Monday Meeting: Money Talks
According to New York Times college sports reporter Pete Thamel, the Big East presidents and athletic directors will have another conference call tomorrow. It is expected that the schools will continue to discuss the prospect of raising their exit fee into the “$10 million range.” No invitations are expected to be issued for new members at that time.
Navy will be among the top targets of the conference whenever they do get around to voting on invitations. According to a source close to the Villanova administration, however, neither Navy, nor Villanova is willing to commit to Big East football unless a vote to enact a “substantial penalty” in the event that remaining members would leave the conference.
That source also said that Villanova believes that the penalty would ultimately be worked out. Obviously, Monday’s conference call, which includes the top athletic and academic officials at member institutions will be an important step in resolving that issue. It is possible, however that not all conference members will participate in the call, especially if they are seriously discussing a move with another conference.
From our sources, it sounds like Villanova could be back in the Big East football picture to join the service academies in the conference once these exit penalties are worked out.
If they are not able to agree on new penalties, however, our source noted, “If this fails, I believe [Big East football] is done.”
