Big East schools commit to each other, new additions

Posted Sep 21, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 21, 2011 at 09:04 AM

Following a meeting Tuesday evening in New York between presidents and athletic directors from the remaining Big East football members and TCU, which is set to join the league next year, Big East commissioner John Marinatto emerged to say the group “pledged to each other that they are committed to move forward together,” the Associated Press reported.

Marinatto also issued a short statement posted on the conference’s website that states the Big East will now turn its attention to finding replacements for Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which are heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Our membership met this evening and we are committed as a conference to recruit top level BCS caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions,” the statement read. “We have been approached by a number of such institutions and will pursue all of our options to make the Big East Conference stronger than it has ever been in both basketball and football.”

Marinatto has stated his intentions to hold both Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the 27-month notification requirement in the Big East’s bylaws to leave the conference, which seems to offer the league some time before making any decisions.

Where the Big East will turn is now the question. According to this report from ESPN, the Big East’s top targets are the service academies - Air Force, Army and Navy - while Conference USA programs UCF and East Carolina also are possibilities.