According to this story, it looks like more than just Miami is considering a move to the ACC. Miami close to announcing move to ACC May 3, 2003 By Dennis Dodd SportsLine.com Senior Writer The University of Miami could announce it is joining the ACC as early as next week according to several reports. Miami is seen as the lynchpin for the nine-school ACC adding three schools, breaking into two six-team divisions and staging a conference championship game in football. It has been speculated for years that Miami would jump but discussions heated up and became more public after Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese blasted the ACC last month. Tranghese called the league "hypocrites" for attempting to poach teams from the Big East. Since then, Miami athletic director Paul Dee hasn't exactly declined interest in his public comments, saying the ACC would be a "good fit" for Miami. Recent reports said Dee has gone as far as making a presentation to the Miami board of trustees. The Charlotte Observer reported Friday the ACC might have stepped up negotiations in time to announce the addition of Miami on Thursday. That is the ACC's 50th anniversary. More likely, however, is that negotiations continue in the next few weeks with an announcement coming later this year. It is not clear when Miami or other schools would begin competition in an expanded ACC. The biggest hangup is getting the required seven "yes" votes from the nine ACC presidents to approve expansion. Duke and North Carolina have been longtime opponents to expansion. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday that ACC commissioner John Swofford is within one vote of getting expansion approval. With the addition of Miami, the ACC would significantly improve its income because of the Hurricanes' success in football. The ACC has been dominated in football by Florida State since the Seminoles joined the league in 1991. But with the anticipated depth of the conference in coming years, the ACC is expected to have several programs stepping up to major-bowl status. In basketball, the ACC is already considered the standard with the most lucrative postseason conference tournament in the country. One football hangup that has to be worked out is what to do with Miami and Florida State playing in the same conference. The two schools play a non-conference game each year. In the same conference, it would be possible that the schools might face each other twice -- once during the regular season and then again in a conference championship game. Either way, the ACC would face some sort of superpower cannibalism with the loser having its national championship and BCS bowl prospects significantly damaged. The ACC is reportedly also considering the addition of an 11th and 12th school from a pool that includes Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
My prediction: Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College move to the ACC. ACC North: Boston College Maryland Virginia Virginia Tech ACC South: Clemson Georgia Tech Florida State Miami I don't know how to divide up the 4 North Carolina schools. Syracuse or Pittsburgh will join the Big 10. The remaining Big East will fuse with a few members of C-USA and make a bid to remain a BCS conference.
