By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier University will join the Big East for basketball and the University of Cincinnati will join a newly created league for football and basketball if a proposed breakup of the Big East takes place for the 2005-06 season.

"That's not a final decision, but things are definitely headed in that direction," an athletic director with knowledge of recent discussions told the Enquirer Thursday.

CONFERENCE SHAKEUP?

NEW CONFERENCE (Football & Basketball) • Syracuse • Boston College • Rutgers • West Virginia • Pittsburgh • Connecticut • Cincinnati • Louisville • Notre Dame* * Basketball-only member NEW BIG EAST (Basketball only) • Georgetown • Providence • St. John's • Villanova • Seton Hall • Marquette* • Xavier* • Dayton* • DePaul* • Saint Louis/Charlotte* *New member

On Thursday, the New York Post reported that the Big East football members had decided to break away from five non-football schools remaining in the Big East and start a conference by adding Louisville and Cincinnati, along with Notre Dame as a basketball-only member for 2005-06. That would give the new conference the necessary eight teams to qualify as a Division I football conference and retain a Bowl Championship Series bid.

The Big East football schools remaining for the 2005 season are Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Connecticut, which will begin playing Big East football in 2004.

Such a league would be attractive to Cincinnati, UC athletic director Bob Goin said.

"I would think UC would take a hard look at that," Goin said. "Just geographically, Pittsburgh and West Virginia are in your backyard, and those are all outstanding schools. It would be premature of me to say what the university would do, but there would be a strong evaluation of the pros and cons and how it compares to Conference USA."

Cincinnati will be required to pay C-USA a $500,000 early-exit fee for leaving the conference with less than two years' notice if UC chooses to join a new league for 2005.

If the proposed new conference takes shape, it will leave the Big East's basketball-only members - Seton Hall, Georgetown, Villanova, Providence and St. John's - with the Big East name. Those schools probably would go after other Catholic schools, including Xavier and Dayton, to rebuild the Big East. Whether they would settle on 10 or 12 teams remains a question.

The Atlantic 10 athletic directors met for a conference call Thursday that included Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski. No decisions were made regarding the league's future or that of an individual school, though they did discuss conference realignment, A-10 commissioner Linda Bruno said in a statement. The Atlantic 10 is not expected to make any official moves until the Big East decides how it will change.

"(Big East schools) have yet to firmly make any decisions as to what their structure will be," Bobinski said. "The question is how will they move forward."

To join the Big East by 2005, Xavier would have to pay the A-10 a $200,000 exit fee as long as notification is given by June 30, 2004.

The Big East breakup discussion came out of a three-day meeting between presidents and athletic directors of Big East football-playing schools.

"We agreed that any new member or members would not be invited to begin participation before the 2005-06 season," Big East commissioner Michael Tranghese said in a statement. The Big East's statement echoes that of Conference USA schools' pledge Wednesday to stay intact until 2005-06.

The Big East's presidents are expected to meet again in a matter of weeks, the league office said Thursday. A formal expansion plan with targeted schools could come out of those meetings.

"It won't be a year-long process," said St. John's athletic director Dave Wegrzyn. "But it won't take (as little as) a week either."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com