Pitt officials committed to the Big East
The future of the Big East as a BCS conference or even a relevant conference remains murky as expansion throughout college football is on-going.
The Pac-10 is making moves to becoming a 16-team Super conference and the Big Ten added an 12th member last week in Nebraska.
The belief is that there will soon be four-16 team mega conferences that will comprise of the Pac-10, SEC, Big Ten, and the ACC by the year 2012 or 2013.
In the Big East, Pitt would appear to be a good fit in the Big Ten but the Big Ten conference is showing little interest in Pitt. At this point, Pitt is not on the Big Ten’s radar.
The Big Ten is eyeing the New York market and are coveting Big East members Rutgers and Syracuse over Pitt.
Pitt officials I’m told are fully committed to staying in the Big East. Their is believed to be some intrigue about a potential move to the ACC but staying in the Big East is Pitt’s first priority.
Meanwhile, West Virginia is taking a different route.
According to sources, WVU officials have been very aggressive for months in trying to orchestrate a move to a power conference and not being left behind.
WVU has had contact with SEC and ACC officials. The SEC’s interest in WVU has been lukewarm but WVU is believed to be at the top of the ACC’s radar.
The concern for those with ties to Pitt University is that Pitt will be left behind and there is worries about their stance of being fully committed to the Big East and not actively exploring their options.