College sports conferences and realignment have become one of the biggest issues plaguing the NCAA. Schools are chasing dollars over tradition and with many programs moving to new conferences, fans are often left behind wondering where their team will play next season.
The Big East was once considered one of the best conferences in the nation, especially for basketball, but after the departure of a number of teams and the addition of some new ones, the group is weaker than ever-and it looks like it will fall even further.
According to ESPN.com, sources said that seven non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools in the Big East are considering leaving the conference and possibly joining another one or starting their own basketball group.
Details are not clear yet, but the seven Catholic schools are Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova.
According to the report, Big East commissioner Mike Aresco spoke to the other schools in the conference and said that the seven are prepared to leave, but there has been no official word yet. The source said that it is unclear what the schools would have to pay in exit fees and whether the Big East name and Madison Square Garden will remain with the conference.
The schools reportedly have been disappointed with the additions the conference has made in regards to basketball programs and is worried about the future viability of the Big East. An official announcement is expected for Saturday, according to Andy Katz.
The source said that since the seven schools are trying to leave as a group, there would be a clause that allows them to bypass an exit fee. According to ESPN.com though, "the schools would have to honor the league's requirement to provide 27 months' notice."
The biggest issue with the school's leaving is the Big East name. It is unclear who will keep the name if the seven schools leave, because "four of the seven Catholic schools (Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall) were founding members in 1979."
It's hard to even keep track of how many teams have decided to leave the conference over the past few years. The entire landscape of college athletics has been changing over that time, as has the Big East.
The first major defections came in 2004 and 2005 when the Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College moved to the ACC, taking three big football programs away from the Big East. There was some relative calm for a while, but in the past few years, Big East powerhouses such as Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Rutgers, West Virginia and Notre Dame have all made plans or have already departed the conference.
The conference has already added Temple to help with the departures of previous schools and will later bring in Houston, SMU, Memphis and UCF in 2013, Tulane and East Carolina in 2014, and Navy in 2015.
TCU also opted to join the Big East in 2010, but later pulled out after the school saw how many teams were leaving for other conferences. Boise State and San Diego State have made plans to join the conference in 2013, but that also highlights another issue for the seven schools deciding to leave.
Notre Dame made plans to leave in 2015 to honor the 27-month exit period, but could bolt sooner if the seven schools decide to leave and to join their new conference made up of Catholic schools, which may include Xavier, Saint Louis, Dayton, Creighton, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
Other schools in the conference like Connecticut have upgraded their football facilities, while the majority of the new schools are stronger in football than in basketball, which is one of the main reasons the seven schools are looking to leave. The Catholic institutions are known for basketball traditionally and are basing the decision off of future of their programs.
Marquette athletic director Larry Williams spoke about the future of the conference in a radio interview in Milwaukee.
"The Big East that Marquette joined in 2005, boy, that's a different looking animal going forward over the next couple of years," Williams told 540 ESPN Milwaukee. "It's prompted some deeper discussion what futures are for schools such as Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova."
With so many departures, the conference is taking on teams as far away as California and is changing the landscape of what used to be the biggest powerhouse basketball conference in the nation. Just a few years ago the conference had eight teams make the NCAA tournament and Connecticut won a national championship just two years ago.
Connecticut president Susan Herbst has reached out to the seven schools in attempts to keep them in the conference.
"I know this may seem like a tough moment for our fans, but we need to focus on the fundamentals of academic success across the university and in our athletic program as well," Herbst said in a statement when Louisville, and not UConn, was selected by the ACC last month, according to ESPN.com.
The Big East basketball tournament was considered to be one of the best end-of-year events and the conference has given the sport numerous memorable moments over the years, including Syracuse and Connecticut's six-overtime thriller and UConn's magical run to the conference championship by winning five games in five nights.
The 1980's were considered a high-mark for the Big East, with successful teams like St. John's, Georgetown and Syracuse competing for conference championships and national titles.
St. John's basketball coach Steve Lavin spoke to ESPN and said that both he and women's coach Joe Tartamella have discussed the decision to leave the conference.
"I've had discussions with (school president) Father (Donald) Harrington, with my athletic director, and with the team of people at St. John's," Lavin said to ESPN.com. "When conference realignment started to take place there was a good conversation with the administration at St. John's. This is the latest update on conference realignment, but there hasn't been anything that has caught us off guard. It's one of the realities of big-time college athletics, so it's not as though when you wake up you're not any more surprised than you were three, six or eight months ago. It's part of the culture now. What we have to do is continue to get feedback and give our input, but the presidents are the ones who are going to determine the future for St. John's aspirations in basketball."
Another big issue in the Big East involves television rights, and of course, money. A new TV deal for the conference is expected to bring in up to $80 million, according to CBSSports.com, but if the schools leave, it could bring the deal down by "15 to 20 percent," an industry source said.
With all the uncertainty with the conference, 2013 could be the last year that the Big East basketball tournament is held.
