ACC trains its eyes on BC again

By Mark Blaudschun, Globe Staff, 9/30/2003

With its courtship of Notre Dame apparently over, the Atlantic Coast Conference is turning its attention toward Boston College. Again.

According to sources in the ACC and the Big East, the ACC presidents have made BC their No. 1 choice to be the league's 12th team, joining for the 2005 athletic season, or perhaps as early as next season.

An invitation is contingent on the pending litigation filed against the ACC and the University of Miami by several Big East schools, which contend that the ACC and Miami were involved in a conspiracy to weaken if not destroy the Big East.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza listened to arguments yesterday in Hartford on whether to dismiss the case or allow it to go to trial. He is expected to make a decision in 7-10 days.

If Sferrazza dismisses the case, the consensus in the ACC and Big East is that the ACC would focus on BC sooner rather than later. And while no one at BC was saying anything officially yesterday, the feeling among many in the Big East is that the Eagles -- who seemed on the verge of receiving an invitation to join the ACC over the summer but were blindsided when the conference instead invited Miami and Virginia Tech -- would accept.

The ACC expansion was not expected to be complete until next spring, but the Big East is on the verge of reconfiguring itself. The league is expected to invite DePaul, Marquette, Louisville, and Cincinnati by early November and restructure itself into an eight-or nine-team league in football and a 16-team, two-division super conference in basketball.

With that new structure, sources in the Big East say, the exit fee for any school wishing to leave would increase from $1 million to as much as $10 million.

"It's all a very fluid situation," said Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. "I'm not sure what's going to happen."

BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo was at an athletic directors meeting in Dallas yesterday, and efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.

The ACC's sense of urgency is based in part on financial realities. In negotiations with ESPN on a new football contract, the ACC learned that the package being offered for an 11-team league is several million dollars short of the $24 million for the last deal, with nine teams.

In addition, the television money for a new basketball contract will be down significantly, because the consensus is that adding Miami and Virginia Tech dilutes the package rather than enhancing it. So the $8 million-$10 million the league can generate with a conference championship game in football becomes more of a necessity than a luxury. To hold such a game, the league needs a minimum of 12 teams.

While there are non-Big East schools willing to join the ACC -- East Carolina, Memphis, Marshall -- none has the combination of academics, athletics, and television market that BC brings. Plus, some in ACC circles feel guilty about the way the league handled the original courtship of the Eagles.

From an athletic standpoint, especially regarding football, it is hard to make a case for the Eagles switching leagues.

Why would BC want to leave a league losing its best teams -- Virginia Tech, Miami -- and join one with not only those BCS powers but also Florida State and Maryland?

The reason is that this is more than an athletic issue. BC has maintained that it wants to expand its potential student population (and alumni base) beyond the Northeast, into the Mid-Atlantic states.

And it wants to develop an academic consortium with schools such as Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Virginia.

Whatever happens, the Eagles' future is likely to be determined in a matter of weeks, not months.

Diagnosis due

BC coach Tom O'Brien said defensive tackle Tom Martin had an MRI on his right knee to determine the extent of the injury he suffered in Saturday's 53-29 win over Ball State. If, as some fear, the exam reveals a torn medial collateral ligament, Martin obviously will be done for the season . . . After a bye week, Miami will take on West Virginia Thursday, but the key upcoming game for the Hurricanes is Oct. 11, their annual battle with Florida State . . . Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had seven catches for 135 yards and three TDs in the 37-26 win over Texas A&M, leads the nation in receiving yards with 145.8 yards per game . . . Rutgers's rushing yardage is up considerably. The Knights have 605 yards through four games; they had only 620 yards all of last season . . . Syracuse's Walter Reyes, who ran for 162 yards and scored a touchdown for the ninth consecutive game, leads the nation in rushing with 170.3 yards per game . . . In its 47-13 romp over Connecticut, Virginia Tech scored seven different ways: rushing TD, passing TD, field goal, extra point, kickoff return, interception return, and blocked punt. The Hokies will be without defensive end Cols Colas for Saturday's game at Rutgers. Colas was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules.