Word from the dirty south

[Southland]

Word from the dirty south (UNC athletic department through JP marketing to Southland to PonyFans.com)…

1) Swafford really thought Duke had come around, and wanted to beat the court date tomorrow. Duke surprised Swafford by voting down Syracuse-BC-Miami expansion. UNC and Virginia were the other nay votes… however, it was indicated to my friend that the ACC will claim no vote was taken on Syracuse or BC to leave the door open for those schools…

2) All 9 ACC schools were pro-Miami, but the six that have been pro-ACC 12 were not going to just vote in Miami alone. The economics don’t make sense to stop short of 12 schools…

3) An exhausted Swafford turned the attention to Virginia Tech; it swiftly gained the surprising support of Maryland, Wake, NC State, Clemson, GA Tech and FSU, who felt the ACC 12 could still be a reality. Virginia was the seventh yes vote.

4) Next step is the official invite of Miami, and a tour of the VA Tech facilities.

5) Then come the acceptances/declines by Monday’s deadline, and a lot of speculation…


Speculation from dirty south…

1) ACC tries to challenge championship game rules. The feeling is that the ACC would get rejected, and while this may be something they look at, this will not be the strategy they pour themselves into.

2) Bring in a football-only beginning 2004. Again, the feeling is that this would not be a sound strategy for the league’s long-term health… but the Presidents may explore it as a short-term solution to the sudden revenue problem they have created.

3) Bite the bullet with 11 schools for 2004-2005, and expand with #12 in 2005. This is thought to be the most likely scenario. Given VA Tech and Miami except by Monday, it would give the 11 schools a full year to examine candidates for 2005 expansion. With the pro-ACC 12 (Maryland, Wake, NC State, Clemson, GA Tech and FSU) now joined by potentially Virginia, Virginia Tech and Miami, expansion of a twelfth school is virtually guaranteed.

4) Problem is… who to expand with? According to my friend, UNC is very worried that once Virginia Tech and Miami join the ACC, northern expansion would now have nine supporters, making the remaining Big East schools still a target…. and a trip to New England a possibility.

[Sam I Am]

Thanks for the excellent source material about the ACC. I, too, forsee adding a 12th team but next year. The BE is the most likely source of an addition. If it were me, I'd pick BC because of their TV market and history with Miami.