10-07-2011, 10:16 PM
UC still counting on Big East
Written by
Bill Koch
The University of Cincinnati remains a strong advocate for staying in a viable Big East Conference following a Friday conference call involving the presidents and athletic directors from the league’s remaining football and basketball schools.
No decision was made during the conference call about which schools the conference should invite to join them. Central Florida and East Carolina remain the most likely candidates, but that decision probably won’t be made until early next week while the league continues to gather more information.
There were indications Thursday that the league could vote Friday to issue those invitations.
Temple, Air Force and Navy also have been mentioned as possible expansion candidates.
East Carolina has already applied for membership in the Big East. It’s expected that Central Florida also would accept an invitation in order to take advantage of the Big East’s BCS automatic qualifier status. Both schools, if invited, would join the league for all sports.
The league will maintain its BCS status at least through the BCS bowl games in 2014.
There also have been discussions in the Big East about how much to raise the exit fee from its current $5 million in an attempt to discourage other schools from leaving.
Texas Christian, which had agreed to enter the Big East in 2012, was invited to join the Big 12 on Thursday and is expected to accept that invitation, leaving the Big East with six Football Bowl Subdivision schools – UC, Louisville, South Florida, Connecticut, Rutgers and West Virginia.
The league is working to keep those six schools together while adding two more to get it back to eight FBS football members.
Connecticut has made no secret of its desire to explore other options, with the Atlantic Coast Conference its top choice. Louisville, West Virginia and UC have been mentioned as possible candidates for the Big 12 if Missouri leaves for the Southeastern Conference, with Louisville and West Virginia generally mentioned as more likely candidates than UC.
The situation changes from day to day as each Big East school jockeys to protect its own interests, while keeping an eye on developments around the country, especially in the Big 12, which will determine to a large extent what the Big East does next. For UC, keeping the Big East together clearly remains the school’s best option if it is to maintain its BCS status and flourish in football.
That’s why UC has emerged as one of the strongest advocates for keeping the league together.
With two Big East football championships in the last three years, the Bearcats already have proven that they can compete in that conference with the resources they have. If they were to go to the Big 12, they not only would have to pay $5 million to leave the Big East but would have to pay a substantial fee to join the Big 12.
Assuming that could be done, UC would then have to find a way to dramatically increase its football revenue to have a chance to compete with schools such at Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111...ws|text|UC
Written by
Bill Koch
The University of Cincinnati remains a strong advocate for staying in a viable Big East Conference following a Friday conference call involving the presidents and athletic directors from the league’s remaining football and basketball schools.
No decision was made during the conference call about which schools the conference should invite to join them. Central Florida and East Carolina remain the most likely candidates, but that decision probably won’t be made until early next week while the league continues to gather more information.
There were indications Thursday that the league could vote Friday to issue those invitations.
Temple, Air Force and Navy also have been mentioned as possible expansion candidates.
East Carolina has already applied for membership in the Big East. It’s expected that Central Florida also would accept an invitation in order to take advantage of the Big East’s BCS automatic qualifier status. Both schools, if invited, would join the league for all sports.
The league will maintain its BCS status at least through the BCS bowl games in 2014.
There also have been discussions in the Big East about how much to raise the exit fee from its current $5 million in an attempt to discourage other schools from leaving.
Texas Christian, which had agreed to enter the Big East in 2012, was invited to join the Big 12 on Thursday and is expected to accept that invitation, leaving the Big East with six Football Bowl Subdivision schools – UC, Louisville, South Florida, Connecticut, Rutgers and West Virginia.
The league is working to keep those six schools together while adding two more to get it back to eight FBS football members.
Connecticut has made no secret of its desire to explore other options, with the Atlantic Coast Conference its top choice. Louisville, West Virginia and UC have been mentioned as possible candidates for the Big 12 if Missouri leaves for the Southeastern Conference, with Louisville and West Virginia generally mentioned as more likely candidates than UC.
The situation changes from day to day as each Big East school jockeys to protect its own interests, while keeping an eye on developments around the country, especially in the Big 12, which will determine to a large extent what the Big East does next. For UC, keeping the Big East together clearly remains the school’s best option if it is to maintain its BCS status and flourish in football.
That’s why UC has emerged as one of the strongest advocates for keeping the league together.
With two Big East football championships in the last three years, the Bearcats already have proven that they can compete in that conference with the resources they have. If they were to go to the Big 12, they not only would have to pay $5 million to leave the Big East but would have to pay a substantial fee to join the Big 12.
Assuming that could be done, UC would then have to find a way to dramatically increase its football revenue to have a chance to compete with schools such at Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111...ws|text|UC