Big East 101: Issues facing Air Force before any move

After Big East leaders pitched the benefits of Air Force joining the conference as a football-only member last week, academy officials were left to weigh the pros and the cons of a major move.

The Falcons’ options for its football program are to go to the Big East or stay in the Mountain West, and academy officials have insisted no decision has been made. Here are the biggest factors to consider about the Big East:

Money

The Big East can likely offer significantly more money through television revenue. According to figures on Businessofcollegesports.com, the top five Bowl Championship Series conferences make an average between $150 million (Big 12) and $250 million (Pac-12) annually in their current television contracts. Although those numbers don’t accurately portray what each school receives - the contracts have escalator clauses, for example, and the money can be split differently for each school - a rough estimate is about $20.8 million for every Pac-12 school annually, and on the low end, $12.9 million for ACC schools.

The Big East gets just $42.3 million annually from its current television deals, but that should increase after those contracts expire in the next couple of years. The Big East reportedly turned down a nine-year deal with ESPN worth more than $1 billion this year. The Falcons currently get about $1.2 million in television money from the Mountain West, and MW commissioner Craig Thompson admitted in July he doesn’t have the markets to get a massive television contract like other conferences.

If Air Force goes to the Big East, it would be betting on the conference getting a TV deal that is comparable to the other BCS leagues. If the Big East can get a TV deal that provides $8-12 million annually to each member – and that might depend on how the networks view the drawing power of the revamped conference - it would be a significant boost for the Falcons’ athletic department. That would allow the Falcons to better support all 27 of their sports and perhaps fund facility improvements, such as a new soccer stadium or overdue renovations to Falcon Stadium, and should prevent an increase in ticket prices.

BCS automatic qualifier

Each conference that has a team qualify for a BCS game gets $22.3 million, according to the Big East’s website, and $6 million for every additional league team that makes a BCS game. That money is split among conference members, at the discretion of each conference. The question is whether the new-look Big East will keep its automatic qualifier status.

The Big East will have a spot in the BCS through the length of the contract, which runs through the 2013 season, but nothing is assured after that. Then again, there’s no guarantee the BCS exists in its present format after 2013. Although Air Force has never made the automatic qualifier status of the Big East a priority (the Mountain West doesn’t have AQ status, so Air Force wouldn’t lose anything in that regard), if the Big East isn’t included in college football’s elite after 2013, it will be a blow financially and to the prestige of the conference.

Stability

Air Force has been rightfully concerned about the stability of the Big East, which has lost Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia in recent months. The Big 12 also discussed the possibility of adding Louisville. CBSSports.com reported that the Big East agreed to raise the exit fee from $5 million to $10 million if Air Force and Navy join, but Air Force would be taking a risk in going to a league that has lost almost half its football-playing members. The Big East could be safe if all the other major conferences are done adding teams.

Rivalries

Fans have been upset at the potential loss of regional rivalries like Colorado State and Wyoming. Air Force could schedule those schools in nonconference games, but there’s no guarantee that will happen and the games wouldn’t have the same importance. That would go for other sports as well (if Air Force goes Big East in football it will move its other sports to another conference), meaning far fewer road games local Air Force fans could drive to.

However, the rivalries Air Force wants to protect most are the football games against Army and Navy, and even if neither service academy joins the Big East, the Falcons would likely insist on keeping those rivalries if it were to change conferences.  

Exposure

A couple of weeks ago, when ESPN’s influential "College GameDay" show discussed the matchups involving top-10 teams, there was only one they gave hardly any mention to: Air Force at No. 5 Boise State (another team the Big East wants to add). ESPN doesn’t have a television contract with the Mountain West.

The Falcons feel appearances on ESPN in bowl games and appearances on CBS and NBC this season help football recruiting immensely. Also, the academy feels being on major cable television and playing in larger Big East markets will help the academy as a whole and would create a larger recruiting pool for potential cadets.

Travel

One rumored configuration has Air Force, Louisville, Cincinnati, Boise State, SMU and Houston (important to note: the Texas markets are important recruiting grounds for Falcons football) in the same division. If that happens, it would make travel more palatable for the Falcons. Trips out east will be longer – a flight to Cincinnati is about 275 more miles than a trip to San Diego, for example – but the Falcons travel with charter flights, which makes flying relatively easy.

Air Force’s players could miss more classes for longer trips to the East Coast, but usually the Falcons leave early Friday afternoon for all road games, causing them to miss some classes already. The earliest the Falcons leave for an East Coast game is Thursday after class, as they did for the Navy game this year.