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Pernetti to discuss financial obligations with league

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Athletic Director Tim Pernetti announced yesterday he plans to seek financial compensation from the Big East for the Rutgers football team’s six home games next season.

The Scarlet Knights’ seventh home game, a regularity, vanished when TCU reneged its commitment to the conference Oct. 6 in favor of the Big 12.

“We’ll deal with it in a very direct manner with the league,” Pernetti said. “We’re disappointed we’re not made whole on a league game with TCU’s departure. Having said that, we took control of our own situation.”

The Big East welcomed Temple to the conference following West Virginia’s abrupt exit to the Big 12. The Big East planned to keep West Virginia for one more season, but the school sued the conference and agreed to a buyout plan.

“I’ve already been talking to the league and explaining to the league how we view the situation and how we can be made whole on it,” Pernetti said.

The league could earn as much as $20 million from West Virginia’s buyout, coupled with TCU’s exit fee and the entrance fee of five schools for the 2013 season.

But the uncertainty of conference realignment affected Pernetti’s ability to schedule non-conference opponents, he said. The Knights could have looked to another Division I-AA opponent after scheduling Howard on Sept. 8 in their home opener.

“That’s just not for us anymore,” Pernetti said. “We’re not doing that again.”

So Southeastern Conference power Arkansas became the most desirable option, agreeing to a home-and-home series beginning next season in Fayetteville, Ark. The contest with the Razorbacks highlights a four-game stretch in which Rutgers plays three road games to start the season.

“You’re going to play the road games at some point,” said head coach Kyle Flood. “I’m not really concerned about it. We’re excited about our first game at Tulane, but we have a lot of things to do before that. Our focus will be one-game seasons.”

Pernetti’s focus swirled around making one-game seasons possible. TCU and West Virginia’s leave meant holes on the schedule, filled in part by playing Temple at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

But the process was far more encompassing than that, Pernetti said.

“I’m not sure there were many schools we didn’t talk to during the process,” he said. “There are not a lot of opportunities out there.”

One returned following a few years’ absence. ESPN picks up the Knights’ season finale against Louisville at High Point Solutions Stadium, returning a Thursday night matchup to Piscataway.

Rutgers’ rise to the national consciousness occurred in large part to Thursday games, especially its 2006 win against the then-No. 2 Cardinals.

Pernetti sat at attention with players in the team’s media room following practice. A return to Thursday quickly became the focus, he said.

“They were excited. Going back to 2006 and in that period of a few years, Thursday night games became a major event down here,” Pernetti said. “We’ve had a lot of good success on the field in those games. … You can’t buy that kind of national exposure for your football program.”


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