Temple to join Big East
Temple college sports - basketball, football and more - covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey.
Temple to join Big East
Keith Pompey, Inquirer Staff Writer
NEW YORK -- Temple will join the Big East Conference for football beginning in 2012 and for all other sports in 2013, multiple sources have confirmed.
An announcement is expected later today. Temple will depart the Mid-American Conference for football before the upcoming season. It will remain in the Atlantic Ten Conference for all other sports for another year.
According to multiple MAC sources, it will cost Temple $6 million to exit the MAC. The Owls will have to pay the A-10 $1 million to leave with one year's notice.
The addition of Temple fills an immediate need for football. The Big East needed an eighth football member for next season, because West Virginia left for the Big 12.
Temple was a Big East member for football when the league started in 1991. The Owls were kicked out in 2004 because of their lack of success on the field and in the box office.
However, there’s a chance Temple will be more competitive this time around.
The Owls are coming off three consecutive winning campaigns. Temple finished last season with a 9-4 record and posted a 37-15 victory over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl. That marked the Owls second bowl appearance in three seasons and their first bowl victory since beating California in the Garden State Bowl in 1979.
Temple was invited into join the Big East at its inception, when the league was founded primarily as a basketball conference in 1979.
FINALLY! Go OWLS!— hellerj- Congrats to Temple and thumbs up to Nova for voting to approve Temple's invitation.After all the misinformation, Nova came through for Temple and also increased their own chance of moving up for football. Smart move all the way around........Finally, this will NOT hurt Nova's recruiting. As pointed out below, UNC and Duke are a stone's throw away, and both have great hoops programs. Here, the two schools are totally different and recruits will have completely different interests, eg urban vs suburban schools. — StevenG
- FINALLY! Go OWLS!— hellerj
- Drexel could fill the A-10 void ........— Jonomaly
- This should be the beginning of the end for the Big East as we know it.— BLUEBELLION
- It will, however, be the end of Villanowhere winning anything — NO1PHILZPHAN
- BE football is a losing proposition; nothing to brag about there with WV, Syr and Pitt gone.— JBinPA
- Right, because WVU, Syracuse, and Pitt have been so good in football — NO1PHILZPHAN
- Boom— RUlaw
- Rutgers and Memphis will be very happy since TU will be the only other decent basketball program in the conference after UCONN, Louisville, Cincy and the basketball schools leave.— BLUEBELLION
- Call me when UCONN, Louisville, and Cincy Leave. Also Call me when all the basketball schools leave. All this hear-say is ridiculous. At most the Big 12 want's one more team (Cincy or Louisville) and with all the trouble UConn has had as of late they don't look like the best option for the ACC at the moment (I understand they have a few national championships). All I read is that Rutgers, Louisville, Cincy, UConn, all the Catholic BBall Schools, and my friends dog are leaving the big east for better conferences. There is a finite amount of money/interest I think for the moment this is the group.
Who is to say that 3-4 years down the road when Notre Dame finally goes to a conference the ACC won't want the Philly market? They make more sense than NOVA because of Football. I just don't understand the cryptic nature of that comment.— RUlaw - This will turn Vanillanova into another Providence College or Seton Hall in a few years. Nothing wrong with that.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Booyha! Jay Wright is likely getting his resume together because Dunphy is coming to take his lunch money!— Period
- I guess now that wer'e in the big east we will get a #2 seed! The owls will be the cream of the big east in 3 years sorry Nova!— phillyfan6090
- Took long enough, Go Owls!— theowldude
Pompey is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh graduate. Follow him on Twitter @pompeysgridlock. Reach Keith at kpompey@phillynews.com.
