Tom Jurich Press Conference

No big surprises here. Jurich is expectedly very happy with the Big East's courtship with TCU. Big TV market, impressive football resume over the last 5 years and a well-respected institution of higher learning. Baseball team's not too shabby either.

The video above, courtesy of the Courier-Journal, captures the entire 13+ minute press conference. The quotes below cover some of the highlights.

Future football expansion: "Villanova is the obvious one because they're already in the footprint. There's a lot of schools that the Presidents and the conference have looked at."

Is the Big East's ultimate goal to get to 12 teams: If I told you 10 or 12 [teams], I wouldn't be telling you the truth, because I don't know....We've never said 'let's have a championship game.' A championship game works very well in the SEC. In other leagues, they debate it."

Bowl Situation: "I still feel 100% sure we'll be in [a bowl]. I couldn't tell you which one, though. I think we're in play for a lot of them. If Notre Dame takes one of [the Big East's] slots, that creates a new position for us, we're going to have be pretty creative with that. I think the league knows we're very attractive for somebody, our fan base loves to travel. [We want to] make sure we exhaust all of our options...and look at what's best for us, too."

Jurich added that he's talked with representatives from various bowl games over the last half of the season but wants to avoid, if possible, any bowl on Dec 31st so everyone can attend the UK-UL game in the Yum! Center. Bowl games played on Dec 31st include the Meineke Care Car Bowl in Charlotte, NC, the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX, and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN.

Charlie Strong's future: "He's going to be on the top of everybody's list. He's done a tremendous job with this program from A to Z. He's got a great staff that he's assembled. It's well documented the success he's had in the classroom. He's everything I could ever draw up for a head coach."

"I hope he sees it's a great place to be. [We're going to] make sure he has everything he needs to be successful because I know he has big dreams, big goals and that's what I love--I like people who think big."

"I want to make sure this is where he wants to be, too."

Question: At this point has anyone contacted you [about hiring Strong]?: "[No] just you [the media]."

Geography & traveling in an expanded Big East: "When we were in C-USA everything worked out great. We went to places that were farther--we went to Houston, we went to New Orleans which was much more expensive...You know, Providence might have a different answer to that than we do but for us, it worked just fine...As I was telling someone earlier today, Dallas has worked out pretty darn well in the NFC East for a lot of years...I don't think [traveling] is a problem now."

Men's Basketball's early success: "The thing I like so much is the buzz around the community. Obviously the Big East will be an enormous challenge, which everybody sees. This is a great team. [Pitino's] always said he believes in chemistry and believes in effort--and I think this team has both of those things."

Louisville Soccer: "It's remarkable to think that 5 years ago we were the last place team in the Big East. Then Ken Lolla came in here and has us to #1 in the nation for, I think 7 or 8 weeks running, it's exciting."