North Carolina State University Athletics
Miami Says Yes to ACC
6/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
June 30, 2003
By the Associated Press
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, spurning a flurry of last-minute offers from Big East officials to remain in their league.
University president Donna Shalala and athletic director Paul Dee formally announced the decision in a statement released moments before a scheduled news conference, ending what was a seven-week courtship between the school and the ACC.
"The Atlantic Coast Conference is pleased that both the University of Miami and Virginia Tech have accepted invitations to join the Conference beginning in the 2004-05 academic year," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. "Because of this expansion, the Conference may well be stronger than at any point in its history. The addition of Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC will undoubtedly benefit all of the conference's student-athletes. Our student-athletes want to compete against the best and our fans want to see the best competition. Both the academic and athletic profiles of Miami and Virginia Tech fit well with the league's current members. We look forward to tomorrow evening's press conference in Greensboro where we will officially welcome Miami and Virginia Tech as the newest members of our conference and discuss the conference's plans for its future."
Miami's decision to join Virginia Tech in defecting from the Big East dramatically alters the balance of power within the conferences, bringing the ACC two of the nation's strongest football programs and leaving the Big East with a big void.
Miami and Virginia Tech may begin playing in the ACC as soon as the 2004-05 season. Both remain Big East members for 2003-04, since schedules for the upcoming academic year have already been made.
Officials from Boston College and Syracuse, as well as other Big East members, were in contact with Shalala and Dee all weekend to persuade the Hurricanes to stay put. The school's executive board of trustees had been expected to vote on the affiliation issue Thursday, one day after the ACC formally invited the Hurricanes to join their conference. Instead, trustees asked Shalala and Dee to study the financial ramifications of joining an 11-team ACC.
Shalala said the vote was also delayed because she wanted time to consider a counteroffer from the Big East, which made a last-ditch plea Thursday to keep the Hurricanes in their membership. Previously, the league had guaranteed Miami $45 million over five years to stay in the Big East.
The counteroffer was led by Boston College and Syracuse, which were the other two schools the ACC originally targeted in its 12-team scenario. Despite going through all requirements of the expansion process, including site visits by ACC officials, both Boston College and Syracuse were told last week that they would not receive invitations.
Miami's decision ensures the legal battle over the ACC's expansion will continue. A lawsuit contends Big East members Connecticut, Rutgers, West Virginia and Pittsburgh have spent millions on their football programs based on presumed loyalty from schools it had been aligned with, including Miami.
Virginia Tech was originally among the plaintiffs; it was removed from the case after its invitation to join the ACC came last week. Boston College and Miami were the original defendants; Miami now is the lone one, accused of participating in a conspiracy intended to weaken the Big East.
Miami has won six of the 12 Big East football championships; Virginia Tech has three. Miami has the best all-time record in Big East play (66-10), followed by Virginia Tech (53-23), which is percentage points ahead of Syracuse (56-26).
In the last three seasons, Miami has the best record among all Division I-A football programs, 35-2. Virginia Tech (29-9) is tied for eighth on that list. Since the inception of the Big East's football conference in 1991, Miami is the only school to have won a national championship. The Hurricanes won national titles in 1991 and 2001, plus played for the crown after last season, losing to Ohio State.
Virginia Tech also played for the national championship after the 1999 season, losing to Florida State.
Miami voted to join the Big East in October 1990, after previously playing as an independent athletic program. The Big East football conference was formed five months later. The Big East had long been best known as a basketball conference, especially after the success Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova enjoyed during the 1980s.
