I guess this settles what schools would leave
Miami, Syracuse, BC discussing ACC move
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY
Miami (Fla.) officials are expected to decide in the next two weeks whether to start negotiating a possible move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in concert with Big East co-members Syracuse and Boston College.
The three schools will act jointly, according to a person familiar with discussions between the institutions and the two affected leagues. That person laid out two options, either of which would alter the Eastern landscape of big-time college athletics. The three schools could:
Leave the Big East for the ACC, which has coveted football power Miami but also would take Syracuse and Boston College — expanding from nine schools to 12 — to get the Hurricanes. Miami doesn't care to abandon a large alumni faction in the Northeast.
Stay in a reconstituted Big East, or a new league of former Big East members in which all schools play big-time football. That would mean a break from non-major football-playing members Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall.
The Big East's major football-playing schools already are exploring that step, in part to keep Miami in the fold. "It's an effort, not specifically to improve Miami's position, but to see if we can improve everyone's position. Call it strategic planning," said Syracuse athletics director Jake Crouthamel. "We would be remiss if we didn't consider all the options."
More pointedly, Crouthamel noted, "The Big East cannot survive as a BCS (Bowl Championship Series) conference without Miami." Still, he said, it's possible the Big East would remain intact.
The ACC has approached Miami informally about membership but made no offer, awaiting a signal that the school is interested in formal talks. Among financial and other considerations: a Big East exit fee of $1 million and an ACC entry fee of $3 million, as well as whether the ACC would be more lucrative
