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Big East update: ‘Tulsa is the best draft pick left on the board’
Published: 2/4/2013 6:48 PM
Last Modified: 2/4/2013 6:48 PM

Today, University of Tulsa officials did exactly what they did last week and the week before – waited for a conclusion in the Big East Conference’s negotiation for a new television contract.

After the Big East forges a new media-rights deal – thus determining revenue guarantees for member schools – it is expected that the conference will extend to TU an invitation to join.

Sources indicate that TU would immediately accept, setting in motion the process of transferring from Conference USA (the Golden Hurricane’s home since 2005) to the Big East.

Last week, USA Today published an update on the Big East-Tulsa possibility: The Big East is likely to add a 12th member, with Tulsa emerging as a strong favorite, but a final decision won't be made until the league is closer to finalizing a television contract, a person familiar with the league's plans told USA Today Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversations are supposed to be confidential. "Tulsa is the best draft pick left on the board," the person said.

More from USA Today: If the Big East decides it wants a 12-team lineup, Tulsa makes sense on several fronts. Though it is the smallest school by enrollment in the Football Bowl Subdivision (3,200 undergraduates), it sits in a decent television market (59th in the Nielsen DMA rankings) and has been the most consistently successful football program in Conference USA since joining that league in 2005.

Two weeks ago, sources close to the TU athletic department believed that a Big East membership invitation was imminent – on an any-minute-now basis. That belief was based on the expectation that the Big East television negotiation was nearly finished.

Now, as the Big East apparently continues to discuss possible deals with multiple networks, it appears that the negotiation might linger for several more weeks. Sources close to TU remain convinced, however, that a membership invitation is a strong likeliood.

-- Bill Haisten




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Tulsa World Sports Writer Bill Haisten was named the 2010 Oklahoma Sportswriter of the Year. He is the World's only staff member to have covered OU, OSU, TU and ORU sports on a beat basis. He was on the OSU beat from 2004-2012. A Texas native, he has covered two Super Bowls and two national championship football games for the World.

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