Big East officials will continue to meet over how to best keep the conference alive and breathing during the second straight year of realignment drama. In an e-mail to the Associated Press today, UConn president Susan Herbst said only presidents from Big East football members will show up in Washington D.C. on Sunday to “talk about the future and how to go forward as a strong Big East.”
How often Herbst will be checking her phone for an e-mail from the ACC is uncertain. UConn didn’t exactly show confidence in their current conference when Herbst wrote a rather vague statement last week following a Big East meeting in New York*, and two days ago, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Maloy reiterated that UConn’s first desire was to go to the ACC.
(*note: it should be mentioned that Herbst didn’t show up to the New York meeting; a representative from the office was sent instead)
Whether that’s changed or not, Herbst was more politically correct in her most recent e-mail.
“Big East presidents have been engaged in frequent communication by phone or in person,” her message read. “We’re committed together to make the Big East work, to make it stronger in spite of the announcement that Syracuse and Pittsburgh will leave to go to the ACC.”
How long UConn is willing to make the Big East work is probably measured in how long it’ll be before they receive an invite from another conference -- if that is, indeed, something that’s coming UConn’s way. The fact of the matter remains that if the ACC and/or Big Ten really wanted UConn, they’d be members already, or on the forefront of realignment leaks.
That’s not to say that the Huskies won’t end up somewhere else in time. For now, the remaining Big East members should be thinking about expansion while simultaneously securing conference borders. How much good will come out of this Sunday’s meeting -- it didn’t look like much came out of the last one -- is yet to be seen.
After all, it’s always possible TCU jumps ship to the Big 12 before it even begins its time in the Big East, conference bylaws and legalities notwithstanding.
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