Husted, R-Ohio, and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., say they wrote to Big East Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman urging the conference to welcome the schools.
Doing so would put one of the nation’s premier concentrations of basketball fandom in one of the most powerful basketball conferences, Husted said Wednesday.
“It’s a perfect fit,” he told the Dayton Daily News. “But I also know that in this era, there are a lot of people weighing in on behalf of colleges and universities to sort of win, right? Well, if we want to win on the court, you’re going to have to win in the realm of finance as well,” he said.
Husted holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UD. He was an All-American defensive back and was a member of the 1989 Division III national champion Flyers team.
“As former collegiate student-athletes, we have been deeply involved in the conversations regarding the challenges facing intercollegiate athletics, as well as the possibility of congressional action on the issue,” the senators wrote. “Amidst these conversations, it is increasingly clear that schools with shared values, academic priorities and comparable resource models are best served by governing collectively and competing within the same conference.”
In an interview, Husted said he made UD leaders aware of the letter, but it was not written at the urging of anyone at the university.
Husted said Schmitt — also a college athlete, who played baseball and football at Truman State University — suggested “teaming up” on a letter on the issue.
The Dayton Daily News reached out to the university for a reaction to the letter, and UD President Eric F. Spina and UD Vice President and Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan released a joint statement.
“We appreciate Senator Husted’s passion for the University of Dayton, his tireless advocacy for our region and our state, and his strong belief in UD,” the statement read. “The University is fortunate to count him among our alumni, not only as a former student-athlete, but as a leader who understands the complex landscape of intercollegiate athletics and the serious challenges facing it today. He is as well versed in these issues as anyone.
“Our goal is to compete in the strongest conference possible alongside like-minded institutions.
“As proud members of the Atlantic 10, our basketball programs are currently competing for a championship in a tough and highly competitive league that deserves our full attention. Accordingly, we will not publicly speculate on specific scenarios at this time.
“However, like Senator Husted, we remain relentless in our efforts to position the University of Dayton, our student-athletes, and our fans and alumni for the best possible environment in which to compete and from which to remain nationally relevant.”
The question of UD joining the Big East is not a new one.
When the conference expanded in 2013 and 2019, UD was passed over. In 2013, the Big East added Xavier, Butler and Creighton. At one time, there was a hope for some that the conference was not finished expanding.
“Our framework hasn’t changed,” Sullivan told the Dayton Daily News in 2019. “We want to be in the best multi-bid basketball conference we can be in. Right now, that’s the Atlantic 10. It probably wouldn’t be appropriate for me to publicly speculate on scenarios other than to say we’re just relentless and aggressive in our pursuit to position and fight for Dayton basketball, to fight for our students, to fight for our fans. We always do that. We do that now, and I think we’ll do that well into the future.”
In an era of NCAA conference revenue sharing, the Big East, which does not sponsor football, has been seen as being in a strong position financially. Last year, a judge approved a settlement between the NCAA, athletic conferences and Division I athletes. The settlement ended a trio of federal antitrust lawsuits — suits that argued that the NCAA had been illegally blocking college athletes from rightful earnings.
The door was opened to direct payment of athletes.
“I think we do feel good about our position,” Xavier men’s basketball coach Sean Miller (older brother of former UD Coach Archie Miller) told The Athletic in 2025.
Big East powerhouse UConn has won two of the past five national titles in men’s basketball.
UD has been in the A-10 since 1995, when Oliver Purnell coached the Flyers.
The Flyers beat Duquesne Tuesday night and are currently unbeaten in the A-10.
The Flyers also beat Big East members Marquette 77-71 on Nov. 19 and Georgetown 84-79 in overtime on Nov. 27. Dayton has won six straight games against Big East opponents since a loss to Xavier in 2015.
This isn’t the first time this season the Dayton-Big East debate has found new life. In late November, Saint John’s coach Rick Pitino offered his opinion on X.
“I said it 3 years ago, and I’ll say it again, Dayton belongs in the Big East,” Pitino wrote Saturday on X.
Responding to Pitino’s post, national college basketball writer Adam Zagoria wrote, “One Big East coach texted me: ‘Dayton is never getting in. Bring nothing to the TV market. Plus Xavier would always vote against it.’”
Pitino’s post followed comments he made in February about expanding the Big East.
“We can’t see that there’s a lot of money to be made down the road if we form a Super League,” Pitino said. “Because we all don’t have football, we’re basically all Catholic schools with the exception of UConn, the bottom line is there. They’re just thinking of today. I wish they would add Dayton, Memphis, combine with the ACC and just have a super basketball league.”
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