Photo credit: AP | Utah defensive end Joe Kruger (99) strips the ball from Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri (12) as he tackles him in the fourth quarter of the NCAA college football game. (Oct. 15, 2011)
In an effort to curb further attrition and project a secure image to potential new members, the Big East plans to double its withdrawal fee to $10 million, commissioner John Marinatto said during a conference call Tuesday.
Marinatto said the conference is "trying to develop a plan to keep the Big East strong, stable and vital," in describing a unanimous vote to raise the exit fee. The conference is in expansion mode following the recent defections by Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC. Then TCU, after agreeing to join the Big East, instead headed for the Big 12 . TCU was hit with a $5 million exit fee. Marinatto said that Syracuse and Pitt would not be permitted to leave for the ACC before the 27-month waiting period stipulated in the Big East's bylaws.
Several schools have been reported to be on the Big East's radar, including Boise State , Houston, Air Force , Central Florida, Navy and SMU. Marinatto would not divulge any of the schools that may be invited. "There will always be quality institutions that want to align themselves with us as we reposition ourselves for our upcoming television negotiations 11 months from now," he said.
Marinatto envisions a 12-team football conference that would play a title game in New York City. In an email to Bloomberg News , Yankees president Randy Levine said the team would be "very" interested in hosting a conference championship game.
The Big East has a BCS bid through 2013 and Marinatto is confident the conference will retain its automatic status, saying "It's our commitment to meet the standards moving forward to maintain our BCS [bid] . . . We have the same assurance that any other conference in the country has today."
The new exit fee becomes operative when a new member is announced. That leaves open the possibility for more Big East schools to leave. West Virginia , Louisville and Cincinnati could still be targeted by other conferences. "I recognize fully that the alignment picture is very unsettled right now," Marinatto said. "We're prepared to play to our strengths and we're prepared to respond to whatever challenges we face on the membership side."
Marinatto suggested an accelerated timetable for adding new members, saying, "Stay tuned, we're working diligently. We have a lot to offer and we're going to get this done right. Having said all of that, my hope is that once this landscape is resolved, the better it is for all of us, so the sooner the better."
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