Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw confirmed the notion that money is what’s driving the recent surge of conference re-alignment in an interview with Harry Donahue of 1210 AM WPHT during halftime of the men’s basketball game Wednesday night.
Bradshaw, speaking to any Temple fans worried about the school’s future prospects in a fractured Big East Conference, said the revenue the Big East draws negates any problems the conference may have with schools leaving.
“If anyone’s confused and frustrated, just know one thing: It’s the color green,” Bradshaw said. “Think of the color green, and that answers all of your questions.”
The Big East admitted Tulane for all sports and East Carolina for football, effective the 2014-15 season, on Tuesday. The moves have come the same week as announcements made by Rutgers and Louisville indicating their intent to leave the Big East before the 2014 season.
While Bradshaw said the recent shifting of teams has been frustrating, he maintains Temple is in a good place in the Big East.
“As soon as you get comfortable, it seems like something pops up,” Bradshaw said. “And as soon as someone makes a statement saying they’re never going to leave the league, look out, something’s coming. We don’t know when it’s going to end, what’s more important is how we react to it.”
Bradshaw said Temple should still feel optimistic about the Big East due to the conference’s access to BCS bowls, the prestige and exposure of Big East basketball and the media rights deal being negotiated for Big East football and basketball.
“I think it’s going to be very lucrative, particularly with the markets being brought into the Big East, such as San Diego, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and certainly Philadelphia,” Bradshaw said. “All those markets are going to mean more eyeballs, more exposure and hopefully more revenue.”
Though Bradshaw remained hopeful for Temple, he couldn’t say the same about the state of conference alignment in college football.
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, there’s another big shark sighting out there,” Bradshaw said. “The question is: What does it all mean? It’s going to be very important as we move ahead.”
