$20million Smackers

[Pudge]

For those who continue this nonsense of "what the Big East should have done" stuff, think about that Exit Fee that the ACC unanimously agreed to last week. They have unity. We had a $5m Exit Fee. We had one a little smaller before 2004 & BC bitched about that. OUR loyalty; OUR sense of belonging ... was never solid. Each school had its eyes on the others & their own "profiteering" as my girl Susan called it.

We had no shot at controlling events. We did not have enough juice to get the 8/9 members to pledge a $20m mark. Having said that ... I think MORALLY we stood on the high ground saying that ALL College Football should do what is best for the sport. It ain't this. This conference realignment is like Bosnia.

 

[jpm25]

if you were Herbst, you would have signed us up for a $20mm exit fee in the Big East?

 

[Pudge]

Hell no. And my point is that Nordenberg, Cantor, McCormick, WVU, UL, Cincy, USF, TCU ... none would. That made the ACC far more powerful than our conference.

And, the next move is also true: $20 million is chicken feed IF the SEC wants Clemson or Florida State. See where this is going.

 

[IMind]

I seriously can't see someone turning down the Big 10 over $20 million either.

 

[jpm25]

I guess I see your point, but if you read the body language coming out of Pitt and SU over the weekend, as well as from Herbst and Luck, there is a lack of confidence in BE leadership. To your point, there wasn't a whole lot the BE could have done - 20/20 hindsight to have cut a deal for TV rights sooner and go for stability and visibility vs trying to squeeze the last dollar out of the networks - but having confident and proactive leadership would be a good thing.

One thing they could have done is split football and bball.

 

[UConn5]

There is no way the bigger schools in the BE would have gone for the $20mm exit fee. The schools that are looking to leave are the schools that are/were the anchors of the conference. Villanova and Georgetown weren't going to be able to get Syracuse, Pitt and UConn to agree to pay $20mm to leave.

 

[Carl Spackler]

the exit fee was about protecting the conference from the University of Miami and the NCAA death penalty, if you ask me, and so is bringing in Syracuse and Pitt right after.

If Miami gets the hammer SMU got in the 80s, including television appearances, and I think it's possible, the ACC is going to have serious issue to overcome in the next few years, that get a lot easier in the past week with the addition of two new members and very high price for any members to leave.