WVU officials say Big East expansion plans to continue

Posted 2:58PM on Monday 13th October 2003 ( 21 years ago )

CHARLESTON, W.VA - West Virgina officials on Monday defended the viability of the Big East Conference, which has lost three members to the Atlantic Coast Conference since June. ``The Big East is a good conference. We're pleased to be members of the Big East Conference and we are going to work with the other schools for the Big East to continue as a major conference,'' West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong said. Pastilong said the defection of Boston College to the ACC on Sunday will not affect the league's plan to reorganize in November. ``There's got to be some rebuilding that has to take place,'' WVU deputy athletic director Mike Parsons said. ``The conference will be strong. It will come out of this thing. We'll have some rebuilding, but we'll come out of it.'' Boston College joined Miami and Virginia Tech as schools leaving for the ACC. As its 12th member, Boston College guarantees the league a future football playoff game while landing another major television market. Meanwhile, the Big East is searching to fill another vacancy. ACC presidents voted 9-0 to extend Boston College an invitation, and school officials accepted less than four hours later. Boston College, Syracuse and Miami were originally targeted by the ACC, but Miami and Virginia Tech were offered and accepted bids to join this summer. The initial conference switches prompted the remaining Big East schools to seek reparations in court. Four Big East schools, including West Virginia, have sued Miami for leaving the Big East to join the ACC. A Connecticut judge dropped the ACC as a defendant in that lawsuit on Friday. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Boston College would be named as a defendant in the suit. ``Our claim is that Boston College is part of a continued conspiracy to weaken and destroy the Big East as a competitor for broadcast revenue and other rights,'' Blumenthal said. The addition of Boston College gives the ACC the minimum number of members to hold a lucrative football championship game. ACC commissioner John Swofford said Big East bylaws require 27 months' notice to leave the conference or face a reported $5 million exit fee, meaning the Eagles may not participate in ACC sports until 2006. ``The question now is when they would leave,'' Parsons said. If BC leaves after the 2005 season, ``there's not as much of an immediate effect,'' he said. WVU officials would not discuss specific schools targeted by the Big East, which reportedly will invite Louisville and Cincinnati for all sports and DePaul and Marquette for all sports except football. Possible replacements for Boston College include Central Florida, South Florida, Navy and East Carolina.

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