Five schools bring lawsuit 'with great regret' [ACC/Big East Kablooie]

espn.com ^ | 6/6/03 | AP-staff

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Five schools filed a lawsuit Friday to try to prevent Miami and Boston College from jumping to the Atlantic Coast Conference, accusing them of secretly taking part in an expansion plan that could ruin the Big East.

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Hartford, Conn., says Miami and Boston College professed loyalty to their conference while concocting a "deliberate scheme to destroy the Big East and abscond with the collective value of all that has been invested and created in the Big East."

Big East schools went ahead with millions of dollars in renovations and upgrades under the assumption they would be part of a healthy conference for years to come, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit was filed by Pittsburgh, Connecticut, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Rutgers against the ACC, Miami and Boston College. Syracuse is part of the potential ACC expansion but was not included in the lawsuit because plaintiffs said they found no evidence the school made promises to stay in the Big East.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Things are heating up in the old NCAA.

[Hatteras]

Call the Wah-bulance...

[Chancellor Palpatine]

That would be my normal reaction as well, but the suing schools have a point - and it may well be time to take a look at it.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

related thread

[Chancellor Palpatine]

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[Chancellor Palpatine]

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[Tall_Texan]

I feel most sorry for Virginia Tech. They have a great football program and *should* have been the most logical invite, geographically, after Miami. If the Big East is stripped of Miami, BC and Syracuse, the Hokies have nobody credible left to play in the conference except Pitt and West Virginia (and that's just credible not Top 10 caliber).

The rest of the Big Least are basketball schools who won't suffer much at all.

Notre Dame is too selfish to ride to the rescue here. I understand the anguish the Big Least is going through but, frankly, that conference was always the weakest link in the BCS. Without Miami, they don't deserve a reserved slot and that's what is really ticking them off.

[AntiGuv]

What I don't get is: Why didn't the ACC want the Hokies?? Anybody know?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Louisville is making noise about being interested, but their program is wobbly as all hell. Some other C-USA teams could pick up some slack, but the Big East status as the weakest link in the BCS would just get worse.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I felt like they'd fit, but who knows what the TV ratings and fan followership on them were relative to the other schools? The ACC marketing gurus probably nixed it.

[commish]

Virginia wanted the Hokies. Clemson and FSU (bowden colusion?) jettisoned that idea --the final coffin nail was Miami insisting that Syracuse come with them.

[commish]

C-USA is in serious trouble, thats why Louisville is making overatures to the Big East. Tulane has a vote scheduled to DROP FOOTBALL completely due to budget problems.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Apparently, Tulane wants to kill all sports - a real shame. Football is expensive, too, and your program has to be successful for the $$$ to roll in.

C-USA is done for.

[Tall_Texan]

What I don't get is: Why didn't the ACC want the Hokies?? Anybody know?

Univ. of Virginia is already in the ACC and considers themselves the elite school of the region (Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, et al). They don't want Virginia Tech to be considered their equal.

But UVa handled it great, PR-wise. They insisted that they would only approve of expansion if Virginia Tech was included so as to *appear* to be supporting the Hokies (they have to live around them, mind you) and then when the three other schools were the announced invities, UVa had no objection and voted for the invites.

While Syracuse and BC are bad fits geographically, they can draw ratings in the Boston and New York viewing markets. Frankly, BC just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of these guys and Syracuse only marginally moreso.

I'd prefer that they added Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia in terms of geographic proximity. But if the locals see Virginia Tech as classless rubes, they see West Virginians as hillbillies who have only recently discovered indoor plumbing. Robert Byrd certainly doesn't help their image.

[Sideshow Bob]

I have always hated the Big Least.

East coast sportswriters and the network broadcasters have inflated the level of ability within that conference for years.

Other than national power Miami, a good Va Tech team and average programs at Syracuse & BC, the Big Least is a Division 1-A football conference. Sure, Miami would be a national football power regardless of conference, but the rest of them bloat their records every year by beating up on 5 Our Little Sisters of the Poor schools. Top to bottom, the Mountain West Conference is an equivalent or better football conference. Heck, in some years the MAC and Conference USA are better football conferences, top to bottom. Rutgers? Temple? Give me a break.

I still can't believe the Big Least gets an automatic confernce bid in the BCS. Just give Miami (or, on occasion, Va Tech) an at-large bid and save the conference bids for real football conferences.

I will acknowledge that, while still overhyped and inflated by the media, the Big Least is a good basketball conference. Not as good as the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12, but even with the SEC and better than the Pac 10, top to bottom. But now they want to sue to keep their football meal ticket from leaving.

BOO-HOO, I'm so sad!

And don't feel any pity for Va Tech for being left with a God-awful conference. I seem to recall they helped kill the old Metro Conference.

[kegler4]

I can't say for certain whether or not the Wahoos wanted the Hokies, but I think the ACC didn't want them primarily because of the TV market. They already have an entry into the Hokies' market with UVA while they don't have anybody in the Boston and Syracuse markets.

Even though they're in separate conferences, UVA and Tech still do play each other in most sports, including football and basketball, so it's not like UVA is afraid to start playing Tech. These days, Tech usually wins in football and UVA usually wins in basketball, but when you consider all sports played, UVA ranks much higher. Graduates more of its athletes, too.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

The Metro? Gah - another ghastly conference, propped up monetarily by the Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis TV markets. Those three have always found themselves at the short end of the stick, conference wise.

[kegler4]

"And don't feel any pity for Va Tech for being left with a God-awful conference. I seem to recall they helped kill the old Metro Conference."

Indeed they did, although I think they had some help.

[Sideshow Bob]

Big East schools went ahead with millions of dollars in renovations and upgrades under the assumption they would be part of a healthy conference for years to come, the lawsuit contends.

As Felix Unger would say, "When one assumes, one makes an ASS of U and ME."

And I must say, assuming that the Big Least is a healthy conference is a wild-ass assumption. Without the huge dollars the Miami football program brings in, the Big Least is Conference USA Light.

[AntiGuv]

And I must say, assuming that the Big Least is a healthy conference is a wild-ass assumption.

D'oh! I hope the judge includes that in his ruling! ;^)