ACC Adds Syracuse & Pitt

 
  The ACC Council of Presidents have unanimously voted to accept letters of application from the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University.  This extends the ACC's total member to a conference high 14 teams.

Per ESPN

Pittsburgh and Syracuse, once flagship programs of the Big East, have been accepted as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, extending the league's current membership to 14 schools, the ACC announced Sunday morning.

Coach K Weighs In

Hall of Fame Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that adding Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC would be 'a coup' for the conference.

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The ACC Council of Presidents unanimously voted upon the decision. The invitation followed the submission of letters of application from both universities.

"The ACC is a strong, united conference that is only going to get better with the addition of the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University," Duke president Richard Broadhead, chair of the ACC Council of Presidents, said in a prepared statement. "Both schools are committed to competing at the highest level of academics and athletics. We welcome them as full partners in the ACC."

This is the second round of expansion for the ACC, which added Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech in 2004 and 2005.

"The ACC has enjoyed a rich tradition by balancing academics and athletics and the addition of Pitt and Syracuse further strengthens the ACC culture in this regard," ACC commissioner John Swofford said in the news release. "Pittsburgh and Syracuse also serve to enhance the ACC's reach into the states of New York and Pennsylvania and geographically bridges our footprint between Maryland and Massachusetts. With the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will cover virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States."

More information is expected at a 9:30 a.m. teleconference with the ACC.

  My personal opinion is that Swofford and the ACC just made a commitment to being a major basketball conference, with football as a secondary sport.  This adds to major basketball school to an already basketball laden conference.  Syracuse has the ability to be decent in football, while Pitt is a little more of a contender in football.  I am very disappointed that the ACC did not go after West Virginia instead of Syracuse, as I see no relation to the southern teams in the conference and will just add another boring and dangerous game to Clemson's schedule.  This also basically makes Clemson a non-factor in an already impossible basketball conference.