Memphis joining Big East next year The Big East will announce Wednesday that Memphis is joining the conference in all sports in 2013. Outgoing Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson confirmed to ESPN.com that the official call with the Big East to accept the invitation from commissioner John Marinatto will take place at 1 p.m. ET. A news conference will follow in Memphis. Details of any exit Conference USA or entry fee will be discussed Wednesday. The Big East will also be adding Central Florida, Houston, SMU, Navy, San Diego State and Boise State in the coming years, and soon will lose West Virginia to the Big 12 and Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Big East's plan has been to get to 12 football teams and eventually have a conference championship game. Memphis, plus incumbent schools Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida, could get the conference to that point by 2015. Memphis has been trying to move from Conference USA since being snubbed when the Big East expanded in 2005, losing a long-time rivalry with Louisville. A departure now would be pricey for the Tigers. The exit fee from Conference USA for 2013-14 is $500,000 plus Memphis' share of television rights revenue, which is approximately $6.13 million, according to a league spokeswoman. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7551260/memphis-tigers-joining-big-east-2013-14-season
