Will TU move to the Big East?

[TulsaRufnex]

Big East might soon send TU invition
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU/article.aspx?subjectid=94&articleid=20130116_94_0_Afteri702491

A source close to the situation indicated that a Big East invitation could be delivered by the end of the month and possibly as early as next week.

TU has been a member of Conference USA since 2005. If the university accepts a Big East offer, the membership would apply to all Golden Hurricane sports and likely would take effect with the start of the 2014 football season.

If TU does change conferences, the university would be required to pay an exit fee to C-USA. The amount of such a fee has not yet been calculated by the conference or TU officials.

Six current Conference USA members are headed to the Big East. Central Florida, SMU, Memphis and Houston depart this summer. East Carolina and Tulane become Big East members in 2014.

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

I think they should hold out for Mountain West

[Teatownclown]

I think, like so many times since The Valley, TU will be left out in the cold. Undeserving, TU is the smallest school in Division 1....we are all hoping they get a place somewhere....

[DolfanBob]

I just don't understand why no Big 12 invite? 

[DTowner]

This has to be viewed as a game of chess in which TU needs to be thinking more than one move ahead.  The game of conference musical chairs is far from over and TU's strategy should be to better its long-term position.  Moving to the new Big East (if they get invited) is a must for TU.  TU needs to be aligned with its geographical and natural rivals who have moved on from C-USA – SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane, etc.  If the new Big East survives, then TU is in a better league than the recent C-USA and a much better league than C-USA is becoming with all the defections.  If, as is more likely, the wobbly new Big East collapses within a few years, then TU is affixed with SMU, Houston, et al. and can move in unison to some other league or take part in forming a new league (perhaps some sort new southwest conference).

[TulsaRufnex]

I think, like so many times since The Valley, TU will be left out in the cold. Undeserving, TU is the smallest school in Division 1....we are all hoping they get a place somewhere....

I wish TU could go back to The Valley in all sports except football.
The basketball rivalries were better... and well... Creighton has a really cool soccer stadium... just sayin'

[cannon_fodder]

C USA 3.0 is a couple hold covers, the Sunbelt, and a couple FBS schools.  It is crap.

The New Big East is the Catholic 7 plus Creighton and probably 2 more (st.Louis, Bradley?).

The conference fka the Big East 2.0 will be renamed the America 12 and will consist of Cinci, UConn, and USF plus a bunch of CUSA 2.0 members (some irony here given CUSA 1.0 largely became the Big East post Bball only and the new roster will be former c-usa infill).

Tulsa, the rumors go, has been sitting on a gentlemen's invite to the Big East for a long time.  The hold up has been three fold: 1) let some dust settle, 2) finalize the TV deal, and 3) host the c-usa tourmey which was yanked from Memphis for bolting the conference.  It appears 2/3 will happen and Tulsa is largely believe to be joining in 2015 along with Navy.

Decent regional schools, good Bball, similarly minded schools in Tulane and SMU, more money, better exposure, and not CUSA 3.0.  The MWC offers less money, more travel, bad time zones, no regional schools, and no like minded schools.  Go East my boy.

[davideinstein]

It's just a newer version of the CUSA. Why not?

[TulsaRufnex]

Gotta have a program to figure out who's who... and the Big East?... hmmm... America 12?.... very confusing....  http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9031167/catholic-7-leaving-big-east-june-30

The Catholic 7 schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova -- will form a 10-team league by adding Butler, Xavier and likely Creighton, sources told ESPN.

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Besides coming to an agreement so Notre Dame may leave this summer, the remaining Big East membership also must determine a new name for its conference. League sources told ESPN that the America 12 Conference is the favorite to become the league's new name, but no official decision has been made. On Tuesday, Covington & Burling, the conference's law firm, purchased and registered the domain name America12.org and several other variations of America 12, according to WhoIs domain-registration data.

"We have not chosen a new conference name at this time and there are no favorites," Aresco said in a statement. "We are going through a thoughtful evaluation of potential names for our conference and will select a name in a timely manner."

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What remains for the Big East in 2013 is a 10-team conference: Connecticut, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, South Florida, SMU, Temple and UCF.

In 2014, the league will lose two more members when Louisville departs for the ACC and Rutgers moves to the Big Ten, but it will add East Carolina and Tulane. In 2015, Navy is scheduled to join the Big East as a football-only member. The 12th member is expected to be Tulsa, in either 2014 or '15, sources said.

At last week's league's meetings in Atlanta, sources told ESPN that Tulsa was the only school discussed as an expansion target.

Even though the league must change its name, its football champion will still receive an automatic berth to one of the BCS bowls this fall, the final year of the BCS system.

[TulsaRufnex]

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x2114944955/Hilltoppers-to-blow-out-Hurricane-in-C-USA#.UU353VHamLw.twitter

As one source candidly explained, Tulsa is going to get down on its knees and crawl to a league with no name, no history and no clout.

Why?

Mainly, because Tulsa is a private school and there seems to be some sort of inexplicable umbilical cord between private schools. Since such private schools as SMU and Tulane are riding their horse with no name to this league with no name, Tulsa feels it needs to do the same.

All I can say is. ... giddy-up.

The obvious question is: Why has it taken Tulsa so long to pull the trigger?

There are two reasons, it seems.

No. 1, since Tulsa was hosting the Conference USA Tournament, school officials didn't want to announce the departure until after the tourney had been played. Granted, it would have created a rather uneasy situation, which would have detracted from the tournament.

No. 2, there was no one to pull the trigger. First, Tulsa fired its president in September after only 74 days on the job. Next, Tulsa fired athletic director Ross Parmley in December after he was named in a federal investigation involving gambling.