"The BCS is very important when it comes down to recruiting," he said. "When you're sitting across the table from a kid and one school says, 'We're in the BCS' - whether they have a chance at a national championship or not - they're living off their affiliations.
"When our coaches are in that room, I want them to have an equal opportunity to get those kids. That's what we're looking for."
--
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said he has no timeline for a decision on whether the Cardinals will leave Conference USA and join the Big East.
"It's going to be a slow, deliberate process everybody's going to be very conservative with," Jurich said Thursday.
Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference on June 30, setting off speculation that Louisville was a leading candidate to join the depleted league.
The Big East needs to add at least two teams in order to maintain its conference status and secure its membership in the Bowl Championship Series.
Jurich acknowledged that Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has talked with Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky, but said no decisions have been made regarding Louisville.
"There have not been a lot of organized discussions," Jurich said. "This is a decision that the Big East and their presidents will make.
"If we do receive an invitation, fine. If we don't, then we'll look at better options. And Conference USA will be one of those."
Conference USA is a BCS outsider, a distinction that frustrates Jurich. The Cardinals have played in a bowl game each of the past five seasons, but miss out on millions of dollars that trickle down to lesser teams in BCS-eligible leagues.
"We don't have any BCS money. We don't get checks at the end of the year worth $9.5 million," he said.
Jurich said the appeal of joining a BCS league goes beyond money.
"The BCS is very important when it comes down to recruiting," he said. "When you're sitting across the table from a kid and one school says, 'We're in the BCS' - whether they have a chance at a national championship or not - they're living off their affiliations.
"When our coaches are in that room, I want them to have an equal opportunity to get those kids. That's what we're looking for."
<A HREF="http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/6511090" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/6511090</A>