COLLEGE SPORTS ACC eyes Miami, Virginia Tech

The league has decided to expand only to 11 schools.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- In the most surprising move of the Atlantic Coast Conference's six-week expansion saga, the league has decided to pursue only Miami and Virginia Tech, a high-ranking conference source told The Associated Press.
The move to go to 11 schools wasn't one of the many scenarios presented since the ACC's vote to expand on May 13.
After a 21/2-hour conference call Tuesday night, ACC commissioner John Swofford refused to comment on whether Miami and Virginia Tech -- the Big East's two dominant football schools -- had been offered invitations to join.
"We're very close to bringing this to a conclusion. I would expect us to have an announcement in the next couple of days," Swofford said.
Reports
The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, quoting anonymous sources, reported on their Web sites that the ACC voted to extend invitations to Miami and Virginia Tech, and that Syracuse and Boston College -- along with Miami the schools talked about since the start -- were not included.
The league source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The AP on Tuesday night that the league presidents decided the only way expansion would work is if Miami and Virginia Tech joined what would become an 11-team conference. The source also said ACC presidents no longer expect Syracuse and Boston College to be part of the expansion process.
"We're very close to being at the end of this," Swofford told reporters outside ACC headquarters.
He said the ACC presidents do not have another teleconference scheduled.
"Each conference call has taken us a step further and this was the closest one to the end," he said.
Wouldn't comment
Asked whether the reports on Miami and Virginia Tech were accurate, Swofford said he wouldn't comment on "reports and speculation until we're ready to make a definite announcement as to where we are."
Miami sports information director Mark Pray said the school would have no comment until the ACC announced its plans. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said he had no knowledge of a proposal to put his school and Miami into the ACC.
If the ACC expands to 11 members, it would be one short of the number necessary to hold a football conference championship game.
Tuesday's conference call was the fifth time in two weeks that the presidents met via phone as they tried to finalize possible expansion. Such an expansion could lead to a lucrative conference football title game and television contract.
Any school leaving the Big East will have to pay a $1 million penalty, and that amount doubles if the school leaves after June 30.