Big East Expansion & Exit Fee Hike

[UNHWildCats]

The Big East is apparently set to add new members within the next week. It is expected that Villanova will jump from FCS to FBS and be joined in the Big East by Temple and Central Florida as full members of the Big East. Navy would join the conference as a football only member. East Carolina has applied for membership to the conference and could also join with a yet to be identified 12th member.

Also this morning the Big East held a conference call to discuss raising the exit fee from $5 million. No new price was discussed but the schools reportedly were unanimous in saying the fee should be raised.

[youngterrier]

link?

[TwinTownBisonFan]

collegefootball talk says expansion not on their radar...

[danefan]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ing-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No mention of Nova though.

[clenz]

What a sucktastic conference that will be.

[bluehenbillk]

The latest rumors coming out of Villanova are the exact opposite. There have been 2 separate strong rumors I've heard this week - one from VU's boards & one from St. Joe's that VU is looking at dropping football AGAIN.

[BlueHen86]

What a sucktastic conference that will be.

Probably. But are they the 6th best conference? Maybe.

If the Big East can keep the BCS autobid they will be fine. It would be a geographic nightmare, but they should consider inviting Boise State as a football only school. I have no idea if Boise would be interested, but adding Boise would guarantee that the Big East stays in the top 6.

[BlueHen86]

The latest rumors coming out of Villanova are the exact opposite. There have been 2 separate strong rumors I've heard this week - one from VU's boards & one from St. Joe's that VU is looking at dropping football AGAIN.

I hope they don't drop football, but I don't see them moving up.

[Cheetah]

I would add both Navy and Army. Tradition.

[youngterrier]

I'm no insider by any stretch of the imagination, but I doubt Nova will drop football.....I mean they won a national championship 2 years ago

[BlueHen86]

I would add both Navy and Army. Tradition.

What tradition? Army and Navy play every year, but they have not been in the same conference in a long time, if ever.

The Big East would like to maintain their BCS tradition. Army does not help.

[BlueHen86]

I'm no insider by any stretch of the imagination, but I doubt Nova will drop football.....I mean they won a national championship 2 years ago

I don't think they will either, but they are a basketball school, if football is losing money (I don't know if it is or not) dropping it may be on the table.

[Seahawks]

Big East announces plans to expand to 12 football schools

app.com

PISCATAWAY — In a move intended to show that its crumbling conference is poised for a brighter future, the Big East on Monday announced plans to add as many as six football-playing schools.

The Big East issued a statement following a morning teleconference with its presidents and chancellors that embattled commissioner John Marinatto has been authorized “to engage in formal discussions with additional institutions” and the league is “considering moving to a model that includes 12 football-playing schools.”

According to multiple sources, the Big East is considering Air Force, Army and Navy as football-only members, while Central Florida, East Carolina and Temple are being discussed for all sports. Villanova, which currently plays on the Football Championship Subdivision level for football and in the Big East for its other sports, also would be considered should the university decide to climb to the FBS level.

http://www.app.com/article/20111010/NJS ... rontpage|s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[89Hen]

They'll be lucky to get to 10. They need to be able to raid the C-USA and MAC.

[EPJr]

On Tuesday, the six Big East football schools held their own conference call to plot the league’s future. Today, there was an all-sports call devoted to the same topic — followed by one involving the basketball (or non-football playing) schools. Again, the same subject matter.

 Though Boise State is the Big East’s best chance to retain its automatic bid to the BCS when the next evaluation period comes up in 2014, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida are lukewarm to the idea. And Boise won’t commit to the league until the six holdover football schools do.

 The basketball schools proposed doubling the exit penalty to $10 million while also asking for a 15-year commitment. The football schools have flatly rejected that, causing a bigger fissure between the two sides

Villanova spent part of yesterday’s conference call undermining Temple as an expansion candidate, saying it would accept the Owls as a football member only. The football schools want Temple as an all-sports addition

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index ... cloud.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Skjellyfetti]

The Big East became the latest college conference to expand today, adding five top-tier athletic programs that should make it the the most balanced overall basketball and football conference in America.

“This move allows us to maintain our dominance in basketball,” said Big East commissioner John Marinatto, “while also adding some great football schools that will clinch our status as an ongoing BCS conference and make us a player for national championships.”

The additions also allow the conference to maintain geographical integrity.

“You hear programs talking about adding teams like Boise State or Air Force or TCU in a desperate attempt to stay relevant,” said Marinatto. “Luckily we didn’t have to go down that course. We remain a regional conference befitting our name, but a national factor in all sports. The Big East is clearly the most dominant conference in college athletics.”

SEC commissioner Mike Slive said all he could do is tip his cap to the Big East.

“I believe we still remain the premier football conference, but you have to admire the Big East’s balance between the two major sports,” said Slive. “My job now is making sure none of my schools jump ship to the Big East. It won’t be easy.”

The Big East will likely shed it’s basketball-only schools, giving it an 11-team conference with Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Marinatto says the conference will look to add a twelfth member — possibly East Carolina or Central Florida — but could also poach a school like Penn State, North Carolina, Missouri, Florida State or even Texas from another BCS conference.

“We’re in control of college sports now,” said Marinatto. “It’s really up to us what directions things go next. Has Texas showed interest? Sure. Why wouldn’t a team be interested in playing in a conference of this quality and in these markets? But it’s ultimately our decision because the Big East is in the power seat.”

Marinatoo closed his press conference by saying that the new Big East “feels vaguely familiar,” adding: “I am excited for the future, but I think we can all agree that the 1990s were pretty kick-ass, too, right?”

http://www.sportspickle.com/news/8356/b ... d-syracuse" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Darell1976]

With the Big East getting bigger, and other conference getting bigger like the Big 10, Pac12, the SEC, are we going to see another split in DI football? So have it the Upper FBS (Big 10, Pac 12 etc) FBS (everyone else), FCS. Or are we going to see the reduction of conferences? With the Big 12 reducing, the WAC down, the MWC down seems like a merge between conference makes sense.

[BlueHen86]

With the Big East getting bigger, and other conference getting bigger like the Big 10, Pac12, the SEC, are we going to see another split in DI football? So have it the Upper FBS (Big 10, Pac 12 etc) FBS (everyone else), FCS. Or are we going to see the reduction of conferences? With the Big 12 reducing, the WAC down, the MWC down seems like a merge between conference makes sense.

There is discussion that there will eventually be four 16-team superconferences. I think this is being pushed by TV, and it may never happen. If it does I think you'll see the Pac-16, Big 10, SEC and ACC emerge as the top 4 conferences. The Big East and Big XII will cease to exist (at least for football, the Big East might continue for the non-football schools). The other conferences will be minor players at the FBS level, more so than they are now.

You may even have another split resulting in 3 level of DI football.

[BlueHen86]

They'll be lucky to get to 10. They need to be able to raid the C-USA and MAC.

Most of the problems facing the Big East are of their own doing. They don't want to up the buy out amount, which makes it hard to attract other programs, and they don't agree on who to invite. They have to up the buy out, and they can't be picky about who to invite.

If it were my call I'd up the buy out from 5 to 10 million and I'd invite:
Houston, SMU, Central Florida, Temple, East Carolina, Boise, Memphis and UMass.

Houston and SMU give the conference two big markets in Texas, which will help when it come's time to negotiate a TV deal.

Also, by jumping from 6 to 14 the conference can have a championship game and even if two schools leave, the conference won't be short handed. The conference will be just as big as the ACC, which is who I think they'll be recruiting against most of the time.

Adding UMass and Temple eliminates a MAC conference presence on the east coast. Also, with UMass in the conference 2 of the 3 New England FBS schools will be Big East.

I'm not in favor of adding the service academies. Their admission standards make it tough for them to compete, I don't think they help the conference hang on to it's BCS autobid. Some of the schools I mentioned may not be powerhouses, but they have the potential to be if they invested in their programs which they might if they are in a BCS conference., the service academies can't do that.

[93henfan]

So I guess the latest is that Houston and SMU join as all-sports members and Boise St and Air Force join for football only.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ball-teams

Holy hodgepodge, Batman. Yuck.

[GannonFan]

So I guess the latest is that Houston and SMU join as all-sports members and Boise St and Air Force join for football only.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ball-teams

Holy hodgepodge, Batman. Yuck.

Who knows where this is going to end - nobody's been really eager to be joining the Big East so far, and heck, some people may feel an increased exit fee would only trap them in a bad conference, not make it more stable. With everyone being so tepid in their enthusiasm to join the Big East, I'm not sure this will amount to anything.

[BlueHen86]

So I guess the latest is that Houston and SMU join as all-sports members and Boise St and Air Force join for football only.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ball-teams

Holy hodgepodge, Batman. Yuck.

Who knows where this is going to end - nobody's been really eager to be joining the Big East so far, and heck, some people may feel an increased exit fee would only trap them in a bad conference, not make it more stable. With everyone being so tepid in their enthusiasm to join the Big East, I'm not sure this will amount to anything.

There are teams eager to join the Big East, Temple and East Carolina to name a couple, but the Big East has it's sights set elsewhere. I think the Big East should invite 8 schools, that will give them 14 and a little insurance if a couple of schools leave for another conference.

[GannonFan]

Who knows where this is going to end - nobody's been really eager to be joining the Big East so far, and heck, some people may feel an increased exit fee would only trap them in a bad conference, not make it more stable. With everyone being so tepid in their enthusiasm to join the Big East, I'm not sure this will amount to anything.

There are teams eager to join the Big East, Temple and East Carolina to name a couple, but the Big East has it's sights set elsewhere. I think the Big East should invite 8 schools, that will give them 14 and a little insurance if a couple of schools leave for another conference.

I don't doubt that there are teams who would give a kidney to join the Big East - the problem is, those teams that are really excited about the chance would be teams that wouldn't help the Big East hold onto the BCS bid and would be teams that don't bring much of a marketplace impact. In short, they would get more from the Big East than the Big East would get from them.

[bluehenbillk]

Houston & SMU...I get that they want in, but why would the Big East want them? Them & UCF will come, but not the academies & I doubt Boise.

[BlueHen86]

There are teams eager to join the Big East, Temple and East Carolina to name a couple, but the Big East has it's sights set elsewhere. I think the Big East should invite 8 schools, that will give them 14 and a little insurance if a couple of schools leave for another conference.

I don't doubt that there are teams who would give a kidney to join the Big East - the problem is, those teams that are really excited about the chance would be teams that wouldn't help the Big East hold onto the BCS bid and would be teams that don't bring much of a marketplace impact. In short, they would get more from the Big East than the Big East would get from them.

That's going to be true of any team that the Big East brings in, unless tney convince Notre Dame to join, which isn't going to happen.

I don't think we can judge how interested any school is to join the Big East right now. I think most of what we are hearing and reading is just rumors.