A Single Move that Could Save the ACC & Maybe UConn

[jdb50]

Just heard the new name will be "The Big Giggidty Conference".

 

[Drumguy]

Just to be clear, which are the northern schools in the ACC not named BC? Are you including Pitt and Cuse? I still question very sincerely how much UNC, NC State, VaTech, UVA, Wake and even Duke wanted Uconn to join. The ACC is still run by the NC mafia. If they wanted it, it would have happened. One NC mafia vote kept BC out of the first ACC expansion. That gave UNC and Duke a reason to vote no too. They still get what they want. Its the only reason why Raycomm still has a role in their TV contracts and why their main TV sponsors on Raycomm are Food Lion and your NC Ford dealers.

I consider the NC and Virginia schools the northern part of the ACC and I believe UNC, Duke, WF and UVA have consistantly been for us. Maybe they saw no reason to vote against us knowing there was no way we get in. Doesn't really matter though. A lot of people think we are ACC bound, after the last round I am inclined to doubt we'll ever join the Redneck, er, ACC.

 

[UConn9604]

Just to be clear, which are the northern schools in the ACC not named BC? Are you including Pitt and Cuse? I still question very sincerely how much UNC, NC State, VaTech, UVA, Wake and even Duke wanted Uconn to join. The ACC is still run by the NC mafia. If they wanted it, it would have happened. One NC mafia vote kept BC out of the first ACC expansion. That gave UNC and Duke a reason to vote no too. They still get what they want. Its the only reason why Raycomm still has a role in their TV contracts and why their main TV sponsors on Raycomm are Food Lion and your NC Ford dealers.

This is mostly correct, except the UNC/Duke part. In the summer of 2003, the time of the first expansion, there were only nine members of the ACC, and the by-laws required a 3/4 vote. That means, to add anyone, you needed seven of nine votes.

UNC and Duke were adamant against the thought and made it clear that they were voting "no" across the board. This position effectively gave every other school in the ACC veto power over any addition.

From the beginning, the ACC's plan was to add Miami, and Miami's plan was to bring Syracuse and BC along with it. Sensing a threat to Virginia Tech's livelihood, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (a graduate of Rockville High School in Vernon) made it clear that UVa would vote "no" on any expansion that didn't involve Virginia Tech.

So, Syracuse was pulled from the mix at the last second, and the votes were cast for Miami, Virginia Tech and BC. Miami and Virginia Tech were added by 7-2 votes (UNC and Duke voted against).

BC was denied by a 6-3 vote, with NC State casting the third "no" vote. Their President at the time, Marye Anne Fox, was also on the Board of Trustees at Notre Dame (conflict, anyone?). She wanted to kick the tires on adding Notre Dame -- and Notre Dame obviously declined, so the ACC stayed at 11.

Later that fall, as the Big East was preparing for its 8/16 hybrid, BC called up the ACC and asked, "are you sure you don't want us back?" After having crunched the numbers on an unwieldy 11-team schedule, and after the NCAA denied its request for a championship game, the ACC unanimously voted to add BC in October 2003.