According to CBS Sports' Brett McMurphy, the Big East could be issuing formal invitations to Boise State, Navy, and Air Force to become football-only members of the Big East next week. Central Florida will also be invited as a full member. McMurphy writes:
Big East representatives, including Commissioner John Marinatto, will meet with UCF officials today in Cincinnati. On Thursday, Boise State and a Big East representative spoke via telephone about the Broncos joining the Big East.
On Sunday the Big East's presidents and chancellors are expected to vote and approve an increased exit fee of at least $10 million for football members. That’s double the current amount ($5 million), but less than what Marinatto proposed in an Oct. 2 meeting. In that meeting there were discussions to increase the exit fee to "150 percent of the gross revenues received by a departing team in its final year in the league," according to league documents obtained by CBSSports.com.
The increase in exit fee to $10 million is less than what Marinatto had hoped for, but is still an increase and at least some sign that perhaps the conference can remain viable for the future. Adding Boise State will also boost the conference's hopes of maintaining its BCS automatic qualifying status beyond the current contract. The addition of these four schools would leave the Big East with ten football playing members. With the stated goal of getting to twelve members for football, that would leave two more teams to be admitted. Who would be up?
Houston, SMU and Temple are being considered for the final two spots. However, one source said Houston and SMU are expected to get the final two spots because of Villanova’s concerns about adding Temple into the league.
So what say you Big East fans, would you be happy with a ten or twelve team conference with these proposed members? Do you think it would be able to hold on to its AQ status?