The major impetus for this membership switch to happen quickly is the Big East needs to fill its 2012 football schedule - now that West Virginia has negotiated an immediate departure for the reconstituted Big 12 Conference. Temple is a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference.
"We are aware that Temple has been in discussion with the Big East regarding membership," Mid-American commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher said in a statement. "Our position on this matter is that we have a contract in place with specifics that will govern and determine how this matter is handled."
Assume a Temple exit would be a many-angled negotiation. The MAC has a $2.5 million fee for an exit with two years notice, so the negotiation for an immediate exit starts there. A source said some MAC schools don't like the idea of having to fill their own 2012 schedules with an extra game at this late date.
Meanwhile, Big East football schools need Temple now. And according to CBSsports.com, the Atlantic Ten has a $2 million exit fee with a year's notice. The Atlantic 10 office said commissioner Bernadette McGlade was traveling and couldn't be reached for comment. Reached Wednesday morning, Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw declined comment.
If the deal gets done for all sports, it would be the culmination of a quarter-century quest by Temple to join the Big East for all sports. Temple originally had been invited into the league at its inception, but turned down the offer, believing an all-sports league headed by Penn State was in the offing.
If this happens for all sports, it is long-awaited good news on North Broad Street but also a major hit to Atlantic 10 basketball, losing the school that has had the most success over the longest period and presently sits atop the basketball standings this season.
