Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Boston Globe
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
Such a move would bring Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia and Virginia Tech - already part of the eight-team Big East football conference - into the league as full members, allowed to participate in basketball as well as the other 18 sports sponsored by the Big East.
"The issues are going back to committees for studies on how everything is going to work," said one source familiar with the talks, which included a wide range of topics. "But the fact that people are going back and talking is a good sign. It's just a matter of putting it on the agenda at the presidential level and seeing if everyone can agree to getting this thing done."
The biggest obstacle to expansion had been the opposition of the basketball-only members - Seton Hall, Providence, St. John's and Georgetown - who had contended that there was no need to expand for the sake of increasing the exposure of football.
But after the meetings in Florida, those schools were convinced that the only alternative to expansion would be to dissolve the 15-year-old league.
"A lot of issues were raised and there was some good dialogue," said Boston College athletic director Chet Gladchuk, who is part of the football faction - BC, Syracuse, Miami and Pitt - pushing for expansion. "We will continue to discuss the issues in the next few days and put together plans which people can study, and then we'll meet again and hopefully come to some resolution."
Another source said the vote on expansion could come in the next 10 days.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.