SU Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel's Comments
Opening Statement
"Several weeks ago, the eight Division I-A presidents in The BIG EAST Conference instructed us, the (athletic) directors of those institutions, to review and to analyze all options that might be available to that collective group in our future as conference members in the broadest since. We started that process last weekend at our annual meeting and we expect to conclude it in the next few weeks. The issue was clearly precipitated by what appeared to be intensified discussions within the Atlantic Coast Conference on the issue of expansion. Expansion by the ACC is not a new issue for us in the BIG EAST. It's been going on for the better part of four years with the focal point clearly being the University of Miami. That changed quite a bit this past Friday when two other schools specific schools were identified by the ACC and contacted by the ACC. As we understand it, the ACC, by its bylaws, has a formal process that it must go through whenever expansion is the issue and with the specific schools identified. We know that the process includes a site visit by representatives from the Atlantic Coast Conference. We don't know when that is going to be and we're not exactly sure what it encompasses, but we'll find out soon. So we are engaged, then, in two processes: One within the Division I-A membership of the BIG EAST, and one with the Atlantic Coast Conference. No decisions will be made until both processes are completed. So we do not have any decision to share with you this afternoon. We're merely here to help you understand what is going on and help you understand what some of the issues are for Syracuse University."
If you have a choice, in light of what Miami is doing, what would you do? Would you opt to leave or would you stay?
"We don't find ourselves in the position of being able to dictate. As Miami, Boston College and Syracuse go through this process, as well as the other five (Division) I-A schools in The BIG EAST Conference, we are all considering the what-ifs and the stability of the future, particularly for I-A football playing schools in the Northeast and trying to get a handle on what all of this means. We have every reason to believe that at the expiration of the current BCS(Bowl Championship Series) contract, with a new contract then that would begin with the 2006 football season, that there may be a restructuring of who qualifies, what conferences qualify, what groups qualify, who gets automatic entry into the BCS. It's these kinds of things that we have to analyze. With Miami, can the BIG EAST prosper as a BCS conference? We believe the answer to that is yes. Without Miami, will the BIG EAST prosper as a BCS conference? That's problematic to the point where it is questionable. On the basis of our future as an institution, as an athletic program and looking forward to stability, Miami's decision will strongly influence our decision.
"If you look at where I-A football seems to be headed in the last several years, it seems to be headed to the super conferences, with the establishment first of the SEC and then the Big XII following it. The Big 10 and the Pac-10 don't seem to find it necessary, and I can understand their rationale, for going to super conference status because they really have super conference status in that they have their own bowl game, which is a very financially successful bowl game in the Rose Bowl. But if one accepts the notion that the direction seems to be in the super conference direction, then we would be remiss if we didn't try to position ourselves, as an institution, in that mix. If we're not in that mix, we believe we run some serious risks for the future stability of our program."
How does the University feel about traveling further distances to play road games should Syracuse join Atlantic Coast Conference?
"We travel to Miami. We fly over ACC country to get to Miami with several of our sports. We've done quasi anaylsis of cost of travel. We are traveling to different places. While the travel itself may be more expensive, we find that maybe the overnight lodging and the meals might not be as expensive. So we're not just exactly sure how all of that is going to play itself out. One of the things that I need is to sit down more with members of the ACC to find out, for the sports other than football and basketball, what the scheduling conditions are, and what the playing conditions are and what the championship conditions are. We don't know those yet. In our own financial analysis,
we have figures in increased travel to some degree. We travel to Washington. Traveling to the University of Maryland isn't going to be any different."
Coach Jim Boeheim has stated publicly that he doesn't want to leave the BIG EAST. Have you had talks with the coaches about the possibility of leaving the conference?
"I can understand not wanting to change because that's really what it is. I have talked with Coach Boeheim. I have talked with Coach (Paul) Pasqualoni. I have talked, not nearly as seriously, with other coaches yet. I can understand why people don't want change. When we started The BIG EAST Conference, there was not 100 percent support for entering that kind of formal relationship because, while the corp of that group was fairly consistent with our playing pattern, there were some new people in there who had not played on a regular basis and there is this sudden change. We have adapted to change quite well. Certainly Coach Boeheim's program has adapted to change quite well. I fully expect that if this all happens, we all go through a period of transition. We get through the notion that there is change and we don't like change. Then we get along with our business."
What is the BIG EAST willing to do to get Miami to stay as far as bending any financial terms they may have?
"We are the only conference in the country, to my knowledge, that distributes revenue on an incentive basis in football. The people who have earned it will receive it. That is not the case in any other major conference. There is more equitable distribution of whatever revenue is distributed. We have found it appropriate to recognize the providers if you will, the Miami's of the world. If they have rightfully earned that as an incentive, then they should get it. This is part of the way we have done business for quite some years. We would certainly not discontinue that."
How did the early days of The BIG EAST Conference, particularly the failure to get Penn State and it's football program, contribute to the current state of the conference?
"You really almost have to go back to the beginning of The BIG EAST Conference. It was established as a basketball conference. After that we added women's basketball and then we added other sports. Clearly there was a core within the original group of schools in the BIG EAST, including Boston College and at that time Connecticut and Syracuse, that were very concerned about our football programs and football in the Northeast. Penn State, to us, was a very key player in the stability in football in the Northeast. I say this because I was involved with this, I believed it then and I believe it now, Penn State was unfortunately not offered membership in the original conference. As we moved forward in conference play, it became very apparent to the non-football playing schools in the BIG EAST that some accommodations needed to be made to the football playing schools. We could not continue to hang out as independents as everybody else was looking to form new conferences or join existing conferences. There was at that time, a collection of independent schools, maybe 16-17 of us who crowded ourselves into a room and started discussing, as a collective group, how do we address this conference issue. I believe that Penn State is positioned right now where they should be positioned. They are a large state institution associated with other large state institutions. I believe that was a right decision for them to make, and I don't think they regret making that decision. I believe that they would have made that decision had they been a member of The BIG EAST Conference just as the University of Miami is looking at that kind of a decision as a member of The BIG EAST Conference. So I don't think, even had we been able to get Penn State into the BIG EAST, their opportunity to go to the Big 10 would have had to be so attractive that they could not afford to reject it. That's my personal opinion."
There is belief at the core of this whole issue is money. Is that a correct perception and if it's not, what is at the core of this issue?
"I would say there are two words: football and money. You don't go to a conference of 12 for any other reason than to take advantage of current NCAA rules which allow you, with a conference of 12, to subdivide into two six-team divisions and then play a championship game. It's that championship game that has added new found revenue to conferences of 12. In fact, that's why they become conferences of 12. Clearly, football is driving this issue. With the way the economy, the television marketplace, the incredible amount of sports on television, new cable entities being created to carry more and more sports inventory, you really have to find ways, almost not to increase your revenue, but to not decrease it. The days of the big windfall contracts are pretty well over. Maintaining what you have is the environment we find ourselves in right now. I don't see, quite frankly, a whole lot of new found money in the marketplace. Obviously, a conference runs a risk when they increase their membership without a guaranteed increase in their current revenues. In large measures, part of the exercise is not to lose revenue, but to maintain it."
On the financial figures that the ACC has given Miami:
"I can believe the BIG EAST figures because we know what the BIG EAST figures are. I can't speak to what the ACC is sharing with Miami. I'm not privileged to that, and quite frankly, it's really none of my business at this point in time. Syracuse University certainly assumes that when we have our site visit, we will have an opportunity to look at figures, discuss their financial position and their projections for the future. I can't speak to the financial issues the ACC is discussing with Miami."
Do you have any idea when Miami is going to make a decision about going to the ACC, and if that decision is to go, would you prefer that Syracuse announces its decision at the same time?
"No, I don't have any idea when Miami is going to make its decision. As I indicated earlier, Miami, Boston College and Syracuse are going through two processes simultaneously: one with the BIG EAST group of I-A football schools and one on our own independent of that. We, I think I include Miami, I know I include Boston College, we want to conclude all of the fact finding before reaching our conclusion and then announcing that conclusion. (on announcing any decision at the same time as Miam)If you're asking me personally, the answer to the that is no, I would not prefer to do that. Somehow, I don't believe that I'm going to be making that decision. That would be left as more an institutional decision and not an athletic department decision."
On the reported June 30 deadline to announce if a team plans to leave The BIG EAST Conference?
"That's incorrect. Technically, there is no deadline. In the constitution of the BIG EAST, there are deadlines for withdrawal within a time frame. You don't have to withdraw within that time frame. You can extend the timeframe. June 30 is one the deadlines, but it is not the deadline."
Should Syracuse leave the BIG EAST, how difficult would it be for him personally to break that relationship?
"Very difficult. As one of the founding fathers of this group, it was not easy to get this thing launched in the first place because all of us had enjoyed independent status forever, since our programs started. Just getting this whole operation started and getting away from this mentality that, 'I've never had to rely on anybody else,' was not easy. Chancellor Shaw, at my urging, was instrumental in keeping this conference together in the early 1990s when West Virginia, Rutgers and Virginia Tech were not official basketball playing members of the BIG EAST. In order to hold the football together, we found it necessary to add at least two of those members. There was a lot of resistance at that time, to the point that we had to consider the what-ifs – the football schools moving off on their own. Chancellor Shaw played a very significant role in keeping the conference together at that time. Now we're talking about the possibility of leaving The BIG EAST Conference when we've put so much time and effort into putting it together and keeping it together. From a personal standpoint, I feel very differently. I know that if this thing happens, Boston College and Miami are not going to be very pleased to look at some of their peers in eye and say 'I'm sorry it had to happen.' If I have to do that, it's going to twice as difficult, especially since we have an appreciation for the impact that a decision of that nature will have on our peers and our peer institutions. I think it's worth saying that until Friday afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. (when the ACC invited SU to participate in the invitation process), Boston College and Syracuse were among those schools that were looking at what are we going to do if… We know the feeling."
Can you talk more about this process with the eight Division I-A football schools in the BIG EAST and what options there are?
"We're looking at an all-sports conference composed of the Division I-A football playing schools as an option, developing our own television contracts for football and men's basketball, conducting an eight-team full blown conference. We have to do some financial analysis. We do have a football contract that is in place for several more years and that will remain because we haven't changed any composition. But on the basketball side, there is different composition. We don't know exactly what that means at this time and that's part of the analysis we're going through. Until we have a better handle on that, we won't know what the financial issues are. That's the major part of the process we're reviewing."
Why are you so sure that the BIG EAST will lose its BCS automatic berth if only Miami left the BIG EAST?
"We can't be absolutely sure. If we want to be risk takers, we could do that. That may be okay initially. In the long run, I doubt very much that it would lend itself to any degree of stability and viability. If you look across the country, the trend seems to be going to the super conference. There was a group of 15-18 of us 20 years ago that were all independents in football east of the Misssissippi. There isn't anybody now except for Notre Dame that is an independent. So you see where everything is going. As soon as you start to say we're going to expand and the ACC is the perfect example, there is no place else to expand other to look at schools in existing conferences. If Miami goes, first of all, who is the Miami replacement. Where is the other school equal to Miami's football program that is independent? Notre Dame. Notre Dame isn't going anywhere. Now we have to go to raid conference for that Miami equal. Penn State would the logical choice. I cannot believe for a heartbeat that Penn State would leave the Big 10. As I mentioned before, they are very appropriately positioned. So where do we go? Who do we get? Tennessee? Alabama? Florida? Michigan? Stanford? Texas? I don't know where that other school is. And why they would want to leave what they would have as a risk?"
Are you saying that Miami is the only one of the three schools (Boston College and Syracuse) to see financial numbers from the ACC?
"No. Boston College and Syracuse have seen the projected numbers. We all have questions because the ACC distributes its revenue differently than do we. Miami, Boston College and Syracuse don't understand it all quite frankly. We need some help in analyzing how they distribute revenue because it is different. It's more equitable than the way we do it. These kinds of issues are part of the site visit when we're going to have a chance to sit down with these people and talk about some of the detail. Again, I want to assure you, no decisions have been made. These decisions are going to be based on the exercise and the process for the next couple of weeks when we're going to get a more firm handle on what we're comparing, current versus one variation of a different looking BIG EAST versus another variation of a VERY different looking BIG EAST. Until that time, I can assure you that Syracuse University, at least, will not be making any final decisions."
