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The Big East Disolving Could Give Cincinnati A Big Pay Day

There is very little that is good about the Bearcats current conference issues. The TV contract is steps below what the Mountain West is getting, the so called catholic 7 are departing to play next season, and they are taking the name. The only good news is that a large payday is on the horizon.

According to Mark Blaudschun a windfall check could be coming UC's way.

During the past several months as the Big East has imploded, three of the schools who have been left behind in the mass exodus have been Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida.

But with a Big East cash fund of close to $100 million available for distribution each of those schools should be collecting a check of between 18 and 25 million once the settlement is reached according to sources familiar with the talks between the Big East and the Catholic 7 schools who are pushing for a withdrawal by July 1.

The money in the Big East fund comes from the exit fees that have been payed, or will be payed by West Virginia, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville to the tune of 70 million. The other 30 million comes from what the NCAA will pay the conference for the NCAA tournament this year.

The catholic 7 will get part of that money, but the majority will go to UC, UConn and South Florida. For UC everyone knows where the money is going. I don't know exactly how much money is pledged to the project currently. I have heard figures ranging from 20 million to 36 million. Regardless a 20 million dollar check from the carcass of the Big East would be enough to get the project started in earnest. Concrete plans for renovating Nippert would be the single biggest selling point the Bearcats could have for lobbying to get into another conference, be it the Big 12 or the ACC.