FanShot

Tim Pernetti vs. the Big East

5

I didn't really want to comment on this since the Ledger pretty much covered all of the angles, and this isn't exactly a controversial topic among Rutgers fans (of course the Big East should pay.) But people asked, so.... Of course the Big East should pay. Why else did all of the teams pay exit fees? In what universe does it make sense to bribe Villanova using the exit fees, and not compensate all of the teams that were scheduled to play TCU in 2012 before the Big East let them back out? That's the issue at play here. Four teams need to be compensated; not just Rutgers. Then again, this is the Big East we are talking about here, who can never be counted on to do the right thing under any circumstances. Besides Temple's buyout, every remaining penny will go to Villanova and Providence, because the conference is slime, and solely exists so that athletic departments like Providence can weigh down and suck dry the other members. They could have at least abrogated this somewhat by only having Temple play 3 Big East home games this season. They would have come no matter what, and it's not like they have huge attendance figures to worry about. (In fact, they are currently only scheduled to play 11 games!) Forget Syracuse - that extra home game should have gone to one of Rutgers, USF, or Cincy. With Cincy's lackluster attendance, and preseason projections for USF kind of middling (I think they'll be ok, but not a top team), Rutgers well should have been the favorite to get that extra game. Before anyone starts citing precedent, let's not forget that the Big East gifted a West Virginia home game to Syracuse several years back.