UPDATE #3 at 4:00 PM on September 18th
Both Syracuse and Pittsburgh have officially joined the ACC according to press releases posted on both schools official athletic websites. It is not clear at this time what year they will join though.
UPDATE #2 AT 1:45 AM on SEPTEMBER 18th
USA Today writer Kelly Whiteside reports that the ACC has a media teleconference to announce that both Pitt and Syracuse have been approved to join the conference. According to Whiteside’s sources, the conference is still keeping their options open about adding two more squads to put the conference at 16 teams. The two likely candidates right now are UConn and Rutgers in the report. You can check out Kelly’s full report by clicking here.
UPDATE #1 AT 2PM ON SEPTEMBER 17th
Several Media Outlets including ESPN.com are reporting that both Syracuse and Pitt have officially applied for membership in the ACC.
It has also come to light that the ACC has raised the exit fee for schools from 12-14 million to 20 million so the scenario of Florida State and Clemson leaving the conference for the SEC is highly unlikely.
Original Post
Pete Thamel of The New York Times is reporting that both Pittsburgh and Syracuse are in discussions with moving to the ACC. This would be the second time that the ACC raided the Big East as both Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) joined the conference in 2004 while Boston College joined in 2005.
The Pittsburgh chancellor, Mark Nordenberg, who is widely credited with saving the Big East after Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech moved to the A.C.C. in the early 2000s, twice declined comment when reached at his home.
Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross, when reached on his cellphone in Los Angeles, where the Orange will play Southern California on Saturday, also declined to comment.
“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.”
Jim Boeheim, the longtime Syracuse basketball coach, said Friday night, “I wouldn’t be surprised by anything, but I don’t know anything right now.”
The major issue if this move is made is the fact that the ACC baseball schools would have an odd number as Syracuse currently does not have a varsity baseball program. It will be interesting to see if Syracuse would start up a varsity program with the tough weather of upstate New York.
You can check out Thamel’s full report by clicking here.
4 comments
Is this where Texas come into play?
We still believe that Texas ends up in the Pac-16 but that is all speculation at this time.
Since your post, has their been any updates on whether or not a baseball program is in Syracuse’s horizon?
Syracuse declined to comment on adding baseball when contacted by us. They said there will be no comment by the Athletic Director about a potential move.
I know for a fact that many ACC coaches are not happy with the unbalanced schedule that will happen in the coming years.
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