|
Division I-A cabinet brushes off ACC
By The Associated Press
RALEIGH — An NCAA panel has denied an Atlantic Coast Conference request to
hold a football championship game as early as next season.
The decision is not formal or binding, but it leaves the chances of playing
the game in jeopardy. That could lead to a renewed push to add a 12th league
member to meet the NCAA minimum requirement for holding a lucrative title
game, with a big name possible: Notre Dame.
"It's not a good thing, but it doesn't kill the process," ACC assistant
commissioner Mike Finn said Thursday of the decision. "No one knows how this is going to
come out."
Virginia Tech and Miami have agreed to join the ACC next year, expanding the
league to 11 teams. Initial plans were to include Boston College and
Syracuse instead of Virginia Tech, which would have given the ACC 12
schools.
The ACC has proposed reducing the minimum number of teams needed for a
league championship game to 10.
The issue was discussed last week by the NCAA Division I
Championships/Competitions Cabinet in Indianapolis, first at the
subcommittee level, then by the Division I-A members of the cabinet.
The cabinet's recommendation to not allow the game will be forwarded to the
NCAA's Management Council, a 49-member group with representatives from all
Division I conferences.
The council probably would decide next year whether to recommend the change
to the NCAA's board of directors. A majority of the board's 18 members must
back it for approval.
One of the reasons the ACC sought to expand was to be able to hold a
revenue-generating championship game. It could generate $8 million to $10
million a year for the league.
"I think we've got some existing issues to resolve, such as to how to make
the league work with 11," Wake Forest president Thomas Hearn said Wednesday.
"A football championship game may be a reason [for adding a 12th], but I
don't see it being a decisive reason for now."
02.23.07 11:02 AM
|
