Big East's Catholic member schools to leave league

Mark Blaudschun and Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The seven Catholic, non-football members of the Big East Conference have decided to announce their departure from the league, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussions. The two spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the talks were supposed to remain confidential.

The question is how to do it and when, with several legal entanglements making the breakup complex and potentially messy. An announcement that Villanova, Marquette, St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, Georgetown and DePaul plan to break away is not likely to happen until the schools decide how they want to proceed.

Though commissioner Michael Aresco spent Thursday trying to get that group of schools to slow down and reconsider, a high-ranking person at a school moving to the Big East in 2013 told USA TODAY Sports the football schools are operating under the impression that a breakup is imminent. The person also spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the talks.

The decision to separate comes after years of speculation that the non-football side would go it alone, though it didn't start to become reality until they met with Aresco on Sunday night in New York with a sense of unity they had not previously felt or displayed.

Despite Aresco's efforts to produce a compromise, the Big East's mish-mash of schools and all-sports additions have left the basketball side feeling powerless and unstable in the football environment, especially in light of the recent defections by Rutgers and Louisville to the Big Ten and ACC, respectively. Last year, Pittsburgh and Syracuse agreed to join the ACC, and Notre Dame is moving its non-football sports to that league.

Instead, the non-football schools are expected to explore the possibility of adding Xavier and perhaps two other schools from the Atlantic 10, allowing them to control their own future without the football realignment frenzy.

Executing the plan, however, will require plenty of lawyers. It's unclear whether the conference will continue to exist as a basketball entity, an all-sports conference or dissolve altogether, which seems at this point to be the least likely outcome. At stake in that breakup are tens of millions of dollars in exit fees from the departing members and NCAA basketball tournament credits. Those assets, as well as the Big East name and basketball tournament contract with Madison Square Garden, could be major bargaining chips in the negotiation to separate.

Also at issue is the BCS automatic bid the Big East possesses for 2013, worth upward of $20 million. No matter what form the separation takes, the remaining football members would retain the bid, according to a high-ranking person with knowledge of the BCS structure. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the situation is still in the hypothetical stages.

Though the BCS is being replaced by a playoff structure in 2014, having automatic qualifier status in 2013 could be a key in how the remaining schools proceed once the non-football schools make their move.

At this point, the Big East for 2013 would include holdovers UConn and Cincinnati, plus new all-sports additions Houston, SMU, Memphis, Temple, Central Florida and South Florida. Boise State and San Diego State agreed to join the Big East as football-only members in 2013. Rutgers and Louisville, departing for the Big Ten and ACC, respectively, are not supposed to join their new leagues until 2014, though the current instability could help them go earlier.

Whatever lineup the league produces, even if it didn't have the Big East name, would keep the BCS bid.

"This is uncharted territory," the person said. "This is about the schools. The fact is the Big East schools earned (AQ status) under the rules for '12 and '13."

After that, it's difficult to say what the future holds. The person at one of the incoming Big East schools said returning to Conference USA wasn't an option. The all-sports schools could stick together and try to add more members (particularly in the West) as a national conference, or Boise State and San Diego State could seek to simply return to the Mountain West.

The basketball schools have two options. They could withdraw as a group. Normally that would entail an exit fee of at least $10 million and a 27-month waiting period. But in 2003 former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese pushed through an agreement that would eliminate the exit fees for either the football side of the conference or the basketball side if they left as a group. A two-year waiting period still would be enforced.

But by leaving, the basketball schools would forfeit receiving their part of the growing total of exit fees that have been paid or will be paid by Big East schools such as West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers, all which have left or are in the process of leaving the conference. They also could forfeit the valuable Big East "name'' and other residuals, including an automatic berth in the NCAA basketball tournament.

To avoid this predicament, the Catholic schools could push through a vote distributing the exit fee assets immediately and also negotiate a deal where they would take the Big East name with them.

The second option is more radical. The Catholic schools could vote to dissolve the league. However, they would need 2/3 majority, and although they have seven votes, at least two votes in the majority must come from football-playing schools.

"It's not about dissolving," said one official with knowledge of the discussions. "It's about walking away."

Added the second official, "No matter what the ultimate decision, it's going to take some time.''

The break-up of the basketball/football partnership in the Big East has been an inner conference issue for several years, dating to the mid-1990s when the basketball side of the league was seriously considering breaking away because they felt that the football schools were dominating all legislation.

But it has only come to fruition because of the dynamics of a television negotiation for the new league, which Aresco was attempting to secure. After years of relying on the football side to bring more value to the league, the basketball schools believe they can get similar money on their own without worrying about more realignment. Though that's still a gamble at this point, it's one they are now willing to take.

Mark Blaudschun also writes for AJerseyGuy.com.

Contributing: George Schroeder.