Big East likes Tulsa as No. 12 but wants TV deal first

Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The Big East is likely to add a 12th member, with Tulsa emerging as a strong favorite, but a final decision won't be made until the league is closer to finalizing a television contract, a person familiar with the league's plans told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversations are supposed to be confidential.

"Tulsa is the best draft pick left on the board," the person said.

Though Big East commissioner Mike Aresco has talked publicly about adding another all-sports member in recent weeks, schools slated to be in the league in 2013 and beyond still don't have enough information on how it would impact them financially.

The Big East has a 10-team football lineup locked in for 2013 and will replace Louisville and Rutgers with East Carolina and Tulane in 2014. Navy is scheduled to come aboard for football-only in 2015, which would bring the league up to 11 members.

If Tulsa (or anyone else) is added, the Big East would have 12 members and be able to stage a conference championship game in 2015. The question is whether adding one more team and a championship game would make financial sense, as the total revenue pie would be shared 12 ways instead of 11.

The Mountain West Conference, which now has 12 members after Boise State and San Diego State decided to stay west instead of going to the Big East, announced earlier this month it will stage a championship game in 2013. A person with knowledge of the Mountain West's media deals told USA TODAY Sports schools were told to expect that game to generate about $1.5 million. Factoring in a slight money bump for the championship game participants, that would mean about $100,000 per school to distribute to the other 10.

A Big East championship game might generate more than that, but the information is still unknown among league members because television negotiations are ongoing and the league office hasn't yet given schools hard (or even vague) numbers on what the final contract might yield under either scenario – with or without a championship game.

More information on that front is expected soon, as the Big East closes in on a TV deal in the next few weeks. During a chamber of commerce speech in Connecticut this week, Aresco said the Big East could end up selling its media rights to multiple networks. It's unlikely any decision on a 12th member will be made until the TV contract clarifies, the person with knowledge said.

The Big East will likely keep the seven non-football, Catholic schools in the fold for one more season in basketball before they separate and form their own league.

If the Big East decides it wants a 12-team lineup, Tulsa makes sense on several fronts. Though it is the smallest school by enrollment in the Football Bowl Subdivision (3,200 undergraduates), it sits in a decent television market (59th in the Nielsen DMA rankings) and has been the most consistently successful football program in Conference USA since joining that league in 2005. Tulsa finished 10-3 last season, won the conference title and defeated Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.

It also has a solid history in basketball, though is currently in an NCAA Tournament drought stretching back to 2003.

One issue for Tulsa is that it currently does not have an athletic director. Ross Parmley was fired in early December after his named surfaced in an FBI investigation into an alleged sports gambling ring in Oklahoma City. Parmley had initially told the school he was questioned only about a family connection but later admitted he had gambled on sports, violating NCAA rules.

Because Tulsa responded quickly upon learning of Parmley's gambling, it appears unlikely the school would be hit with major sanctions.

School president Steadman Upham made it clear to the Tulsa World in December the school would prefer to get out of C-USA and re-join SMU and Tulane – smaller private schools with similar academic prestige – in the Big East.

With Houston, SMU, Memphis, Central Florida, Tulane and East Carolina migrating to the Big East over the next two years, C-USA has backfilled with eight public schools, four of which are moving from the Sun Belt.

"I also want to be in a conference that we can be proud of academically," Upham told the newspaper. "Losing two of the private shools in Conference USA is damaging to me, in the way I think about the conference. Whether that forces us to take an action, I can't speculate. For one thing, it's not our call. We have to have an invitation."