Wow....all we get for losing Miami is the 5 million bucks that BC had verbally agreed to anyway...:rolleyes: ....another BE defeat at the hands of the ACC
Jackson
Settlement In Big East-ACC Suit
9:12 PM EDT,May 3, 2005
By KEN DAVIS, The Hartford Courant The legal battle between the Big East Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference is over. The University of Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia have agreed to a settlement worth approximately $5 million, and all litigation between the two conferences, its member schools and officers has been dropped.
Documents released Tuesday by the office of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, after a Freedom of Information request by The Courant, show UConn has received $1 million as its share of the settlement. Sources said each of the four Big East schools received an equal share of the settlement.
According to the agreement, finalized April 27 in Rockville Superior Court, Boston College will withdraw from the Big East on June 30 and join the ACC on July 1. The settlement document discharges Boston College's obligation to pay a withdrawal fee, as provided by the Big East constitution, but a source said an additional $1 million of the settlement will essentially serve the purpose of an exit fee.
Expansion plans by the ACC prompted the initial lawsuit in June 2003. That suit, filed in state Superior Court in Hartford by Blumenthal, accused Miami, BC and the ACC of "a backroom conspiracy, born in secrecy, founded on greed, and carried out through calculated deceit." Miami and Virginia Tech, one of the original plaintiffs in the suit, announced their intentions to leave the Big East later that summer and became members of the ACC for the 2004-05 season. BC accepted the ACC's invitation in October 2003.
A series of rulings and lawsuits ensued, but the case brought by the four Big East schools against Miami and Boston College remained and had been scheduled for trial in September - until the parties agreed to mediation.
The settlement document does not specify the total settlement amount or how the payment was split between Miami, BC and the ACC.
"This resolution protects Connecticut's critical investment in the UConn football program - its upgrade to Division I-A status - and the Big East football partnership," Blumenthal said in a statement released by his office.
"We pursued this case because the future of the Big East Conference was at risk - the stakes huge for both state taxpayers and the university's good name. Now, UConn's football program, as well as the conference, is strong and stable, with a secure position in the Bowl Championship Series.
"We support UConn's decision to accept this resolution." Under the agreement, all parties agreed not to "alert the media of this settlement" or hold a "press conference or briefing." UConn issued a joint statement from president Philip E. Austin and athletic director Jeff Hathaway.
"The University of Connecticut is pleased that this litigation has been concluded," the statement said. "The State of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut have made a tremendous investment in the University's football program, and initiating this litigation was one part of a larger effort to protect that investment.
"When this legal case began, the newly upgraded UConn football program was about to join a Big East Conference whose composition was uncertain and whose position in the BCS was in jeopardy. Two years later, after hard work on many fronts, the UConn football program is successful and is a member of a Big East Conference that is strong, stable and vibrant, and retains a secure position in the BCS."
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