Little Doubt This Is The Last Year For Syracuse And Pittsburgh In The Big East

While the administrations at both Pittsburgh and Syracuse have consistently maintained they would abide by the 27-month waiting period for exiting the Big East, it's obvious now that both schools are entering their final seasons as members of the Big East. Many expected the Big East and the two schools to work out an earlier exit agreement once the conference had enough members that could join for the 2013 season.

Neither representative for Pittsburgh or Syracuse will not be attending the upcoming meetings with the Big East, and instead will be attending ACC meetings in May. According to a post from ESPN's Andy Katz, Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson said:

When will the two schools join the ACC? "Hopefully, we'll get everything worked out here soon,'' Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said. "Their league is reconfigured and ready to move, and when you get to that point where everybody is on the next page, everybody should move on.''

With West Virginia already gone and Connecticut likely ineligible for the postseason in basketball, having Pittsburgh and Syracuse in publicly acknowledged lame-duck seasons could make 2012-13 the most awkward year in Big East history. And that's saying something.