Boston College going to ACC...Let the Domino Effect Begin

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Boston College will leave the Big East Conference to become the 12th member of the Atlantic Coast Conference when an official invitation is offered Sunday, an ACC university official told the New York Times for Saturday's editions.

According to that official, Boston College is expected to be overwhelmingly approved when the ACC universities hold a conference call Sunday.

A high-level source at Boston College told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Friday that the university would accept an invitation if it was officially offered by the ACC.

However, Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo told Katz on Saturday that the university has yet to receive word that it will receive that invitation.

In June, Miami and Virginia Tech announced that they would leave the Big East for the ACC starting in the 2004-05 academic year.

Adding a 12th team became more critical for the ACC after the NCAA Championship Cabinet and Football Issues committee recently failed to recommend that the NCAA management council allow a championship football game for leagues with fewer than 12 teams. Boston College's addition would put the ACC in position to hold a championship game worth an additional $10 million.

Spokesmen for Boston College and the Big East declined to comment to the Times. ACC officials could not be reached for comment.

Katz reported Friday that the exit fee from the Big East could range from $1 million to $5 million.

The defection of Boston College, along with Miami and Virginia Tech, weakens the Big East, which is pursuing four colleges from Conference USA.

Louisville and Cincinnati could join Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse, Connecticut and Rutgers in a Big East football division (Temple has been voted out after 2004). Conference USA's Marquette and DePaul, which do not play football, are being courted to join the Big East's non-football sports.

[Water Pony]

Miami Hearld reports an ACC President/Chancelor TeleConference for this Sunday to vote invitation:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/6991136.htm

[Sam I Am]

Let the good times roll! The changes can't come soon enough to help SMU at this time. C-USA here we come.

[leopold]

In the long run this could be trouble for us. The more teams that depart the Big East, the more that could be taken from C-USA, including the one school that is supposedly going to remiain in C-USA and will be holding that conference together: Memphis, whose basketball program and Liberty Bowl ties alone make it a stronger and more lucrative conference than the WAC. Not to mention C-USA might actually WAKE UP for once and grow some guts and try to force a merger of some sorts. The chance of this is unlikely, I know, but there is a breaking point.
Without BC the BE is looking weaker and weaker. We have to hope that the BE only takes so many teams.

<small>[ 10-11-2003, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: leopold ]</small>

[Charleston Pony]

If the Big East does need a 3rd team after tomorrow, their choices are to retract their decision on Temple or to choose from among Marshall, ECU, UCF or USF. Geographically, Marshall makes sense, but W.Va might object. ECU is having a down cycle in football, but their hoops program is improving under Coach Herrion and the Big East wants quality bball. This will make for some interesting discussions among Big East administrators.