Marinatto and a core group of presidents and athletic directors.

The power struggle is football-driven, led by athletic directors at West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers, and the presidents at West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The three schools flexed their muscles when Villanova was being considered as the 10th team in football last month. To get approval, Villanova needed six of the eight Big East votes. The vote was 5-3.

The internal bickering and bargaining has been intense, with Pittsburgh AD Steve Peterson and Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti having the loudest voices in the room but different agendas. Pernetti has argued the hardest for the bigger formula, i.e. 12 teams in football, 19 or 20 in basketball.

Outwardly, the Big East has tried to put on a “we are family’’ face. It’s not working.

Who is to blame? Maybe everyone.

The latest issue came this week when the Big East, with its contract for football and men’s basketball with ESPN running out after the 2012-13 season, turned down an offer from the network that insiders say would have paid Big East schools in the neighborhood of $11 million each.

ESPN told the Big East that was its best offer, considering that marquee such schools as Penn State, Maryland, Notre Dame, and Boston College were not coming through the door as the No. 10 team in football. ESPN was content to take a chance on TCU and perhaps Central Florida with a fair-market offer.

The Big East power base said, “No. We can wait and get a better offer.’’

That is not likely to happen. In fact, less money might be on the table when the Big East does get around to finalizing its television contract.