by bostonbaron on Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:21 pm
Now that the big ten has formally come out and said that they are exploring for a twelve member,lets revisit the exit fee process of the big east and big x12.
Here is a article explaining the big east position...
ent
In 2003 the Big East was put on watch as the ACC announced plans to expand from nine teams to twelve. Miami, Syracuse, and Boston College were rumored to be the three schools under consideration, and all three met with officials from the ACC regarding membership. At the same time, the Big East itself was contemplating its future.
It was later revealed that Miami had been dissatisfied with the Big East and its leadership since a formal letter of complaint was issued by Miami to Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese in 1999. Their issues went unresolved, leading to Miami's interest in the ACC - a league which had been pursuing the college football superpower since the mid-1990's, at the request of football-oriented Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech. Those schools were concerned with the balance of power in the ACC, which they viewed as tilted towards "Tobacco Road", the nickname given to the four North Carolina ACC schools and their nationally prominent basketball programs.
Led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the "remaining" football schools (Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia) filed two lawsuits, one against the ACC, and the other against Miami and Boston College, accusing them of improper disclosure of confidential information and of conspiring to weaken the Big East. Syracuse was not named as a defendant in part because they never made public comments about the ongoing situation. The lawsuit against the ACC was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, though it was refiled later.
In an unexpected turn, due in large measure to political pressure applied by Governor Mark Warner of Virginia, the ACC replaced Syracuse with Virginia Tech in its expansion vote. Things became even more surprising when, reached by phone at a conference in Switzerland, then-N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox cast a shocking last-minute "no" vote against Boston College. [4] As a result, the ACC extended invitations only to Miami and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech immediately accepted the invitation and filed court papers to get themselves out of the awkward position of suing their new conference. Miami, as stunned as everyone else with the outcome of the vote, delayed their acceptance until the last possible day. Miami President Donna Shalala explained the delay stating "We had numbers on Boston College-Virginia Tech. We had done numbers on Miami alone. But we had not anticipated that Virginia Tech and Miami would be the only two invitees." [5] The remaining four plaintiffs removed Boston College from the list of defendants and asked both B.C. and Syracuse to join their suit. Boston College and Syracuse declined.
Leaked minutes of Big East meetings have shed light on the confusing process surrounding the defection of three of its members. At a summer meeting of the "football schools", following the announced departures of Miami and Virginia Tech, discussion among the Presidents and Athletic Directors of the remaining schools focused on a potential split into two conferences; an all-sports conference including football, and a second conference focused primarly on basketball. The idea of a 16-team superconference of both basketball and football schools was discussed, as was merging with Conference USA. Minutes of a July 9, 2003 meeting of presidents and athletic directors show that Syracuse Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel and Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo went on record indicating they would resign their positions if the Big East expanded to 16 teams.
In response to a proposal for the establishment of a binding agreement among the six schools with a $5 million exit fee and 27-month notice requirement, Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J. stated that he never felt the Big East had a commitment to excellence and the league had difficulty balancing football and basketball issues. He argued that schools should feel free to entertain alternatives if they became uncomfortable with the direction of the conference, subject to the $5 million fee and notice period. When the question of the member's commitment to each other was raised, Fr. Leahy suggested that discussion be deferred until the remaining agenda items were addressed. The presidents agreed to meet with and possibly extend invitations to Penn State and Notre Dame, however neither school showed interest in joining the conference. [6] The minutes also show that the presidents unanimously voted to support an eventual conference invitation fpr the University of Louisville. Several models for a new conference were discussed; and it was decided that the football schools would explore separating from the basketball-only schools to establish an 8-team all-sports conference. The presidents and athletic directors described the breakup of the football and basketball schools as "inevitable".
Additional meetings of the football conference members occurred between July and October of 2003. In the course of those meetings it was realized that the break-up scenario would not be feasible because the new football conference would lose its automatic NCAA basketball tournament berth and possibly its BCS bid, as well as the Big East name. Futher, the football schools had not been together long enough to satisfy certain NCAA rules. At a Big East meeting in Newark on Oct. 1, after a discussion of Notre Dame's concerns for stability, BC president Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., addressed rumors surrounding the Eagles' intentions toward the Big East. Fr. Leahy conceded that the Eagles might indeed be leaving the conference and he would determine how genuine the ACC's reported interest in BC as a 12th member was. [7] He stated he could not agree to an exit penalty larger than the already agreed to $5,000,000. Fr. Leahy also expressed concern about the athletic graduation rates of proposed new members Louisville and Cincinnati, despite having voted to support Louisville's inclustion during the July 9 meeting (due diligence on the propsed new schools was conducted after the July vote). It was decided that for the time being, the conference would add additional football and basketball schools and continue in its bifurcated structure until such time as the football schools could establish their own conference. Unhappy with the vote on the future structure of the conference, the administration of Boston College entertained overtures from the Atlantic Coast Conference. After expansion, Jake Crouthamel resigned his position as athletic director at Syracuse.
Speculation that Chancellor Fox, a Notre Dame trustee, cast her vote against B.C. so that the ACC might consider extending membership to Notre Dame was fueled by press accounts reporting that a bid to the Fighting Irish was imminent. But in mid-October 2003, the ACC voted unanimously to invite Boston College to become their twelfth member. When B.C. accepted, they were returned to the lawsuit still pending against Miami by several Big East schools. In response, Boston College petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts for a declaratory judgment to avoid paying the increased Big East "exit fee" that Father Leahy acknowledged had been agreed upon during the October 1 meeting. The court found for Boston College, but the Big East appealed. A secret settlement reported to be worth $5 million (the amount of the proposed exit fee) was reached in May 2005, ending both the lawsuit filed by the Big East and the Declaratory Judgment action filed by Boston College. As part of the settlement ACC member schools agreed to play a number of football games each year against Big East teams. Boston College joined the ACC in 2005, and the settlement agreement exempted them from having to play football against their former conference colleagues who had been party to the lawsuit. Boston College officials have stated that the university will not schedule games against any of their former Big East Football colleagues with the exception of Syracuse. (A six year BC-Syracuse football contract is reportedly close to signing.[8]) Several Big East schools have similarly declared that they have no desire to schedule Boston College in any sport.
In response to losing three football programs, the Big East extended invitations to five schools from Conference USA in order to replenish their football ranks and to create a 16-team basketball superconference. The schools that left Conference USA on July 1, 2005 for the Big East are:
*University of Cincinnati
*DePaul University (non-football school)
*University of Louisville
*Marquette University (non-football school)
*University of South Florida
The fallout from the Conference USA realignment instigated a chain reaction of conference realignments that affected the WAC, MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, and Atlantic Ten Conferences. At the same time, the UConn Huskies completed their leap to Division I-A football and became a full member of the conference in 2004, resulting in their first-ever bowl bid. Rumors about expansion and raids regarding Conference USA, the ACC, the Big Ten, and their member institutions continue particularly amongst fans on internet forums.
I will try to get the big x12 exit fee for you guys.