Post by elp525 on Sept 21, 2011 4:36:44 GMT -5
September 20, 2011
Report says WVU overtures rejected by SEC, ACC
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN -- Amid reports that West Virginia's membership overtures were rejected by both the SEC and the ACC, school officials attended a meeting of the remaining Big East football schools Tuesday night in New York.
The meeting, which was cloaked in secrecy -- neither the league nor any of the member schools contacted would even confirm it was scheduled beforehand -- was held at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan and was organized to discuss all matters relating to the league and its current and future membership.
It included seven schools. One of those was TCU, which is scheduled to enter the conference next season. The remaining Big East football schools that attended, in addition to West Virginia, were Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville.
Representatives from Pitt and Syracuse were not invited to attend the meeting, nor were the other members of the Big East that do not play FBS-level football. Pitt and Syracuse were officially accepted into the ACC over the weekend. The non-FBS football schools in the league held their own conference call earlier this week.
The meeting lasted about three hours and broke up just after 9 p.m.
West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck was at the meeting, but refused to comment on specifics when reached late Tuesday night just before boarding a flight to return to Morgantown.
"The Big East is going to issue a statement and I think that pretty much explains our position,'' Luck said.
The statement, released just before midnight, read:
"Our membership met this evening and we are committed as a conference to recruit top level BCS caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions. We have been approached by a number of such institutions and will pursue all of our options to make the Big East Conference stronger than it has ever been in both basketball and football.''
Commissioner John Marinatto also spoke with reporters after the meeting and insisted that all of the members were committed to the Big East.
He said while he was disappointed with the actions of Pitt and Syracuse, he said the remaining members "are committed to making the Big East stronger in both basketball and football.''
Marinatto said the league is actively pursuing replacements for the two schools. A published report earlier in the day said that prior to the moves by Pitt and Syracuse, at least one of the service academies, Navy, was poised to join as a football-only member. There has also been mention of Air Force as an addition.
Marinatto also said the league members were considering increasing the exit fee for members to leave the conference, much as the ACC recently did. That exit fee is now $5 million and teams must give 27 months notice.
Marinatto said the Big East would stick to that rule with Pitt and Syracuse, which, if successful, would mean the two schools would play football in the conference at least through the 2013 season before leaving for the ACC.
"Our schools basically went around the table and pledged to each other that they are committed to move forward,'' Marinatto said of the meeting. "The fact that all of our schools in less than 24 hours notice came here to meet with us showed that they are committed to move forward together and they want to hear what we have to say in order to keep us together.''
The meeting began hours after a Big East source told CBSSports.com that West Virginia had been rejected for membership by both the SEC and the ACC. WVU officials privately rejected the report as false.
That may be a matter of semantics, though. The school never formally applied to either league, but that's because that's not the protocol. There is seldom a formal application made until and unless all parties agree it is a done deal. Instead, schools express an interest and are eventually encouraged or discouraged from continuing the process.
If the most recent report is true, West Virginia was apparently discouraged from advancing any plans to try to enter one of those leagues. Luck, reached at his office Tuesday afternoon, refused to discuss that aspect of the situation or any other.
The meeting also came amid reports that Big East officials, working on behalf of the remaining football schools, attempted to forge an alliance or a merger with schools in the Big 12. That league has already lost Nebraska and Colorado, Texas A&M has said it is leaving, and the possibility still exists that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could be on their way out.
But on Tuesday, it seemed a bit more likely that the Big 12 might not be in peril. Oklahoma is said to be receptive to remaining in the league if certain changes are made -- including the ouster of commissioner Dan Beebe -- and if the Sooners stay it is far more likely that no other schools will leave.
The other Big 12 schools are Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and Missouri. While Missouri now seems poised to perhaps join the SEC, that wouldn't be enough to severely injure the Big 12 as would the defection of the Oklahoma and Texas schools.
If the Big 12 does remain alive in its current form, a merger with the Big East seems far less likely. One report said the two leagues considered a summit for later this week in Chicago, but that idea is no longer on the table.
Further complicating matters is that Connecticut and Rutgers, which attended Tuesday night's meeting, are thought to be actively considering an attempt to jump to the ACC.
Report says WVU overtures rejected by SEC, ACC
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN -- Amid reports that West Virginia's membership overtures were rejected by both the SEC and the ACC, school officials attended a meeting of the remaining Big East football schools Tuesday night in New York.
The meeting, which was cloaked in secrecy -- neither the league nor any of the member schools contacted would even confirm it was scheduled beforehand -- was held at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan and was organized to discuss all matters relating to the league and its current and future membership.
It included seven schools. One of those was TCU, which is scheduled to enter the conference next season. The remaining Big East football schools that attended, in addition to West Virginia, were Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville.
Representatives from Pitt and Syracuse were not invited to attend the meeting, nor were the other members of the Big East that do not play FBS-level football. Pitt and Syracuse were officially accepted into the ACC over the weekend. The non-FBS football schools in the league held their own conference call earlier this week.
The meeting lasted about three hours and broke up just after 9 p.m.
West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck was at the meeting, but refused to comment on specifics when reached late Tuesday night just before boarding a flight to return to Morgantown.
"The Big East is going to issue a statement and I think that pretty much explains our position,'' Luck said.
The statement, released just before midnight, read:
"Our membership met this evening and we are committed as a conference to recruit top level BCS caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions. We have been approached by a number of such institutions and will pursue all of our options to make the Big East Conference stronger than it has ever been in both basketball and football.''
Commissioner John Marinatto also spoke with reporters after the meeting and insisted that all of the members were committed to the Big East.
He said while he was disappointed with the actions of Pitt and Syracuse, he said the remaining members "are committed to making the Big East stronger in both basketball and football.''
Marinatto said the league is actively pursuing replacements for the two schools. A published report earlier in the day said that prior to the moves by Pitt and Syracuse, at least one of the service academies, Navy, was poised to join as a football-only member. There has also been mention of Air Force as an addition.
Marinatto also said the league members were considering increasing the exit fee for members to leave the conference, much as the ACC recently did. That exit fee is now $5 million and teams must give 27 months notice.
Marinatto said the Big East would stick to that rule with Pitt and Syracuse, which, if successful, would mean the two schools would play football in the conference at least through the 2013 season before leaving for the ACC.
"Our schools basically went around the table and pledged to each other that they are committed to move forward,'' Marinatto said of the meeting. "The fact that all of our schools in less than 24 hours notice came here to meet with us showed that they are committed to move forward together and they want to hear what we have to say in order to keep us together.''
The meeting began hours after a Big East source told CBSSports.com that West Virginia had been rejected for membership by both the SEC and the ACC. WVU officials privately rejected the report as false.
That may be a matter of semantics, though. The school never formally applied to either league, but that's because that's not the protocol. There is seldom a formal application made until and unless all parties agree it is a done deal. Instead, schools express an interest and are eventually encouraged or discouraged from continuing the process.
If the most recent report is true, West Virginia was apparently discouraged from advancing any plans to try to enter one of those leagues. Luck, reached at his office Tuesday afternoon, refused to discuss that aspect of the situation or any other.
The meeting also came amid reports that Big East officials, working on behalf of the remaining football schools, attempted to forge an alliance or a merger with schools in the Big 12. That league has already lost Nebraska and Colorado, Texas A&M has said it is leaving, and the possibility still exists that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could be on their way out.
But on Tuesday, it seemed a bit more likely that the Big 12 might not be in peril. Oklahoma is said to be receptive to remaining in the league if certain changes are made -- including the ouster of commissioner Dan Beebe -- and if the Sooners stay it is far more likely that no other schools will leave.
The other Big 12 schools are Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and Missouri. While Missouri now seems poised to perhaps join the SEC, that wouldn't be enough to severely injure the Big 12 as would the defection of the Oklahoma and Texas schools.
If the Big 12 does remain alive in its current form, a merger with the Big East seems far less likely. One report said the two leagues considered a summit for later this week in Chicago, but that idea is no longer on the table.
Further complicating matters is that Connecticut and Rutgers, which attended Tuesday night's meeting, are thought to be actively considering an attempt to jump to the ACC.
