BIG EAST History & Retrospective (Part 2)
12/9/2000 12:13:25 PM | General
<b>By Jake Crouthamel<br>Syracuse University Director of Athletics</b><br><a href="../8/bigeasthistory.asp?path=gen">Part 1</a>
THE BIRTH OF BIG EAST FOOTBALL
Our plea fell on deaf ears. The three of us could not remain as independents in football and survive in an environment with everyone joining football-playing conferences. The problem was compounded by the fact that the other eastern football independents (Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia and Virginia Tech) were not in the BIG EAST, and none of them had a flagship football program like a Penn State. Only two other independent football schools carried such a status, Florida State and Miami, and both the ACC and SEC were talking with each one.
Our BIG EAST basketball compatriots recognized the urgency of the situation, and agreed to extend full membership to Miami with the clear understanding that Miami would work with us to solve the football milieu. Thus, after a lot of courting and mating dances, Miami became our 10th member. With Miami in our fold, Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Temple had no other choice but to join B.C., Pitt, Miami and Syracuse in a football only federation called The BIG EAST Football Conference. Formal play began in 1991. That year Miami won the national championship. Rutgers, West Virginia and Temple remained in the Atlantic 8 for all other sports, as did Virginia Tech in the Metro Conference (which later became Conference USA). We survived the next two years under this arrangement until the you-know-what hit the proverbial fan.
At that time the College Football Association (CFA) was the sole negotiator, representative and controller of Division IA college football television. As members of the CFA, The BIG EAST Football Conference schools were bound to all national network and cable television arrangements contracted for by the CFA. ABC Sports and ESPN held exclusive rights for CFA television, but they were about to expire. Coincidentally, our BIG EAST basketball television was about to expire as well. At the NCAA Convention in San Antonio in January of 1994, I was asked by Neil Pilson, then president of CBS Sports, to meet with him. The meeting was a shocker. CBS had been out of the college football business for some time with ABC/ESPN claiming all the exclusive rights. This was CBS's opportunity to get back in. It had reached an agreement with the SEC for football and basketball, and needed BIG EAST inventory to round out its programming. CBS laid a lot of money on the table for exclusive national network rights of The BIG EAST Conference for football and basketball. We pointed out to CBS that we could not represent the non-football playing schools in the BIG EAST for their basketball rights. The response from CBS was that it would then assume the basketball rights for the eight BIG EAST football schools. A total mess! We were looking at a situation where B.C., Pitt, Miami and Syracuse were being asked by CBS to pull its basketball television rights away from The BIG EAST Conference. Clearly, we couldn't do that and remain in The BIG EAST Conference. On the other hand, we couldnt reject the amount of money CBS was offering for the package deal.
After meeting with CBS the directors of B.C., Pitt, Miami and I met. I suggested that the only shot we had at keeping everything together and at the same time benefiting from the CBS largesse was to get a majority vote by "packing the court." To do that we needed to get two football schools accepted as new members of The BIG EAST Conference. In order to accomplish that we needed seven votes from the ten members, the four IA schools and three more. We believed UConn and Villanova would support us because both were talking about elevating their football programs to Division IA. That left one vote to coerce. If we could get it, we would be at 12 members, with a 6-6 representation of Division IA, and a 6-2 vote in the football conference. We could then force the vote on the football side, needing only one more vote on the basketball side to approve the CBS package offer.
This plan was presented to the 10 BIG EAST Directors and met with immediate and firm resistance by the non-IA schools. Once again football was driving the membership issue. After several futile and very long meetings among the directors, no resolution could be reached. The voting of the directors was split with the IA and IAA schools on one side and the basketball schools on the other. We turned the matter over to the presidents of our 10 schools to make the final decision. After two meetings a decision was reached in March, 1994, ironically at the Lubin House in New York City, the day before BIG EAST men's basketball tournament was to begin. St. Johns had represented a very strong anti-expansion position throughout our discussions. However, once the president became involved, and with the input of then head men's basketball coach Lou Carnesecca, the long-term implications were understood, and we had our seventh vote. Rutgers and West Virginia were added as our 11th and 12th members. There were, however, some very bitter and lingering feelings both about the process and the result. There was one condition attached to the agreement and one understanding. The condition was that should the University of Connecticut and/or Villanova move their football programs to Division IA within a given period of time, either or both would be invited to participate in The BIG EAST Football Conference as a full members. This is happening at UConn. The understanding was that the six Division IA member schools would not block acceptance of a 13th member which might have a Division IA football program but not be included in The BIG EAST Football Conference; i.e., Notre Dame. In June, 1994 Notre Dame officially became the 13th member in all sports except football.
The invitation to Virginia Tech as our 14th member, while certainly not an afterthought, was a much easier process. During the past several years Virginia Tech had quietly, but steadily, been gaining stature in its football program. It became apparent that a conference of 13 members needed either one additional or one fewer member. With an even number of members we could create two divisions of equal numbers in men's basketball. Of the schools that merited consideration, clearly Virginia Tech headed the list. With several of us having been through previous expansion battles, there was no resistance to the inevitable.
THE IRONY
The irony of The BIG EAST Conference is that it was formed to accommodate men's basketball, but in practice it has served football to a far greater extent. I can't help but think back to that July, 1981 meeting in Boston when Penn State was denied membership in the BIG EAST by one vote. On that one vote turned the fate of college football in the East that had national repercussions.
In 21 short years we have gone from a conference with 2/7th of its membership in Division IA to one with a ratio of 9/14th, and having doubled in size. With such membership representation the BIG EAST has been designated a IA conference which means the non-IA schools benefit from the majority voting privileges of Division IA in the NCAA governance structure. We are a montage of 14 institutions of higher education; nine private and five public; seven denominational and seven non-denominational; one that has federated membership for football only; one that has federated membership in all sports except football; a range in undergraduate enrollment from 3,600 to 25,500; and a range in athletic budgets from $8 million to $28 million. However, I believe firmly that while we are surely the most diverse major conference in the country, it is that diversity and capacity to change that are our strengths. I believe we are better positioned as a conference to address the future of intercollegiate athletics, whatever that future may hold.
