For fans of schools in the Big East, Friday is a huge day. A make-or-break day. A day where you’ll either go to sleep with renewed hope about your conference’s chances of survival, or with the sickening knowledge that the Big East is doomed.
Why is that? Well, the Big East schools are meeting again today to discuss raising the exit fee to around the $15-17 million range, a move that would show that the league is committed and stabilized, and would make it easier for them to attract new schools to fill in their holes. If the vote passes, the Big East will likely go ahead and make invitations to six new schools: Air Force, Navy, Boise State, UCF, and two more schools that have yet to be decided. And if this all happens, the league can still be saved and retain some semblance of its self-respect.
But if the motion doesn’t pass — which it didn’t last week — that essentially means that too many schools want out of the Big East and are planning to jump ship. Louisville and West Virginia have already made it clear that they’re abstaining from the vote. Considering there are only six football school remaining in the Big East…well, that’s not a good sign.
If this fails again, that’s essentially it for the Big East. Their hopes of attracting new schools are all but gone, and West Virginia and Louisville will probably leave. And at that point, who knows what happens to the rest of the teams in the league?
So USF fans out there, keep your fingers crossed that this passes. Because if not, your program could be in for a rough ride.