When it comes to the Big East keeping their BCS and their AQ status the football field may not ever come into play.
What the Big East may lack in on the field product they more than make up for in legal and Washington based political power. It is in this arena that they can’t be matched so since I am not a lawyer nor do I play one in the newspaper I sought the best legal mind on this subject that I could find.
I spoke with nationally known New York based sports attorney Gary Chester. He is a man with a strong grasp of what is going on not only in the Big East but throughout all of college sports.
A quick bit of background on Chester- He has written numerous columns for ESPN and has been a frequent contributor to CNN, Westwood One, The New York Times, and Fox Sports to name a few of the media outlets that seek his advice on a number of legal issues. He also teaches law at Montclair State University and has authored a number of books including the very entertaining and informative “See You In Court: A Trial Attorney’s Look At Crazy Cases, Ludicrous Lawyering And Dubious Decisions.”
JW: Talk for a moment about the Big East v. West Virginia case and what it might mean to the school and the Big 12?
Chester: The legal issue in the Big East vs. West Virginia case is whether the conference can enforce the part of its contract that says any university that wants to leave the Big East must give 27-months’ notice. The requirement of giving notice is common in many types of contracts and is probably enforceable against West Virginia. The Big East is suing for damages – the amount of revenue its schools will lose if West Virginia leaves early. But the conference can also ask the judge to issue an injunction – a court order that would force West Virginia to stay in the Big East through the 2014 season. Keep in mind that the Big East has the home court advantage because the case is based in Rhode Island where the conference main headquarters is located.
JW: The Big East is seeking to add new members four in particular Boise State, BYU, Air Force and Navy want assurances that the conference will retain its BCS status and it’s AQ. What can the Big East do to assure them all is well?
Chester: The Big East is trying to expand to 12 or 14 teams by inviting SMU, Houston, and Central Florida as full time members and football only members Boise State, Air Force, Navy and BYU. The Big East’s goal is to cover as many media markets as possible so the five other BCS conferences pretty much have to include the Big East in the next BCS agreement. In addition by adding Boise State, Air Force, Navy and BYU they have universities with a national following.
The best legal advice I can give the Big East is to obtain a written guarantee from the other BCS conferences that it will be included in the next BCS agreement – then you’ll see non-BCS schools lining up to get into the Big East. To some this may seem farfetched however the Big 12 is far from being on solid ground with both Texas and Oklahoma keeping their options open with the Pac12. Remember when the Pac 12 declined the inclusion of Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State they did so in large part due to the Longhorn Network. There remains a strong possibility that those four schools are in play if the Longhorn Network is not a success. So it might be in the best interest for all conferences to sign the document assuring the entire group stay together.
The bigger question is whether the BCS conferences decides to break away in all sports from the NCAA and form its own organization. A good legal argument can be made that the NCAA is an illegal cartel that controls college sports, but in most cases cartels eventually break up when their members have conflicting interests. It’s obvious that the interests of universities like Alabama and USC are different from the interests and goals of Harvard and Bucknell.
JW: What can be done to keep conferences from “poaching each other,” or members moving?
Chester: The smartest legal move that a conference can make to keep its members would be to draft a membership agreement that requires all universities to stay in the conference for a set period of time, such as 10 years. Most fans are against their teams moving to another conference because they love the traditional rivalries and the conference traditions and history, but the NCAA is a monopoly that can afford to ignore the fans.
JW: Lastly what about the political clout the Big East has?
Chester: There is no conference in the BCS group that has a stronger Congressional lobby than the Big East. You can bet that there would a series of Congressional hearing and the possible breaking up of the entire BCS process. So the Big East’s powerful Washington connection is without question one their strongest cards to play. May guess would be they keep their BCS status because of the possible legal ramifications to the other conferences along with their massive political clout.
