The New Commissioner Speaks

Commissioner-to-be John Marinatto was introduced today in a midday teleconference and he wasted no time in speaking about the future of the Big East. A few of his thoughts on certain relevant topics

• He does not envision the Big East starting its own television network, a la the Big Ten, as Marinatto is happy with the conference's deal with ESPN.
• Asked about the first thing on his agenda, Marinatto noted several times that he will try to enhance the Big East's football bowl game affiliations
• He denied any intention of adding a ninth football-playing school to the conference, but did leave the conference's options open.
  

  "We’re open minded and we’ve built in precautions obviously in the event that something dramatic happens, a certain school or two become available from some other conferences. But right now I don’t think there is no immediate plan, or any plan for that matter, to expand."

• There has been no new movement on Notre Dame joining the conference to play football.