Big East, ACC reportedly settle over conference defections

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences have settled their legal differences over school defections with an agreement worth about $5 million, a newspaper reported Tuesday night.

Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia signed off on the agreement, which drops lawsuits between the conferences, their member schools and officers, the Hartford Courant reported on its website.

UConn has already received $1 million as its share of the settlement, the newspaper reported, citing documents released Tuesday by the state attorney general's office in response to a Freedom of Information request.

Calls by the Associated Press to ACC assistant commissioner Brian Morrison; Erik Albright, an attorney for the league; and Boston College were not immediately returned Tuesday night.

Under the agreement, Boston College will leave the Big East on June 30 and join the ACC on July 1.

The initial lawsuit over the ACC's expansion plans was filed in June 2003 in state Superior Court in Hartford. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal accused Big East members Miami and Boston College of conspiring with the ACC to weaken the Big East by luring away some of its biggest football powers.

Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East and joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season. B.C. agreed in October 2003 to join the ACC.

A series of rulings and lawsuits ensued. The lawsuit against Miami and Boston College by the four Big East schools remained standing and was headed to trial before the parties agreed to mediation.

The settlement was finalized April 27 in Rockville Superior Court. It discharges Boston College's obligation to pay a withdrawal fee required by the Big East constitution.

The Courant, citing unnamed sources, reported that an additional $1 million of the settlement will essentially serve as Boston College's exit fee and the four Big East schools named in the agreement will share equally in the settlement.

The settlement document does not specify the total settlement amount or how the payment was split between Miami, Boston College and the ACC.

"This resolution protects Connecticut's critical investment in the UConn football program, its upgrade to Division I-A status and the Big East football partnership," Blumenthal said in a statement to the newspaper.