Navy's Gladchuk, Memphis' Bowen Voice Commitment To Big East Moves

Navy AD Chet Gladchuk on Wednesday said that his school "still considers the Big East Conference a good fit despite the recent defection of Boise State and likely loss of San Diego State as well," according to Bill Wagner of the Annapolis CAPITAL. Gladchuk said, "All the schools that remain field solid programs. These are the types of institutions the Naval Academy would compete against regardless of whether we were in a league together or not.” Navy last January announced that it would join the Big East as a "football-only member" beginning in '15. Gladchuk said Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco is "very capable" and is "doing everything in his power to calm the waters and bring some stability to the Big East." He added, "The western component has not materialized and probably will not, but I never thought that was imperative to the league’s survival" (CAPITALGAZETTE.com, 1/3). Meanwhile, Memphis AD Tom Bowen on Thursday said that the school remains "committed to the Big East while it weathers defections" since UM announced in February it would join the league in '13. Bowen said that he is "confident that the Big East's leadership, from commissioner Mike Aresco to associate commissioners Nick Carparelli and Tom Odjakjian, will lead the conference through this trying stretch" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 1/4).

IDAHO SPUD: In Boise, Brian Murphy notes when Boise State "made its decision to jump to the Big East in football, the Broncos were counting on the league to provide additional exposure and revenue." But in the end, the "quickly crumbling Big East was unable to deliver either -- or even a television proposal for the Broncos to consider." BSU President Bob Kustra said, "That was it right there. If you don’t have anything to compare something to, and when you see that there is instability and no media contract on the table, that’s when you realize that you’re probably better closer to home." BSU owes up to $5M to the Big East and $1.5M to the Big West "despite not playing a single game in either conference." The Mountain West will use BSU’s '12-13 year-end distribution -- expected to be about $2.5M -- and "up to $500,000 of league money to help pay those exit fees." Kustra: "We owe and we will honor our commitment to pay" (IDAHO STATESMAN, 1/4).

YOU STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO: ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson wrote for SDSU there is "no question it makes more geographic sense to stay in the Mountain West." But SDSU "will not get the same television concessions that Boise State got," and the school "does not have nearly as much leverage, and therefore may not stand to gain as much financially" as BSU should they stay put. SDSU's Big East contract "allows them to withdraw from the league without paying an exit fee if there is no other Big East member located west of the Rocky Mountains," and they remain the "only ones" with BSU's departure. Sources said that SDSU "does not have the votes right now to get back into the Mountain West." A source indicated that the league "prefers BYU, which left the Mountain West to go independent in 2011" (ESPN.com, 1/3).