AIR FORCE ACADEMY — An official invitation to the Air Force Academy to join the Big East Conference in football, speculated about for weeks, appears near.
The Associated Press, citing a source close to the discussions, reported Tuesday that the Big East will invite Air Force, Boise State and Navy for football only, and Houston, SMU and Central Florida for all sports.
Big East commissioner Jim Marinatto said Tuesday in Philadelphia he expects that any schools the league targets will accept, but details must be worked out with each school. Big East officials met last week with Air Force Academy representatives.
“As we’ve learned over the last two months, don’t believe anything anybody tells you,” Marinatto said at a news conference. “Nothing’s done until it is over. So I’m obviously being very cautious, and that’s why I’m reluctant to say names of schools.”
Officials at Air Force said they had not received an official invitation as of late Tuesday afternoon. It’s doubtful Air Force would act on an invitation this week, with the Army game coming up Saturday, or possibly until the end of the football season.
Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Gould said through a spokesperson, “If we receive an invitation, we will evaluate it and make a decision on what we think is best for our cadet athletes.”
Boise State also is expected to take its time considering its options, no matter how fast the Big East might want to move.
If Air Force moves to the Big East for football, it would find another conference home, or homes, for its other sports programs, possibly the Missouri Valley.
Mountain West bylaws would not prevent Air Force from leaving after this school year, but it would have to forfeit conference revenue for the year and pay either $5 million or double the revenue, whichever is greater.
Losing Air Force and Boise State would be a huge blow to the MWC. Commissioner Craig Thompson could not be reached for comment.
The Big East is attempting to patch together a conference after recent announcements that Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia will be leaving for other conferences. The Big East wants to expand to 12 teams in football and keep its automatic spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
Marinatto said Tuesday he does like the idea of a “west component” to the conference. Under the Big East’s plans, Air Force, Boise State, SMU, Houston, Louisville and Cincinnati would be in the western division and Navy, Central Florida, Connecticut, South Florida, Rutgers and one more school, possibly Temple or Memphis, would make up the eastern division. The league likely would want a championship football game pitting the winners of each division, with that champion going to a BCS bowl.
One of the main attractions for Air Force joining in football would be getting much higher TV revenue in the Big East than in the Mountain West, which does not have a spot in the BCS.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
