Associated Press
The college football notebook …
NEW YORK — Big East football school officials will meet Tuesday night in New York City to discuss the league’s future, and a Pac-12 official expects conference presidents in that league to decide by the end of the week if they want to expand again.
The Big East is trying to figure out what’s next now that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have announced they are leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Three people with knowledge of the Big East meeting told The Associated Press that presidents and athletic directors from the conference’s six remaining football members, along with officials from TCU, which is slated to join in 2012, will meet with Commissioner John Marinatto.
The remaining Big East football schools are West Virginia, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Rutgers, Louisville and South Florida.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the meeting, which was first reported by USA Today.
The future of the Big East could be tied to the future of the Big 12.
Although Syracuse and Pittsburgh know where they’re headed, Texas and Oklahoma are both trying to decide whether to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-12, taking Oklahoma State and Texas Tech with them.
Both universities’ board of regents voted Monday to give their presidents the right to choose a new conference. And Oklahoma State’s regents have scheduled a special meeting today about realignment.
JOE PA ON REALIGNMENT
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The most prominent football program in the East plays in a conference filled with Midwestern schools.
But don’t expect Penn State to take part in the latest round of switcheroo reshaping the college athletics landscape.
Coach Joe Paterno on Tuesday even suggested again perhaps looking eastward to expand the Big Ten, throwing out Rutgers as a potential addition for a league with its Eastern terminus in Happy Valley. Paterno called Syracuse and Pittsburgh’s switch from the Big East to the ACC a good move for the parties involved.
GEORGIA TECH-UNC
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech has given its fans plenty of reasons to get excited in the opening month of the season.
The Yellow Jackets are off to their best start since 2005 and ranked in the Top 25. They’re leading the nation in all sorts of offensive categories, averaging nearly 60 points a game.
That’s not enough to ensure a full house for the ACC opener against North Carolina.
Athletic director Dan Radakovich made a public plea for more fans to turn out Saturday, a sign of just how challenging it is for the Yellow Jackets to fill 55,000-seat Bobby Dodd Stadium in a faltering economy.
GEORGIA’S GRIND
ATHENS, Ga.— Mark Richt says he enjoys football “business trips.”
That’s good, because it’s time for his Georgia team to hit the road, where it hasn’t had recent success.
Georgia (1-2 overall, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) plays at Mississippi on Saturday to begin a stretch of five straight SEC games. Four of the five will be played away from Athens.
The Bulldogs’ only remaining home before November is next week against Mississippi State. After games at Tennessee and at Vanderbilt, Georgia has an open week before its neutral site game against Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29.
SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA, S.C.— Steve Spurrier says he follows the rules and doesn’t believe South Carolina will face serious punishment from the NCAA’s allegations regarding his program.
The NCAA outlined three potentially major violations in its letter of allegations sent to South Carolina on Monday. The NCAA says South Carolina athletes received $55,000 in impermissible benefits for staying at a hotel for a reduced rate and for dealings with officials of a Delaware-based mentoring group.
The NCAA said university officials failed to monitor either situation.
“I hope we’re not in serious trouble. I don’t think we’re going to be,” Spurrier said Tuesday. “You work these things out and do what they say.”