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 A home for the Hokies Big East offers full membership to Virginia Tech
Posted: Thursday June 24, 1999 09:07 PM
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech, which rose into college football's upper echelon as a two-time Bowl Alliance representative of the Big East Conference in the mid-1990s, has been offered full membership in the league. Virginia Tech and Big East officials both confirmed the offer Thursday, possibly as early as the 2000-2001 school year. "This is a positive step forward for the university and Virginia Tech athletics," Tech President Paul Torgersen said in a release. "There are some conditions contained in the proposal that will require evaluation and thoughtful ... consideration." The Hokies, who haven't been an all-sports member of one conference for more than 30 years, are a member of the Big East for football only, and they have used that affiliation to push their football team into the national spotlight. In 1995, they advanced to the Sugar Bowl and earned arguably their biggest victory ever, 28-10 against Texas. The following year, they again represented the Big East in the alliance and lost 41-21 to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Apart from football, the Hokies are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference in 19 sports and they wrestle in the Eastern Wrestling League. School officials declined to say what conditions were under discussion. Big East spokesman Rob Carolla, however, said that any time a school joins a conference, there are issues like revenue sharing, membership fees and a phase-in schedule that have to be worked out. "Obviously any school in the country would want to take a look at the issues before joining a conference," Carolla said. Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver agreed, saying any decision would not occur overnight. "We are confident that a positive outcome will emerge," he said. The Hokies' last single-conference affiliation was with the Southern Conference, from 1921-1965. Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Rutgers and Temple were offered football-only membership in the Big East in 1990, joining all-sports members Syracuse, Boston College, Miami and Pittsburgh to form the conference's football league. Those four all-sports members had threatened to leave the conference if football was not added. At the time, all four of the football-only schools expressed interest in joining as full members. In 1994, the conference invited West Virginia and Rutgers to become all-sports members, leaving Virginia Tech and Temple as the only football-only schools. The move shocked Tech officials who believed they would be offered full membership. Last year, Notre Dame joined the conference in all sports except football and wrestling. Other members of the Big East included Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova. Tech will reap increased revenues with the move. The school earns about $100,000 a year under the Atlantic 10's revenue-sharing plan, which includes money from TV contracts and league and NCAA tournaments. Weaver said Tech would earn at least $500,000 to $750,000 a year from the Big East pot, possibly more depending on how negotiations turn out. Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno said the move comes as no surprise. "We knew when we took them that they wanted to get into the one conference," she said. Tech has yet to resign from the league and must give the A-10 one year's notice before leaving. If an A-10 member notifies the league before June 30 of any year that it will leave the following year, it must pay a $200,000 withdrawal fee. The fee jumps to $500,000 after June 30. Weaver told The Roanoke Times that the school won't be able to resign from the A-10 before June 30. So if Tech wants to switch leagues for the 2000-2001 school year, it will have to pay $500,000. If Tech opts to wait until January-June of 2000 to give the one-year notice, the penalty goes back down to $200,000. Weaver said Tech has yet to decide if it wants to save $300,000 by delaying the move until the 2001-2002 school year.
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