Syracuse & Pitt In Talks With ACC?
by Chris Lane on Sep 17, 2011 12:01 AM EDT
in Big East Expansion
Email
Print
Pete Thamel of the New York Times is reporting that both Syracuse and Pittsburgh are engaged in talks to join the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The athletic directors at each school both declined comment when reached earlier, as did Big East commissioner John Marinatto (though with him, we're not even sure he's aware of this yet, if his past performance is to be considered). However, ACC spokeswoman Amy Yakola did give a comment. Hint, there's not much to it.
"We’ve been dealing with the fluidity of the conference landscape on multiple levels for a week," said Amy Yakola, the A.C.C.’s associate commissioner for public relations and marketing, "and at this point we wouldn’t be able to comment on speculation."
If this were to be true, it would be a HUGE loss for the Big East, and one that may signal the end of the conference as we know it. It would almost certainly end Villanova's chances of moving up to the FBS (in my opinion at least), as most of the other Big East football schools would look for a new home either in the Big Ten, SEC or ACC.
The Big East basketball-only schools would almost certainly look to band together and add some of the A-10 schools such as Xavier and Dayton that fit their profile in the hopes of forming a very strong basketball-only league.
Any way you slice it, if this news is true, it's not ideal for Villanova.
Follow @SBNTheNovaBlog on Twitter | Like The Nova Blog on Facebook
3 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
What I don't get
is what would Pitt and Syracuse get out of this athletically? They move to a tougher football conference where it is more difficult to get that guaranteed BCS bowl bid. They also lose their status as marquee basketball programs in their conference, as the ACC is all about UNC and Duke. They must see the writing on the wall regarding the future of the Big East. ‘Tis a shame, and I can’t help but feel bad for us and TCU, the two schools that would be most royally screwed by such a move (us for losing the one shot at FBS football, and TCU for making such a large leap into a conference that would be DOA).
That being said, I don’t see this coming to fruition any time soon, if at all.
They get peace of mind
Moving to a conference that they KNOW will exist 5 years (heck, 2 years) from now. You cannot say the same for the Big East, as you mentioned.
I prematurely shot my wad, if you will, on what was supposed to be a dry run, and now it looks like I have something of a mess on my hands.
Follow me on Twitter
Follow The Nova Blog on Twitter and Facebook
Pitt, Syracuse send ACC letters of application
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Atlantic Coast Conference has received letters of application from Pittsburgh and Syracuse, a high ranking league official told CBSSports.com.
The ACC also has recently been contacted by 10 schools, the official said. However, they would not disclose what conferences those schools were from.
http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/32034930
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE NOVA BLOG STORE
