Sycracuse and Pitt apply for admission to the ACC

[NYBuckeye96]

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/2 ... onentially

ACC received applications, buyout hiked up
September, 17, 2011

By Heather Dinich
Pitt and Syracuse have submitted formal applications to join the ACC, and the league has heard from at least 10 schools about possible membership, according to a high-ranking ACC official. University presidents have unanimously approved to increase the buyout for ACC schools to leave the conference to $20 million.

“We have been contacted by at least 10 schools in this fluid landscape,” the source said. “We have received letters of application from Pitt and Syracuse.”

The letter of application takes it one step further than having conversations with the league about possible membership, but it's still not clear where the ACC stands on this process. Another factor is the Big East's rules for leaving, which I'm not familiar with. The one thing that is clear is that the ACC's current membership is rock solid. The original cost for schools to leave the ACC was between $10-$13 million, and the approved buyout increase makes it a highly unlikely scenario that any ACC teams defect from the conference.

So you can pretty much squash all of those rumors out there about ACC teams going anywhere anytime soon. Too costly. As for teams joining?

[Mercerville Monster]

Talk about a conference to be reckoned with in basketball!!!

[seofan_via_dublin]

They're in.

ACC made a splash with a small stone, the SEC and Big 10 are bringing boulders to the pool!

[NYBuckeye96]

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index ... t_wit.html

Rutgers remains 'in contact' with ACC and Big Ten
Published: Sunday, September 18, 2011, 4:53 PM

Rutgers has been involved in talks with the ACC about possible membership over the past two days and its lines of communications with the Big Ten have remained open and "are active," according to a highly-placed college official.
"Rutgers has been in contact with both conferences," the person said.
The person requested anonymity because of the nature of the discussions.
Fearful of being left without a BCS conference to call home following the weekend decisions by Pittsburgh and Syracuse to bolt the Big East for the ACC, Rutgers is aggressively pursuing a possible landing spot outside the Big East, which faces an uncertain future now.
Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, speaking publicly for the first time about the latest shift in conference realignment, declined to get into the specifics of what course of action the school is pursuing.
"With what we're doing, I would just say this: We're continuing to be engaged in talks with several parties, and I think that's been the case for a long time more than the last 36 hours," he said. "It's always been our practice to keep those types of talks private. I've always kept that stuff in the family and I think it's important that we continue to do that."
Depending on what Texas and Oklahoma decide on as a course of action when the regents at both schools meet tomorrow, Rutgers will have a better idea about its conference future.
If both Big 12 schools head to the Pac-10, Rutgers and Connecticut could be added to the ACC, with commissioner John Swofford saying on Sunday that he is "not philosophically opposed" to a 16-team league. The additions of Syracuse and Pitt will give the ACC 14 teams.
Rutgers had a dalliance with the Big Ten last summer, with the conference opting to only add Nebraska to get to 12. Those talks have been ongoing, the source said.
Pernetti said Rutgers will "continue to be a player nationally" in the ongoing conference upheaval.
"This is not the kind of thing that causes us to get to work," he said. "We continue, and have since I started on the job, to be very active in this space, and given our assets and the location, the New York TV market, our AAU status and strong academic standing -- and most of all, given all the nonsense that's going on out there (and) running a clean program high on integrity -- we have great assets. And we will continue to be a player nationally at this time as the landscape continues to shift."
Though Rutgers would privately prefer an invitation to join the Big Ten, the school would jump at an offer from the ACC if it came first, according to high-ranking college official.
"That seems to be what everyone is doing (taking the first good offer), and I don't think Rutgers would be any different," he said.
The ACC is considering three options as it awaits decisions from Texas and Notre Dame, according to an official. The first one is the league's home run swing at luring both Texas and Notre Dame. Plan B is to invite Texas and Texas Tech. Rutgers and Connecticut are Plan C.
The only apparent option for the Big East to survive is for the league's remaining seven schools (including TCU, which is scheduled to join the league next year) to merge with the five Big 12 leftovers (Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor and Missouri) if that league dissolves. That could happen if Texas and Oklahoma decided to leave tomorrow.
"I don't think there's any conversation, given the climate right now, that should be off the table," Pernetti said. "And conversations such as that, as the composition within the Big 12 and other leagues have changed, I would hope as an athletic director in this league that those conversations have been taking place at a higher level for a long period of time. But the answer to the question is there's no scenario out there that's not worth having a conversation (about)."
Pernetti was non-commital when asked if the Big East would survive the latest raid by the ACC. Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College were snapped up from the Big East by the ACC in 2004 and 2005.

"I would tell you that it's a critical time. I think I would be understating it to say it's a critical time," he said. "I definitely am concerned about that. At the same time I think what we're all spending our time on right now is trying to figure out what the best possible scenario is and some of those (Big 12 merger) scenarios are being talked about.
"We continue to be engaged in conversations with a lot of diffent people, but it's always been our practice to keep that stuff relatively quiet and within the family, but I think it's a critical time (for the Big East). There's definitely concern. What it does is it creates a lot of instability and anxiety around the entire place, including in the league. But there's a lot of smart ADs and presidents in the league, and I think where the opportunities exist they'll be taken advantage of."

The ACC has accepted Syracuse and Pitt as the 13th and 14th members. They will go to 16 according to their Plans A, B, and C. Most likely, Plan C - Connecticut and Rutgers.

This would essentially eliminiate the Big Ten's ability to pick up an Eastern School if the ACC takes in Connecticut and Rutgers as well. I don't see them landing Texas and Notre Dame. And I don't see the Texas/Texas Tech Plan B coming around neither.

We are also close to a Pac 16 with Ok, Ok St, Texas and Texas Tech according to other sources.

I know the crown jewel for the Big Ten is Notre Dame. Still, it seems like every other top school is being squeezed out of the equation for the Big Ten.

If the SEC takes Missouri, all that is left is Notre Dame and the lower tier Big 12 schools that will probably bolt to the Big East to keep that conference from sinking.

I wonder what behind the scenes talks Jim Delaney is having right now with some of these schools?

[Mark May]

They're in.

ACC made a splash with a small stone, the SEC and Big 10 are bringing boulders to the pool!

Who are these boulders the big 1O/11 and now 12 is bringing?

[Slim Jim]

It's Syracuse guys...

[dazed&confused]

If I were the B1G whatever, I wouldn't rush to the panic button. They're making plenty of money right now. Some of these conferences are diluting the brand.

[91blue14]

acc is a basketball conference nothing more

[Slim Jim]

If I were the B1G whatever, I wouldn't rush to the panic button. They're making plenty of money right now. Some of these conferences are diluting the brand.

I thought that's what everbody wanted...The 20 team conferences and such...Your'e going to get your wish-now go get your schools while you can..