Big East women's coaches fear effects of expansion

With $3 million in ticket sales projected for next year, the popular and powerful Connecticut women&#39;s basketball team doesn&#39;t rely on the football dollars most of its Big East counterparts need. <br> <br> Yet coach Geno Auriemma is concerned about the potential expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which would pull Boston College, Miami and Syracuse from the Big East. He believes the move threatens the future of women&#39;s athletics in the conference and beyond since so many of those sports depend on revenue from big-time football. <br> <br> ``As the schools leave the conference and ruin the Big East, there will be less opportunity for women,&#39;&#39; Auriemma said Sunday during a conference call with other Big East coaches. ``All the gains we&#39;ve made, if this situation were to unfold, I think would be disastrous.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> At stake is the potential loss of millions of dollars in revenue from TV deals and the lucrative Bowl Championship Series. <br> <br> If the Big East fails to remain intact, the Bowl Championship Series would pull its automatic berth - and $13 million in guaranteed revenue. <br> <br> ``Football has created a scenario where they decide who gets in and they decide who gets out,&#39;&#39; Auriemma said. ``You never have a chance to be part of the process. Conference commissioners have taken football away from the general public.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> UConn&#39;s recent upgrade to Division I-A football allowed the university to add three new women&#39;s scholarship sports. <br> <br> Nikki Izzo-Brown has spent the last seven years building a successful women&#39;s soccer program at West Virginia. The Mountaineers have been to three straight NCAA tournaments and are building a new soccer stadium. <br> <br> A worried Izzo-Brown is counting on that football money to keep the program moving forward. <br> <br> ``This is going to be devastating to us to have the conference break up,&#39;&#39; Izzo-Brown said. ``We&#39;re very concerned about our recruiting, our facilities. But the biggest thing is, this raid is just going to be a snowball effect.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Rutgers women&#39;s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer said the expansion is fueled by ``greed and power,&#39;&#39; undermines academic integrity and does not consider the welfare of the student athlete. <br> <br> ``We talk to our athletes that if they take a $25 pair of shoes they&#39;re going to lose their eligibility,&#39;&#39; Stringer said. ``And yet here is a major raid done before the entire country and there is no consideration for these very same people.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Stringer and others also worry that the expansion will weaken the conference fan base. <br> <br> ``Taking three of our universities leaves a void in the East and means losing a tremendous fan base and loyalty,&#39;&#39; she said. <br> <br> The five remaining Big East football schools - UConn, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and Virginia Tech - have filed a lawsuit to stop the expansion. The schools accuse the ACC, Boston College and Miami of taking part in a conspiracy to expand and ultimately weaken the Big East. The lawsuit contends the five schools have spent millions on their football programs based on presumed loyalty from the other schools. <br> <br> While the lawyers fight it out in one arena, the Big East presidents have requested a face-to-face meeting with their ACC counterparts before an expansion vote is taken. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has also asked the NCAA to help mediate the situation. <br> <br> Pittsburgh women&#39;s basketball coach Agnus Berenato spent the last 15 years in the ACC as the head coach at Georgia Tech. Challenged with returning the Panthers to the league&#39;s elite, Berenato said her choice to join the Big East was a clear one. <br> <br> ``What I saw at Pittsburgh was just a total commitment for the women&#39;s program,&#39;&#39; Berenato. ``I know whatever happens we will compete at the highest level.&#39;&#39;