UConn in talks to leave AAC, return to Big East

HARTFORD, Conn. — The University of Connecticut is on the verge of joining the Big East for all sports that the conference sponsors including basketball, sources confirmed Saturday.

Although the university is awaiting and fully expecting an official invitation from the Big East, an announcement of the Huskies’ move is forthcoming.

The move will return UConn to its storied basketball roots and trigger long-term security and better opportunity for its two programs in that sport. However, the school must figure out what to do with its football program because the primary Big East schools do not play that sport. Dropping the program is not being considered. It is highly unlikely that the American Athletic Conference would have interest in retaining Connecticut as a football-only member, though with scheduling done well in advance the Huskies are expected to play in the AAC for the upcoming season.

UConn will have to find another conference for football by the 2020 season or have the program operate as an independent.

The timing of the move for basketball and other sports also is uncertain, though the Huskies are expected to compete in the AAC for at least one more season.

The AAC exit fee is $10 million, and members schools are required to give 27 months notice. The fee would have to be negotiated if UConn leaves earlier than September 2022.

The move was first reported by Digital Sports Desk, a Bostonbased website.

Reached Saturday, a UConn athletics department spokesperson said in a statement: “It is our responsibility to always be mindful of what is in the best interest of our student athletes, our fans and our future. With that being said we have been and remain proud members of the American Athletic Conference.”

The Big East had no comment, a conference spokesperson said.

While the move solidifies the school’s basketball programs that will play against storied rivals, football will remain a question mark. The team won just one game last year and three in each of the two years prior. Attendance also has dipped dramatically with the school announcing about 21,000 tickets distributed per game last season, down from 2010 when it was above 38,000 tickets.

The AAC and ESPN agreed to a 12-year, $1 billion TV deal earlier this year in which UConn would receive about $7 million per year — a figure substantially smaller than schools in the Power Five conferences receive.

Connecticut athletic director David Benedict voiced concern over the deal because it would largely move Huskies games off linear TV and could jeopardize the university’s TV deal with SNY. Representatives of SNY and ESPN have said the networks are discussing a possible deal, but that remains unresolved.