Tuesday, June 24, 2003

ACC votes to take Virginia Tech and Miami

As reported here by the Washington Post, here by the New York Times, here by USAToday, and here on CNN/SI, the Atlantic Coast Conference presidents have voted to invite Virginia Tech and Miami to join the ACC, leaving Syracuse and Boston College out of their expansion.

In other words, the talk of 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 teams has given way to an 11-team plan. Talk about making it up as you go along, but this result makes more sense than anything else I've heard. Miami was never made much sense in the Big East, and Tech is more than a logical fit for the ACC. Following the same logic, I wouldn't be surprised if the hype starts to build for adding one more team from elsewhere, specifically South Carolina, which seems like a much more natural rival for the ACC schools than for its current opponents in the SEC.

I would think also that this move will likely pull the rug out from under the lawsuit in Connecticut. In fact, the ACC might consider a counterclaim for unjust enrichment, for if the Big East retains its BCS membership but drops the added cost of trips to Florida, it might yet come out ahead in terms of dollars and cents. Of course, who knows how much longer there will even be a BCS, which is another reason why the ACC presidents had to be questioning themselves at every step.

No comments: