Big East expansion plans appear to be going full steam ahead. According to a report from the New York Post, the league will increase its exit fee to $10 million for FBS football schools while remaining at $5 million for non-football and non-FBS teams. Once that happens, the Big East will offer invitations to Air Force, Boise State, Navy and Central Florida, the first three, though, just as football-only members. Houston, SMU and Temple will fill out the other two spots to bring the league to 12 teams.
The exit fee has been a key sticking point for Navy and Air Force, to an extent, because the schools want stability instead of a conference that might fold in a few years. With the addition of Boise State and these other schools, the Big East has a strong chance at retaining its BCS automatic qualifier.
Air Force would still need to find a place for its Olympic sports since the school has already been thinking about moving those programs elsewhere.
Stay tuned, since we've heard these rumors of pending invitations over the last several weeks.
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