Big East Ups Exit Fee, Set for 12 Football Schools

Big East commish John Marinatto held a conference call this afternoon to explain the Big East's current realignment situation. Here's my story.

He noted that the 14 current members have voted unanimously to double the conference's current $5 million exit fee to $10 million once any "targeted" school joins the Big East. He also said everyone's on board with a 12-team football model.

Oh, and Pitt and Syracuse aren't going anywhere soon.

Marinatto held the call today so that tomorrow's Big East men's basketball media day won't be dominated by realignment questions, and that we beat reporters can concentrate more on the upcoming seasons for the teams we cover. There still promises to be plenty of realignment questions tomorrow anyway, of course.

For UConn, Jim Calhoun, Alex Oriakhi, Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier will be in the house (which, this year, is at the New York Athletic Club, thanks to the ongoing renovations at Madison Square Garden).

Oh, one more thing: happy to announce that I'll be Connecticut's AP Top 25 voter for a third straight year. I'll be submitting my first ballot on Sunday night. Any suggestions?