Big East Vote to Raise Exit Fees Is Too Little Too Late to Save Auto BCS Bid

In a last ditch effort to keep the Big East intact, Sporting News is reporting that conference officials will ask remaining school presidents to vote on a proposal of dramatically increase the exit fee to leave the conference.

The move is in reaction to Syracuse and Pittsburgh both announcing that they will be departing for the ACC, leaving the Big East with just six football schools.

Right now, the exit fee to leave is approximately $5 million, but conference officials will be seeking to bump that up to somewhere in the $10 million dollar range.

It’s a move that has to happen if the conference wants to remain together and further expand, because no school will be seeking to join if there’s not a firm commitment from the six remaining core schools.

There’s a trust factor involved. If there's not a severe penalty for leaving, who's to say that other teams won't bolt for higher ground?

Still, this is purely a reactionary decision instead of a proactive one.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse have already decided to move on and Louisville and Connecticut don’t seem all that committed to staying either.

Even if the Big East could find a way to stay intact, would adding schools like Navy, Central Florida and even Boise State really be enough to save the conference’s BCS bid?

Many were arguing that the Big East didn’t deserve an automatic bid, and that was before the exodus of the Panthers and the Orange.

The Big East was hoping that TCU, who had agreed to join before the start of next season, would add some credibility to the league, but after seeing the conference starting to crack, the Horned Frogs decided to accept an invitation to the Big 12 instead.

The Big East is clearly on life support right now, and you really have to question if this last-second strategy is actually going to ensure long-term survival or not.

It may simply be a case of too little, too late.