ACC has approved addition of Pittsburgh, Syracuse

The move of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC will have big effect on the changing of the conference landscape in college athletics.

The presidents of the Atlantic Coast Conference voted Saturday morning to accept Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the league, according to an official in the ACC. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the league has not announced the move.

The ACC has scheduled a news media teleconference Sunday at 9:30 a.m., ET ostensibly to discuss the expansion, but no details were given.

Though news of Pitt and Syracuse's defection caught most of college athletics by surprise, the league has had discussions about expansion for the last year and the move was accelerated when Texas A&M announced its intention to join the Southeastern Conference last month, according to the official.

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The move would make the ACC a 14-team conference and certainly lead to speculation that the era of 16-team super conferences is about to arrive. The ACC also has not closed off its options about adding two other East Coast teams, depending on how the expansion dominoes fall in other leagues. Connecticut and Rutgers would be the candidates, the official said.

Syracuse and Pitt must give the Big East 27 months notice of their departure and pay a $5 million exit fee. Last week, in a regularly scheduled meeting ACC presidents unanimously approved raising their exit fee to $20 million - up from about $13 million - for any member leaving the conference. There has been speculation about the SEC's interest in Florida State. However, it appears FSU will stay put given Florida State president Eric Barron's stated commitment to the league and his vote for the pricey exit fee.

One official in the Big East, also requesting anonymity, said there was word about Syracuse and Pitt heading to the ACC three weeks ago. With the departure, the Big East is down to seven football schools, including Texas Christian, which joins the conference next year. News of the Big East's possible unraveling came on the heels of the death of its founder, Dave Gavitt, who died Friday night after a long illness.

More changes are expected based on the next move of several schools in the Big 12. The board of regents at Oklahoma and Texas are meeting Monday to discuss the possibility of the universities leaving that conference. Texas also made a pitch to the ACC, according to an official in the ACC.

After being silent all day, Big East Commissioner John Marinatto issued a statement late Saturday night:

"Although I was obviously very disappointed to learn the news about the ACC's being in discussions about membership with the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University, I continue to believe the Big East Conference is well positioned for the future and that the events of the past 24 hours will unify our membership. We have been working steadily to solidify and strengthen the Big East Conference and position us for our upcoming TV negotiations and I am confident that we will again emerge from this situation and remain strong."

The New York Times first reported news of the talks involving the ACC on Friday, and CBSSports.com first reported Saturday the schools had filed applications with the ACC.

In Louisville, Cardinals athletic director Tom Jurich said he initially doubted the schools were leaving.

"I didn't believe it because Pittsburgh was involved, and I didn't see where the value (is) they would bring to that league at all," he told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "That's no slap at Pittsburgh. I just couldn't see where that fit was."

Cincinnati president Greg Williams said his school remains committed to the Big East. "The Big East is a viable organization," Williams said. "I think they can survive. Syracuse and Pitt are great schools, but the Big East is a strong conference."

That does not mean he isn't surveying the landscape.

"We're always trying to get information about what's going on. We're not trying to jump to another conference. We're committed to the Big East. We think the Big East is a great conference, one that's really right for us. That's what we're committed to and hopefully that will be able to continue. If not, we're still going to be (well) situated because we're a strong athletic and academic program."

Syracuse, Pittsburgh sent application letters to ACC

Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim could be coaching league games against Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest instead of Georgetown and UConn if the school moves to the ACC.


The Atlantic Coast Conference has received application letters from Pittsburgh and Syracuse to join the league, according to a high-ranking ACC official.

At least 10 schools have reached out to the ACC during the recent period of uncertainty about conference realignment, the official told The Associated Press on Saturday. The official declined to identify those schools.

The official added that presidents of the league's 12 schools during a recent meeting unanimously approved raising the exit fee to $20 million—up from $12 million to $14 million—for any member leaving the conference. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the league has not announced any of the moves.

The Big East's exit fee is $5 million, though schools wanting to leave must provide notice of 27 months.

A jump by Pittsburgh and Syracuse could lead to another dramatic shuffle in college athletics. Texas A&M has already announced its intention to join the Southeastern Conference, leaving the future of the Big 12 in doubt.

Big East spokesman John Paquette declined to comment on the possible defections. Pittsburgh spokesman E.J. Borghetti said that athletic director Steve Pederson also wouldn't comment.

If the move goes forward, Pittsburgh and Syracuse would become the fourth and fifth schools to leave the Big East for the ACC in the past decade. Virginia Tech and Miami joined in 2004, and Boston College followed a year later as the ACC's 12th member.

Syracuse is a founding member of the Big East. Pittsburgh joined the league in 1982. The ACC official said their letters of application were for full membership.

North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said the ACC created a committee last year of athletic directors, university presidents and faculty athletic representatives to examine possible scenarios of both expansion and defections. Baddour, one of the four athletic directors on the committee, wouldn't reveal specifics of those discussions nor comment specifically on Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

"If you think about this nationally, it's obvious that the world is turning upside down and you want the ACC … to be in a position where we are strong in all areas, that all of our sports are strong, that our television packages are strong as well," Baddour said shortly before kickoff of the Virginia-North Carolina game.

Speaking on a pregame radio show, Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said: "We want to move forward and be the best we can be and that's what we're going to do."

The New York Times first reported Friday night news of the talks involving the ACC, Syracuse and Pittsburgh on Friday night and CBSSports.com first reported Saturday the schools filed applications with the ACC.

Until now, the focus of this recent round of conference realignment has been on the Big 12.

The board of regents at Oklahoma and Texas have meetings Monday to discuss the possibility of the universities leaving that league. Oklahoma could be heading to the Pac-12, and taking Oklahoma State with it. Texas has stated its desire to keep the Big 12 together, but the Pac-12 could be an option as well as football independence, a la Notre Dame, which competes in the Big East in all other sports.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott attended 23rd-ranked Texas' meeting with UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, but said he had no plans to meet with Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds or President Bill Powers.

Scott talked with Texas, Oklahoma and several other Big 12 teams last year while his conference added Utah and Colorado, signing a massive television contract along the way.

Scott reiterated the Pac-12's stance on expansion: The conference is "not being proactive," but has been approached by universities and is willing to consider growing again. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have been linked with a Pac-12 move for several weeks, and Scott has confirmed several unidentified schools recently approached him for preliminary discussions.

"I'm surprised there's been so much activity so quickly," Scott said, alluding to the upheaval in conference alignment talks the past few weeks. "There's been a lot of transition in a short time."

Scott said no school has applied for admission to the Pac-12, but also said the conference has no formal application policy.

There also have been reports linking Texas to the ACC, a move that would likely include Texas Tech.

When the Big Ten was looking to expand last summer, there was plenty of speculation about Big East schools on the Big Ten's target list.

But the Big Ten added only Nebraska (from the Big 12). A few months later the Big East announced TCU from the Mountain West Conference was joining the league in 2012 as its ninth football member and 17th overall.

The Big East was close to signing a contract extension for its television rights with ESPN this year, walking away from a nine-year deal that reportedly was worth about $1 billion.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said in August the Big East felt it was in a position of strength as the last major football conference to negotiate a deal because there would be more bidders on the market with NBC expanding its cable presence and Fox becoming more involved in college football.

The Big East's situation is tricky because of seven nonfootball members— such as Georgetown and Villanova—that help make it one of the nation's strongest basketball conferences. The basketball schools and football schools often have different agendas. But losing Pitt and Syracuse would be a huge blow to Big East basketball as well as football.

There already has been speculation that West Virginia would be a target for the SEC to balance out that conference and grow to 14 members if and when Texas A&M finally joins.

The other football-playing members of the Big East are Rutgers, Connecticut, Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati.

The ACC would end up with 14 members if it adds Syracuse and Pitt, but 16 might make more sense. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has said his league is set with 12, but could reconsider if other conferences make additions.

It seems likely that the latest news about conference realignment won't be the last.

"I think some things will take shape in the near future," Weaver said.