Jurich's statements this afternoon are in keeping with pretty much everything I heard this morning; that the Big 12 has essentially told Louisville, "we can't right now, but maybe down the road." The conference figured that it would lose money ($5 mil per team) if it expanded past 10, so don't expect any more moves until it gets a new television contract. When that time comes, U of L should expect a call...or at least that's the thinking as of this second...which basically means nothing.
So as many have said, there's still a chance that Louisville could join the league in 2013, but holding onto hope for such news to happen would be foolish. Just look at everything that happened this week. There's absolutely no way to know what our situation or the national situation is going to be a year from now.
Louisville has to show at least a semi-commitment to the Big East because that's where it is now, where it's going to be for at least the next year and-a-half, and where it could be for a long time. There simply isn't another option right now.
Anyway, here are the Jurich quotes from Howie Lindsey's story:
"We will continue to build on," Jurich said. "We have a lot of goals we have to accomplish and we will move forward."
"We are going to keep building the program. We are going to keep getting stronger and stronger and there are going to be lots of options in our future. The world has changed as we know it many times in the last couple of years and it will continue to change moving forward."
"We had a lot of interaction," Jurich said of the Big 12.
"I don't know what their thought process is, I know right now they are comfortable at 10," Jurich said. "I don't know where their future will hold, whether they want to go to 11, 12, 14... I don't know, but right now, I am confident they are going to stay at 10."
"I think the Big East will move rapidly," Jurich said. "I think the Big East has been waiting for things to settle so they can move ahead with their plan. I think they have a plan in place, and is a plan we expect to be a part of. The Big East has been a great partner for us, and I want to make sure we reiterate that. It's been great for our program the last six years. We want to do what we can to help it grow as it has helped us grow beginning six years ago."
It certainly sounds like Jurich doesn't want to stay in a second(?) rate football conference any longer than he has to. We're here now, but that doesn't mean moves aren't still being made.