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Shifting alignments could involve East Carolina
From Bonesville.net Staff and Associated Press Reports
Boston College is bolting the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference,
which will almost surely set off the next round of musical chairs in the
reordering of the college athletics landscape.
The Eagles will enter the ACC as its 12th member, guaranteeing the league a
future football playoff game and another major television market.
The school had until Nov. 1 to accept the ACC's offer, but agreed in less
than four hours after ACC presidents and chancellors voted unanimously
Sunday to include BC in the league's expansion plans. BC’s
exit could open a slot for East Carolina in the Big East. The New York Post
has published a story indicating that the league also has informally
discussed adding Army and Navy as football-only members.
It has generally been reported that the Big East is
planning to add Louisville and Cincinnati from Conference USA, although a
source with access to information about ongoing deliberations said that Big
East member Notre Dame is opposed to admitting the Bearcats.
If BC’s departure opens up another slot, the Pirates and
South Florida may be the primary candidates to fill it. Having 44,040 fans
on hand in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium last Saturday for a matchup of winless
teams ECU and North Carolina is a feather in ECU’s cap.
C-USA also could be subjected to raids of its southwestern
teams by the WAC and of non-football members Charlotte and Saint Louis by
the Atlantic 10. C-USA has also discussed adding teams from among a group
that includes Rice, Southern Methodist, Central Florida, Tulsa and Marshall
to fill any vacancies that might be created in the changing landscape of
conference affiliation.
C-USA presidents and chancellors are scheduled to meet on
Wednesday.
Recently crafted Big East by-laws require 27 months notice to leave that
conference or the imposition of a reported $5 million exit fee upon the
exiting school, meaning Boston College may not begin participating in ACC
sports until 2006, Swofford said.
The addition of the Eagles will give the ACC the number of members required
by the NCAA to stage a lucrative league championship football game in the
future.
Boston College's president said athletics, academics and finances were
reasons for the jump from the Big East.
"The ACC is a strong, stable conference," The Rev. William Leahy said. "The
move to the ACC will generate greater revenues in the future."
The heads of ACC schools voted 9-0 in favor of extending the Eagles an
invitation during a teleconference Sunday. Miami and Virginia Tech were
added to the nine-team conference in late June and will begin play in 2004.
In a statement, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said: "We are extremely
disappointed with Boston College's decision to leave. Our membership is very
surprised that the ACC presidents continue to come back into our league for
membership."
James Barker, Clemson president and head of the ACC's Council of Presidents,
said it became apparent recently that an 11-team league was not ideal for
the ACC.
"It's almost like a suit, you put it on and wear it for a while and then you
decide it needs some alterations," Barker said. "In this case, this was
true. We began to envision ourselves in the summer as one sized league and
we felt an adjustment would be wise to position us for the future."
Boston College and Syracuse were the Big East schools in the ACC's original
expansion plans — along with Miami — but were voted down in favor of adding
the Hurricanes and Hokies. Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State voted against
adding Boston College at the time.
But other pro-expansion schools in the ACC kept pushing for another member.
"Our position is we wanted to expand the league which we've done, expand the
footprint," Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said. "We wanted those
northeast markets and Boston gives us that opportunity."
ACC bylaws require campus visits of each school being considered for
prospective membership. That requirement was satisfied before ACC presidents
initially rejected Boston College for membership in June.
"They were one of the school's we targeted from the get-go," N.C. State
football coach Chuck Amato said. "It's a big media market and they have a
lot of good Italian food up there."
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal threatened to sue Boston
College if the school leaves the Big East. Four Big East schools have
already filed suit against the University of Miami for leaving the Big East
to join the ACC. A Connecticut judge dropped the ACC as a defendant in that
lawsuit on Friday.
"Our claim is that Boston College is part of a continued conspiracy to
weaken and destroy the Big East as a competitor for broadcast revenue and
other rights," Blumenthal said Sunday.
The other members of the ACC are Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Florida
State and Clemson.
Is ACC expansion now over?
"We would never say never, but adding B.C. is clearly a completion of that
phase," Barker said. "The expansion idea has moved to the back burner, but
it's not off the stove."
02.23.07 10:36 AM
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