ACC approves talks with 3 schools

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The Atlantic Coast Conference voted yesterday to enter into formal discussions with Miami, Syracuse and Boston College in its effort to expand the league to 12 schools. The ACC also voted down a proposal to include Virginia Tech in the expansion process.

The vote, which came in a morning conference call among the conference's nine university presidents, seems to assure the ACC of expanding by the 2005-06 academic year. An official announcement of the three additions should come in the next few weeks.

It is considered unlikely that the ACC would go this far and be this public in the process without the three schools having given strong indications they would accept invitations.

"Our member institutions reached agreement to begin formal discussions with Boston College, the University of Miami and Syracuse University to join the Atlantic Coast Conference," ACC Council of Presidents chairman James Barker said in a statement. Barker, the president of Clemson, said this is the result of extensive studies by the league.

"Over the past 18 months, our conference has been involved in an intense and thorough strategic planning evaluation on the long-term direction of the ACC," he said. "The priorities of this evaluation have been academic compatibility, commitment to student-athlete welfare, long-term financial stability and national athletic excellence."

In a 7-2 vote Tuesday, the ACC first approved expanding from nine to 12 schools and targeting three Big East schools, but it hadn't decided which ones. Duke and North Carolina were the only no votes on Tuesday but after recognizing the league was in an expansion mode voted in favor of adding three teams yesterday. The measure needed seven votes to pass, and Virginia apparently was the only school to vote against the three-school package.

Virginia introduced a proposal to include Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers had been pressured by Gov. Mark Warner and other state politicians to vote against any expansion that did not include the Blacksburg school, but that measure did not get the necessary seven votes. Therefore Virginia Tech could be left without a football conference if the deal goes through.

The move came on the eve of the Big East's spring meetings, which begin today in Ponte Vedra, Fla., with commissioner Mike Tranghese trying to convince the three potential defectors to stay in his conference. The loss of three football-playing members would decimate Big East football and jeopardize the future of the 24-year-old conference.

"This comes as no surprise," said Tranghese, who has accused the ACC of unethical negotiations with Big East schools. "We are looking forward to productive meetings this weekend."