Submitted by Fox First at Ten on January 2nd
Speaking on the Tim Brando Show on Wednesday, Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco said he didn't want to see Boise State leave, but he wasn't about to cave in to all of Boise State's demands.
Boise State had committed to join the conference in 2013, but decided over the holidays to remain in the Mountain West Conference. The MWC re-worked its TV contract with CBS Sports, which allowed the conference to sell packages of its own to other networks.
"We did everything we thought we reasonably could to keep them and there were some things…. That we were simply unwilling to do as a conference to keep them. We recognize their value, but in the end it would be unfair to our overall membership… to afford them things beyond a certain point."
Listen to Tim Brando's Interview with Mike Aresco
Aresco said representatives from the conference members were kept in the loop the entire time as Boise State spoke about leaving.
And then there is San Diego State. The Aztecs jumped ship from the MWC at the same time Boise State did. As of this writing, they are still in the Big East, although no one knows for how long.
"We very much want them to stay," said Aresco. "They are re-examining the situation and are in close contact with us. We've been talking to them pretty regularly. I don't think the situation will play out over a long period of time."
Moving forward, Aresco said the member schools that have stayed put to this point are solidly in the Big East fold. The current TV contract with ESPN for football is good through 2013. Negotiations are open for basketball with both ESPN and CBS.
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