PROVIDENCE, R.I.-
April 12, 2010
In what internet message board contributors around college sports only see as a mild surprise, current America East Conference member Boston University has been named as the Big East’s replacement in the wake of one of its members parting for the Big Ten.
“Quite simply, we just felt they were the obvious choice of all the institutions we considered,” said Big East Commissioner John Marinatto at the press conference introducing the Terriers as the league’s newest member. “Boston U. returns the Big East to the Boston market, which is the 5th largest Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area in the country. Also, with almost 32,000 students, half of whom are in graduate studies, they already have a built-in—and let’s face it—relatively affluent following.
“Sure, there will be those detractors who point out that Boston U. disbanded their football team in 1997 and weren’t even planning on resurrecting it until we suggested it to them two or three weeks ago, but as the Big East strives to maintain and improve upon its place as one of the premiere conferences in the NCAA as well as a holder of a BCS automatic bid, we have to keep our focus on the big picture, which is all about maintaining a demographic edge. We did consider some lower-enrollment and smaller-market schools with frankly more attractive athletic programs, but ultimately felt that wasn’t in our best, long-term interest. As a conference, in this day and age, you can only afford so many West Virginia-type programs with their rabid fan bases, sustained levels of historical success, and whatnot.”
The Big East’s plans call for the conference and the Terriers to jointly file a hardship with the NCAA allowing the program to literally go from zero to FBS by the start of the 2012 season football season. Normally, the building process takes much longer as programs graduate from non-scholarship Division III to conditional Division I status and eventually to FBS if criteria at each stage are met, but the Big East simply doesn’t have time, said Marinatto.
“With Boston’s satellite campuses in D.C. and Los Angeles, and especially the one in London and its dental school in Dubai, we simply can’t afford to wait to bring those national and international markets into the fold. We expect full cooperation on this from the NCAA. It’s good for us, and it’s good for college football.”
“We have every reason to expect Boston University to contribute right away. They have a very competitive club rugby team.”
