Big East Conference summer meetings kick off today

The new Big East Conference has maintained the old version of the league's annual May tradition of holding it's Summer Meetings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It's a nice escape for University Presidents, Athletics Administrators and coaches to get together and discuss the pressing issues that face the conference. Summer Meetings are one of the regularly-scheduled times when the schools that comprise the conferences are able to get in the same room to make decisions that will guide the conference into the future.

According to the Big East Conference, the league will have a number of items on its agenda this week, as they prepare to head into the 2016-17 campaign.

Top executives from Fox Sports are expected to attend the meetings. The league and the network that owns its men's basketball television rights are going to focus on the continued growth of their partnership. Those discussions will likely cover ground including marketing and areas of cross-promotion with FS1's other college properties -- including recently-acquired Big Ten rights.

Commissioner Val Ackerman will also be working in planning sessions with the league's athletic directors, senior woman administrators and men’s and women’s basketball head coaches. Those planning sessions will cover issues related to officiating, student-athlete welfare, and the BIG EAST Digital Network and potential new initiatives.

Meetings are likely to also include the Big East's plans for its 2016-17 season men’s basketball tournament; it will mark the 35th Anniversary of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, and will be the new Big East's first time featuring the reigning NCAA National Champions at their signature event. League officials will also discuss the site of the 2017 women's basketball conference tournament.