Amelia Island, Fla. — After the 2008 college football season Georgia Tech and ACC fans won't have Boise to kick around any more.

Commissioner John Swofford announced Wednesday that the ACC will end its association with the Humanitarian Bowl in Idaho after this season's game on Dec. 30.

Since 2001 the ACC has sent its No. 8 bowl-eligible team to the blue field in Boise to play a team from the WAC. While the organizing group in Boise got high marks for hospitality, the game had become a symbol of what it meant to finish as the last bowl-eligible team in the ACC. It was usually cold and few fans wanted to make the trek in late December.

"The people in Boise have always done a fantastic job for us but there was a strong feeling that we needed to get our No. 8 team back into this part of the country," Swofford said.

Swofford said that beginning in 2009 the ACC's No. 8 team will go to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile or the newly-created Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Georgia Tech has been to the Humanitarian Bowl twice, beating Tulsa 52-10 on Jan. 3, 2004 and losing to Fresno State 40-28 last December 31 last year.

Swofford's announcement came at the end of the ACC's annual spring meetings at this Florida resort. In other news Thursday:

• The ACC athletics directors decided to take no action on the idea of a nine-game conference football schedule. The current schedule has eight conference games. Some athletics directors liked the concept because it would make scheduling easier and less expensive.

"We did the research and there was a concern that it could hurt us from a bowl standpoint," Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich said. "But it is one of those ideas that is out there and who knows? We may re-visit it in the future.

• Swofford announced the formation of a committee to study a range of men's basketball issues, particularly the long period of time that underclassmen have to declare for the NBA Draft. Under the current rules an underclassman can declare his intention by April 27. But if he does not hire an agent, he can wait until June 16 to make a final decision.

North Carolina's 2008 Final Four team has three players in this position and it makes recruiting difficult for the coaches.

"There is just the sense that period of time is too long," Swofford said.

The ACC will study this issue and then decide if it wants to recommend legislation to the NCAA to change the calendar.

• Swofford also announced that the TV numbers for ACC football were again very good in 2007. Boston College's 14-10 win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 25 was the highest-rated Thursday night game ever on ESPN. The Labor Day night game between Clemson and Florida State was the highest rated game of the year on ESPN.

The second meeting between North Carolina and Duke in basketball, Swofford said, was the most viewed college basketball game ever on ESPN. That means the ACC now has the highest viewed basketball game and football game (Miami-Florida State, 2006) ever on ESPN.