Shape Of Catholic 7 Settlement Comes Into Focus For Cincinnati

via ESPN.

Big East football schools will get almost all of a $110 million pot in a deal that will allow seven departing basketball schools to keep the name Big East and start playing in their own conference next season, a person familiar with the negotiations says.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the separation agreement has not yet been finalized. That is likely to happen by the end of the week. The football schools will receive approximately $100 million under the agreement.

What the basketball school will be getting of the current is the right to the Big East name, the tournament in the garden and a massive middle finger from Cincinnati, UConn and USF.

Incoming members will get a share of the 100 million dollars. But the majority will go to the three schools mentioned above. The agreement is not yet finalized but that is how it will be. The only real question is how much of that pot goes to the nine new members.

The distribution of the money has to be enough to compensate UC, USF and UConn for being screwed as badly as they have been by realignment. At the same time it has to be enough to smooth over the unequal distribution of those monies. I have zero faith in anyone to get that balancing act done. In which case I want UC to take as much of the pot as possible.