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ACC Invites a Change in College Football by Justin Waganer July 1, 2003
Can I get two hips and a hooray for the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as Miami and Virginia Tech! In what was a small step for a playoff and a giant leap for college football, the University of Miami (Fl.) and Virginia Tech voted to join the ACC over the weekend and begin a new era of college football.
Granted, John Swofford and his boys running the ACC stumbled a bit from their original plans of inviting three from the conference, but they did get the prize catch in Miami and a great football program under Frank Beamer. The questions now are who does the ACC get to make it an even dozen and who does the Big East get to beef back up?
First, the reason for expansion in the ACC in the first place was to be able to create a lucrative conference championship game in football much like the Big 12 and SEC Conferences. The catch is the NCAA will only allow a championship to a league that contains 12 teams, the ACC now has 11. So who do they approach for further expansion?
The obvious choice for both the ACC and Big East is to make a big offer to Notre Dame to finally join a conference, but the Irish are more likely to join the Big East geographically since they already belong to them in basketball. Next would be Louisville, who has been rumored to be the Big East's favorite for the Prom.
The next best choices geographically and potential multi-sport successes are non other than South Florida and Marshall. You make shake your head at first, but why? South Florida would then join Miami and Florida State from the Sunshine State, with football and basketball programs that are on a rapid rise. Next up, Marshall. The Thundering Herd are in the region (Huntington, West Virginia) and are already a football semi-power and a potential B-Ball success.
The Big East would be better off to pursue Louisville immediately and make offers to Notre Dame, but the addition of enough teams to make a 12 team Big East in football would force the alignment of a basketball only league from the Big East leftovers. Teams such as Georgetown, St. Johns, Providence, Villanova, and Seton Hall are without football programs and Connecticut is slated to join the Big East in football in 2005.
Nevertheless, this is a positive move for the landscape of college football for those who wish to see a playoff before their dying day. It could have occurred without a move by Miami and Virginia Tech, but this could be the earthquake that causes positive aftershocks in a sport that needs a true champion. "You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."- Yogi Berra
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