Sunday, June 29, 2003
The league surprised everyone by passing over Boston College and Syracuse.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- The Atlantic Coast Conference put a surprising twist on its six-week expansion saga.
On Wednesday, the ACC invited only Miami and Virginia Tech to leave the Big East and form an 11-team conference, passing over Boston College and Syracuse.
Many expected Miami to receive an invitation after the ACC voted May 13 to expand, but Virginia Tech didn't come into the picture until last week.
Neither has accepted yet
ACC commissioner John Swofford said neither school had accepted an invitation yet, but he didn't expect any problems.
"It's their decision to make at this point," he said.
Miami's executive committee of its board of trustees scheduled a meeting today to discuss -- and possibly accept -- the ACC's invitation, The Palm Beach Post and The Miami Herald reported.
Clemson President James F. Barker, head of the league's Council of Presidents, said the invitation to Virginia Tech, a dark horse candidate that was added last week at the insistence of Virginia, was "subject to final completion of the conference bylaw requirements" -- a site visit that was under way Wednesday in Blacksburg, Va.
Virginia Tech's governing board, meeting earlier Wednesday, unanimously authorized president Charles Steger to negotiate a deal with the ACC. Voting at a hastily called meeting in Roanoke, Va., the Board of Visitors gave Steger the authority to make the decision himself, and he said he was "inclined to accept" the offer.
Disappointed
Miami President Donna Shalala said school officials were disappointed that Boston College and Syracuse weren't included.
"Since this is a new proposal, we will evaluate it before making a decision," she said. Athletic director Paul Dee added it might take a few days for Miami to decide.
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.
Boston College said the Big East was discussing future conference configurations among all its members. Its statement noted that Miami and Virginia Tech are included in those discussions, which is likely to mean that that Big East is making the would-be defectors a counterproposal to keep them from bolting.
The statement said the schools will address "those issues that have caused several Big East institutions to consider conference withdrawal."
Syracuse spokesman Kevin Morrow said the school was "disappointed that a decision like this was made."
Morrow said Syracuse would work with the Big East to "help it become an even stronger conference."
"We have faced challenges before, and we've always been up to the task. We will be again," Morrow said.
No vote breakdown given
Swofford refused to give the expansion vote breakdown, although he said there weren't enough votes for a plan to add only Miami.
"I think the Big East will recover," Swofford said. "It isn't an acquisition, it isn't a takeover because the only way we can grow is if schools want to come join us by choice. I think it's been very misrepresented in some quarters.
"I think this league and the people in this league conducted themselves very appropriately through this process."
If the ACC expands to 11 members, it would be one short of the number necessary to hold a football conference championship game.
The ACC could seek a waiver of the requirement, but Steve Mallonee, the NCAA's Division I associate chief of staff, said Wednesday he was unaware of any such request.
Mallonee said no conference has asked for a waiver since the rule was added in 1987.