Report: Creighton to Big East; Evansville to Horizon

[TheAsianSensation]

So, the new conference probably won't take shape until 2014. No conference is going to let a school park itself with an intention to leave for two years. The Horizon and CAA effectively kicked out Butler and VCU, respectively this summer, one year before their scheduled move to the A10.

Interesting. If the conference presidents get together tomorrow as reported, any chance they raise the exit fees for anyone leaving the conference?

I don't think they can legally raise the fees for a school that's already voted to leave.

Anyways, let the negotiations begin. Of course the Big East is going to say 27 months apply. Because right now they're dealing with Louisville and Rutgers.

[MoValley John]

So, the new conference probably won't take shape until 2014. No conference is going to let a school park itself with an intention to leave for two years. The Horizon and CAA effectively kicked out Butler and VCU, respectively this summer, one year before their scheduled move to the A10.

Interesting. If the conference presidents get together tomorrow as reported, any chance they raise the exit fees for anyone leaving the conference?

Probably a little, but not much of a fee. While most will want to handcuff Creighton, many are testing the waters as well. How much is UNI or Illinois State willing to raise exit fees when they are probably looking for a higher level of football? How much is Wichita State willing to raise exit fees when they would take the next plane out, should it become available? The only winner in this is Evansville, as their plans may be to collect all of the exit fees and turn off the lights when the conference dies.

[MoValley John]

Also, if Cincinnati finds a new home, they vote to dissolve, that kills the Big East.

[squirrel]

Exactly...long-term it does no good for Valley members to be committed to the league at this point. Because this all trickles down...the Big East needs to look at the Sun Belt and CUSA for more teams and survival. The Sun Belt and CUSA are going to look at the CAA and MAC probably the Valley and OVC and so on.

It's foolish for Wichita, Bradley and Evansville to expect they'll be aligned with Illinois State and Missouri State in 15 years.

It'd be nice if we were able to maintain the niche we've got going, but for how long can one reasonably expect it to continue?

[GoShockers89]

There is no chance the schools actually wait until 2015 to separate themselves. I will bet any takers.

[pafan]

There is no chance the schools actually wait until 2015 to separate themselves. I will bet any takers.

I agree with you. But as long as that is the public plan, Butler is going to say it is committed to the A10, and Creighton will say it is committed to the MVC.

[pafan]

Exactly...long-term it does no good for Valley members to be committed to the league at this point. Because this all trickles down...the Big East needs to look at the Sun Belt and CUSA for more teams and survival. The Sun Belt and CUSA are going to look at the CAA and MAC probably the Valley and OVC and so on.

Yes. Some D1 conferences will fold before this is all said and done. The big outstanding question is what happens to the Big East FBS conference.

DANGER: Wild speculation ahead

At the moment, the Big East FBS conference has 3.5 full members who have not announced their departure (UCONN, Cincy, South Florida, and Temple who is currently a football-only member this year with a pledge to join in all sports next year)

If traditional basketball schools like Memphis and UCONN bail on the neutered Big East FBS conference, or if the vaunted Big East television deals don't materialize, it could be that the Big East FBS schools are homeless, and that rejuvinates CUSA and the Sun Belt, and maybe even the WAC. None of the football programs that are in or committed to the Big East are programs that would be out of place in a mid-major FBS conference.

If the Big East does manage to survive, the Sun Belt looks OK with 10 members pledged for 2013. CUSA also looks OK with 12 teams pledged for 2012 and 14 teams pledged for 2014. In that scenario, the WAC is most likely to fall apart.

If the Big East FBS conference survives, and the Big East non-football conference goes to 12 or more, then things could get interesting again between the MVC, the A10, the Horizon and the Summit.
Say the Big East non-football conference picks up 4 teams from the A10 and CU from the Valley.
Now you have a 9-team MVC, a 9-team Horizon, a 10-team A10 (finally), and a 10-team Summit League. All of these leagues could potentially be stable at these levels. But, the first move would start it all rolling again.

If the A10, for example, wanted to get back to 12 by inviting Milwaukee and Loyola Chicago, the Horizon might implode. Or if Cold got his wish and got WSU into the MWC, the MVC might fold. The A10 could run into problems if the entire western flank of the conference went away (Butler, Dayton, Xavier and Duquesne to Big East non-football conference, SLU to MVC). Or, all of these leagues could re-stock from the Summit and decimate its membership.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Don't you pay attention to sports. In sports you always deny until you actually do it.

Also add "Rush to report it first."

It is some kind of badge of honor, which the rusher hopes will lead to a bigger and better job.

[shoxrox]

So has Dave Reynolds said anything else about this on his blog? A media person starts losing major credibility when they report as fact that something has happened or is going to happen within the day and actually doesn't happen. The UE AD has already completely denied this and Creighton hasn't reported anything.

I think Mr. Reynolds deserves some people an explanation, rather than just spouting out crap "he is hearing" on his blog.

[squirrel]

So has Dave Reynolds said anything else about this on his blog? A media person starts losing major credibility when they report as fact that something has happened or is going to happen within the day and actually doesn't happen. The UE AD has already completely denied this and Creighton hasn't reported anything.

I think Mr. Reynolds deserves some people an explanation, rather than just spouting out crap "he is hearing" on his blog.

Yes. The "today" thing was on twitter, not a blog. Honestly, if he hadn't included that word, it wouldn't have been a big deal. He immediately shared the Evansville statement on twitter when it was made, pointing out that he perhaps stepped out of turn.

He had a more detailed feature story in today's paper. What more do you need?