Seeking harbor in the stormy sea of conference realignment, Pittsburgh and Syracuse have found a safe port in the Atlantic Coast Conference. A league that just eight years ago consisted of nine teams has swelled to 14, and 16 is hardly out of the question.
In a Sunday teleconference with news media to announce the expansion, ACC commissioner John Swofford said the league is comfortable at 14, but that "we are not philosophically opposed to 16." Swofford also mentioned that the number of schools that have asked to be considered for membership is in the double digits. ESPN reported Sunday that Connecticut was also aggressively pursuing ACC membership.
The high-stakes musical chairs game will continue Monday, when regents at the universities of Texas and Oklahoma will meet to discuss conference affiliation. The Austin American-Statesman reported Sunday that the Pac-12 was working out details to add Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech.
"I can say that in all my years as a college athletic administrator, I've never seen this level of uncertainty and potential fluidity among schools and conferences," Swofford said.
The ACC appears to have stayed ahead of the game, securing its viability by adding two tradition-bound schools, their brands and their TV markets by continuing its raiding of the Big East. A name change to the Allegheny- to-Atlantic Coast Conference might be appropriate.
"The addition of these two institutions with longstanding academic and athletic reputations can do nothing but enhance our position in the college landscape," Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich said in a statement. "I am proud that the ACC has shown great foresight in moving forward in these times of conference realignment."
By the rules of the Big East, of which Syracuse was a founding member in 1979, departing schools must pay a $5 million exit fee and provide 27 months' notice. Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg acknowledged the possibility of a modification to the timeline to avoid the schools playing as lame ducks.
At the same time, Swofford said that ACC school presidents voted last week to increase the exit fee for its schools to 125 percent of the league's budget, which this year would be about $20 million.
Once Pitt and Syracuse join, the conference will encompass nine states. The 1,260-mile stretch from Miami to Boston exceeds by about 40 miles the span between the most distant schools in the Pac-12, Arizona and Washington.
While promoting the value of the conference covering the Eastern seaboard and its many television markets, Swofford did not rule out the possibility of going beyond the Eastern time zone.
"I think we all realize that our world is much smaller than it used to be," he said.
He did, though, appear to rule out Texas and Notre Dame. The league and Texas have reportedly had contact, but Swofford declared the ACC's commitment to equal revenue sharing "sacred" and that he didn't see it changing. Texas' revenues from its Longhorn Network and Notre Dame's contract with NBC to broadcast home games would, at the least, be difficult hurdles to clear to join the ACC.
The impact on Georgia Tech's flagship teams is unclear. The last time that the Syracuse football team ended the season in the Associated Press top 25 poll was the 2001 season. Pitt has finished in the AP top 25 once in the past six years. Men's basketball coach Brian Gregory is the one whose job just became more difficult. In each of the past three years, both the Panthers and Orangemen have finished the season with top-20 RPI rankings.
In a statement, Tech president G.P. "Bud" Peterson called the two new members a good fit for the ACC both academically and athletically.
"Tech welcomes them to the ACC, and we look forward to competing with them in a number of men's and women's intercollegiate sports," Peterson said.
Swofford said the league has yet to address the scheduling challenges of a 14-team league or possible divisional configurations. He did note the appeal of bringing the basketball conference tournament to Madison Square Garden, a possibility that might be as unpalatable to Big East loyalists as the idea of the Big Ten kicking out the SEC to hold its football conference championship at the Georgia Dome.
That said, Swofford's conference will eventually have five former Big East members – Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech along with Pitt and Syracuse – if not more.
