FanShot

The Big East is negotiating through the media

1

Kudos to Tom Luicci for a flurry of excellent stories over the past few days. There's a lot of news coming out of yesterday's football-only conference call, but Navy could be getting cold feet. That isn't a bad thing. Navy has a good football program, but the idea of federated membership is a flawed idea that only serves the end of keeping an unsustainable league together. The football-only schools understandably want a split in all but name, but getting a no from the service academies could finally push a much-needed split. Rutgers cannot give in, and there is no reason to expect that they will. There are two scenarios that make sense on our end: defanging the non-football programs once and for all, or buying enough time until the next round of conference reshuffling. Per John Marinatto's press agent, the non-football programs are ready to bolt. It's likely an empty threat, but they are clearly getting nervous, and now it's time to amp up the pressure (i.e., demand admitting multiple full members) and force a resolution.