AJWatson3
June-27th-2003, 06:08 PM
and so it begins...
http://espn.go.com/ncaa/news/2003/0627/1573771.html
Friday, June 27
No matter what Miami decides, Va. Tech is in
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
Regardless of what Miami decides, Virginia Tech accepted the ACC's invitation and will officially become the 10th member of the league at a news conference Tuesday at the ACC headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported Friday.
Miami, which is pondering counterproposals from the Big East, is expected to make its decision Monday, and the ACC hopes to announce both schools by Tuesday's news conference.
ACC associate commissioner Mike Finn told ESPN.com on Friday that the Hokies informed the conference that it would join the league, but he added that the invitation is not tied to Miami. If the Hurricanes turn the ACC down and remain in the Big East, the ACC would only add Virginia Tech, a school that wasn't part of the original expansion plan.
Finn told Katz that the year of expansion -- either 2004-05 or 2005-06 -- hasn't been decided. Big East officials said they haven't received official word from Virginia Tech on its decision.
Virginia Tech has until Monday to notify the Big East of its intentions, and does not have to pay the $1 million exit fee Monday, when the penalty fee for exiting the Big East for the 2004-05 season doubles. The fee never goes below $1 million, even if the expansion move wouldn't be until the 2005-06 season.
The ACC originally invited Miami, Syracuse and Boston College for a 12-team conference. The league went on formal site visits to all three schools, but after a number of conference calls, the ACC failed to reach a consensus on 12 schools.
Last week, the league decided to invite Virginia Tech and Miami as a compromise to get Virginia's swing vote. Virginia was under considerable pressure within the state to endorse Virginia Tech. The vote for expansion was approved by a 7-2 margin with Duke and North Carolina voting against the move.
ACC officials visited Virginia Tech last week to complete the formal part of the invitation process.
The University of Miami said Thursday it had received counterproposals to remain in the Big East and will make a final decision Monday.
The university's executive committee of its board of trustees met with Miami President Donna Shalala and athletic director Paul Dee for more than an hour Thursday to discuss the ACC invitation. Shalala said that no vote was taken.
The ACC has scheduled a news conference for Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET to address the situation.
Shalala said the delay was at least partially attributed to the fact the school received counterproposals from other Big East schools Thursday. She declined to provide any specifics on those proposals.
"The Big East has informally sent a proposal, or at least a list of proposals, to us and we feel a responsibility to review them,'' said Shalala, who acknowledged she was not ruling out any possibility, including remaining in the Big East.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford said Thursday conference officials are keeping the lines of communications open with Miami and continue to remain optimistic that the Hurricanes will join the ACC.
"These are significant decisions that have long-term implications and we fully appreciate and respect Miami's need to thoroughly evaluate their decision," Swofford said. "We think Miami would be an excellent fit for the Atlantic Coast Conference and it is certainly our hope that they will be joining us."
The Rev. William Leahy, Boston College's president, spoke with Shalala on Wednesday night.
"I think she is generally torn about what to do,'' he said.
An 11-team conference might have been a sticking point for Miami. The school had some financial concerns about joining the conference without Northeast schools Boston College and Syracuse or a guarantee of a football championship game.
But a source within the ACC told ESPN.com's Katz that the conference informed Miami officials that it is easier to go from 11 to 12 schools than nine to 12, indicating that the ACC will likely want to have an even number of teams within the next 3-4 years.
Shalala said Miami still had to evaluate what a two-team addition to the ACC would mean financially for Miami. With just 11 teams, the ACC could not add the lucrative title game.
"We had done numbers on Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami, we had done numbers on Miami alone, but we had not anticipated that Virginia Tech and Miami would be the only two invitees,'' Shalala said.
Information from the Associated Press and ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz was used in this report.
http://espn.go.com/ncaa/news/2003/0627/1573771.html
Friday, June 27
No matter what Miami decides, Va. Tech is in
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
Regardless of what Miami decides, Virginia Tech accepted the ACC's invitation and will officially become the 10th member of the league at a news conference Tuesday at the ACC headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported Friday.
Miami, which is pondering counterproposals from the Big East, is expected to make its decision Monday, and the ACC hopes to announce both schools by Tuesday's news conference.
ACC associate commissioner Mike Finn told ESPN.com on Friday that the Hokies informed the conference that it would join the league, but he added that the invitation is not tied to Miami. If the Hurricanes turn the ACC down and remain in the Big East, the ACC would only add Virginia Tech, a school that wasn't part of the original expansion plan.
Finn told Katz that the year of expansion -- either 2004-05 or 2005-06 -- hasn't been decided. Big East officials said they haven't received official word from Virginia Tech on its decision.
Virginia Tech has until Monday to notify the Big East of its intentions, and does not have to pay the $1 million exit fee Monday, when the penalty fee for exiting the Big East for the 2004-05 season doubles. The fee never goes below $1 million, even if the expansion move wouldn't be until the 2005-06 season.
The ACC originally invited Miami, Syracuse and Boston College for a 12-team conference. The league went on formal site visits to all three schools, but after a number of conference calls, the ACC failed to reach a consensus on 12 schools.
Last week, the league decided to invite Virginia Tech and Miami as a compromise to get Virginia's swing vote. Virginia was under considerable pressure within the state to endorse Virginia Tech. The vote for expansion was approved by a 7-2 margin with Duke and North Carolina voting against the move.
ACC officials visited Virginia Tech last week to complete the formal part of the invitation process.
The University of Miami said Thursday it had received counterproposals to remain in the Big East and will make a final decision Monday.
The university's executive committee of its board of trustees met with Miami President Donna Shalala and athletic director Paul Dee for more than an hour Thursday to discuss the ACC invitation. Shalala said that no vote was taken.
The ACC has scheduled a news conference for Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET to address the situation.
Shalala said the delay was at least partially attributed to the fact the school received counterproposals from other Big East schools Thursday. She declined to provide any specifics on those proposals.
"The Big East has informally sent a proposal, or at least a list of proposals, to us and we feel a responsibility to review them,'' said Shalala, who acknowledged she was not ruling out any possibility, including remaining in the Big East.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford said Thursday conference officials are keeping the lines of communications open with Miami and continue to remain optimistic that the Hurricanes will join the ACC.
"These are significant decisions that have long-term implications and we fully appreciate and respect Miami's need to thoroughly evaluate their decision," Swofford said. "We think Miami would be an excellent fit for the Atlantic Coast Conference and it is certainly our hope that they will be joining us."
The Rev. William Leahy, Boston College's president, spoke with Shalala on Wednesday night.
"I think she is generally torn about what to do,'' he said.
An 11-team conference might have been a sticking point for Miami. The school had some financial concerns about joining the conference without Northeast schools Boston College and Syracuse or a guarantee of a football championship game.
But a source within the ACC told ESPN.com's Katz that the conference informed Miami officials that it is easier to go from 11 to 12 schools than nine to 12, indicating that the ACC will likely want to have an even number of teams within the next 3-4 years.
Shalala said Miami still had to evaluate what a two-team addition to the ACC would mean financially for Miami. With just 11 teams, the ACC could not add the lucrative title game.
"We had done numbers on Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami, we had done numbers on Miami alone, but we had not anticipated that Virginia Tech and Miami would be the only two invitees,'' Shalala said.
Information from the Associated Press and ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz was used in this report.