ACC call to Miami may be big
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
You don't have to be within 3-point shooting distance of Tobacco Road to watch with interest the potential for far-reaching repercussions in the Atlantic Coast Conference's flirtation with the University of Miami.
Indeed, as Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson puts it, "it has everybody's attention right now."
If Miami bolts the Big East and takes some friends with it, and the Big East then goes looking for replacements and ...
Who knows where the dominos stop falling. Maybe all the way to the Pacific. There are still some big "ifs" and considerable hurdles involved, but as Benson says, "it is something that could, potentially, touch almost every league."
The ACC has — unofficially, of course — proposed that the Hurricanes, the linchpin in the whole plan, bolt the Big East. That would open the way for others to follow them over the fence and eventually lead to a supersized and considerably enriched ACC.
Not since the Big Ten romanced Notre Dame in 1999 has such a marquee team been in play or has there been such a potential catalyst for widespread movement in conference affiliations. Had the independent Irish thrown their football lot in with the Big Ten, making it a 12-school conference and the 800-pound gorilla of college athletics, change would have come swiftly across Division I.
Now, it is the nine-school ACC's turn to go big-game hunting. If it succeeds in bagging the Hurricanes — and Miami officials last week briefed the school's trustees on the pluses and minuses — then, watch the game of musical chairs begin.
For Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has charged the ACC with courting not just Miami, but Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech in attempting to start a three-school jailbreak. With 12 teams, the ACC could hold a lucrative championship game and significantly enhance negotiations on a new TV deal to replace the one that ends in 2005.
Miami has the ability to give the ACC nearly as much cachet in football as it has in basketball and it isn't hard to see the dollar signs in the ACC's appeal to the Hurricanes. The ACC divvies up an $82 million annual pot compared with the Big East's $51 million.
Add Miami, Syracuse, etc. and the ACC is looking at the kind of riches enjoyed only by the Southeastern Conference, which splits nearly $100 million.
If there is one thing that will start a stampede in college athletics these days, it is the sound of a dollar hitting the floor.
