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ACC playing by the rules, claims Swofford
From Associated Press and staff reports
[ Originally posted 06.09.03. ]
RALEIGH The commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference
defended his league's expansion tactics on Sunday and said the trend towards
changes in conference alignments will probably continue.
ACC boss John Swofford, formerly athletic director at North
Carolina, thinks a lawsuit aimed at disrupting the conference's expansion
won't succeed because the league and schools followed proper guidelines.
"NCAA institutions are free to associate with other
institutions that they deem most in harmony with their academic and athletic
mission,'' Swofford said.
"The ACC has acted properly and legally throughout this
process and is unaware of any conduct by Miami, Boston College or Syracuse
that would violate the terms of their by-laws or that could bind them to the
Big East against their will.''
The ACC last month announced plans to try to expand. Miami
is the linchpin of the deal, and if the Hurricanes go, Boston College and
Syracuse are expected to follow.
However, five Big East schools sued Friday to try to prevent
Miami and Boston College from jumping to the ACC, accusing them of secretly
taking part in an expansion plan that could ruin the Big East.
The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Hartford,
Conn., says Miami and Boston College professed loyalty to their conference
while concocting a "deliberate scheme to destroy the Big East.''
Syracuse was not named in the lawsuit.
One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit Virginia Tech
visited the ACC office in Greensboro on May 6 seeking a place in the
expansion process, Swofford said.
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said the visit was
not an attempt to lobby the league to include the Hokies in expansion.
"I didn't ask the ACC presidents about us joining,'' Steger
said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I asked them if
they could give me some sense of what they saw happening. ... I didn't ask
them to take Virginia Tech into the ACC.''
However, Swofford disputed Steger's account in a statement
he released Sunday night.
"(They) initiated a visit to our office and expressed a
desire to join the Atlantic Coast Conference,'' Swofford said.
ACC presidents, who have the final say on expansion, voted
to pursue Miami, Syracuse and Boston College but not the Hokies.
There is no timetable on an expansion vote by the
presidents, but the lawsuit is not expected to hold things up, ACC spokesman
Brian Morrison said.
Miami athletic director Paul Dee declined comment through a
school spokesman Sunday.
The three Big East schools have until June 30 to join the
ACC or face potential changes in the amount of the exit fee they would be
obligated to pay the Big East upon leaving the conference.
Swofford said school realignment and conference expansion is
not a new concept, citing the creation of the Big 12, Conference USA and
Mountain West conferences, and the expansions of the Southeastern Conference
and four Big East expansions since 1990.
"This is not a creation of the ACC,'' Swofford said. "This
trend is likely to continue whether or not Miami, Boston College and
Syracuse join the Atlantic Coast Conference.''
The nine-team ACC has promised football power Miami
increased revenue from a more lucrative TV deal it believes it could
negotiate as a 12-team conference.
The lawsuit claims that by stripping the Big East of three
of its eight football teams, the remaining schools would lose millions of
dollars from the lucrative Bowl Championship Series and from TV deals.
Copyright 2003
The Associated Press. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:36:35 AM
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